Images: EPA
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is beginning the cleanup of 13,000 cubic yards of uranium mine waste rock at the Mesa V complex of three former mines in the Lukachukai Mountains on the Navajo Nation. This location is part of the Lukachukai Mining District Superfund Site in Cove, Arizona.
EPA selected Arrowhead Contracting, a company owned by the Southern Ute Tribe, to complete the work under EPA oversight.
“Removing mine waste at this Superfund site is a significant milestone in EPA’s work to clean up uranium contamination on the Navajo Nation,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Region Superfund Director Michael Montgomery. “This action follows the cleanup completed earlier this fall at the nearby Cove Transfer Stations.”
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Many Navajo families reside adjacent to the Lukachukai Mountains, where the Mesa V mine complex is located. The area is used for livestock grazing, recreation and hunting, and is culturally significant to the Navajo people. If left in place, the uranium waste rock would continue to erode into nearby drainages and be transported downstream, further impacting the Navajo community of Cove and the greater Cove watershed.
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EPA will oversee the cleanup as well as the construction of an on-site repository where the Mesa V mine waste will be placed. The repository will be engineered to contain the uranium waste rock, with an evapotranspiration cap placed as a permanent cover to prevent rainwater from entering the repository.
Following the $13 million cleanup, EPA will restore the impacted areas with native vegetation. EPA anticipates the entire project will take about a year to complete.
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