Hundreds of abandoned uranium mines dot the Navajo Nation. Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that it has decided to take action on seven mines, the federal agency still has a long way to go.
The Homestake Mining Company of California, Western Nuclear Inc. and Chevron have been named as the liable parties for the Mariano Lake, Mac 1 and 2, Black Jack 1 and 2 as well as Ruby 1 and 3 mine sites.
More than 1 million cubic yards of contaminated soil will be cleaned up across 260 acres in New Mexico near the Smith Lake and Mariano Lake chapters.
Jacob Phipps is with the EPA Region 9 Superfund. He manages an EPA field office in Flagstaff that opened last year, aiming to address these abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation.
“The total approximate dollar value is estimated to be a little over $70 million,” Phipps said. “ In terms of time frame for implementation. It’s unknown. Our current enforcement agreements led us to where we are today.”
That’s because now the feds need to ask these companies to comply.
“They have liability,” Phipps explained. “Our potential responsible parties, for the most part, are not the companies that actually did the mining. But at the end of the day if we can’t come to an agreement, the U.S. does have the ability to go and perform the work themselves and potentially recover the costs.”
To date, the agency has remediated immediate hazards from more than 30 mine sites.
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