The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved a cleanup project at an old uranium mine in the Navajo Nation reservation located in New Mexico. The plan calls for securing close to 1.4 million tons of contaminated soil in a lined pit at the Northeast Church Rock Mine.
Jared Blumenfeld, administrator for the EPA's Pacific Southwest Region in San Francisco wrote in a statement released last Thursday that it was an important milestone in the effort to address the toxic legacy of historic uranium mining on the Navajo Nation. He added that this plan was the result of several years of collaboration between EPA, the Navajo Nation, and the Red Water Pond Road community living near the mine.
Ben Shelly, President of the Navajo Nation said that on behalf of the Navajo Nation, he appreciated the efforts of the USEPA and Navajo EPA, and the cooperation from the state of New Mexico to clean up contaminated Navajo trust lands. He said that a perfect remedy was difficult to design, and in this case every stakeholder can be proud of their input into the remedy. He looked forward to the cleanup and putting people to work restoring their lands.
David Martin, New Mexico Environment Secretary said that consolidating the waste into one repository will return the land to the Navajo Nation for their traditional use. The cleanup will also ensure long term stewardship to protect public health and the environment he added.
The Northeast Church Rock Mine was operational from 1967 to 1982. The uranium mine included a 1,800 foot deep shaft, waste piles and some surface ponds. General Electric has conducted two cleanups at the site in conjunctions with the EPA in 2007 and 2010. The new 5 year plan of the EPA for the mine is yet to identify responsible parties.