WASHINGTON — The Energy Department's latest timetable for cleaning up uranium tailings from a mill site in Moab is "unacceptable," Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, told Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman in a letter sent Friday.

The Energy Department initially predicted cleanup of the Atlas uranium mill site would take seven to 10 years, but more recently has estimated a 21-year time frame to complete the task.

"I am concerned that the Department of Energy is unnecessarily falling behind schedule," Bennett said, adding the project is one of his "top priorities."

Bodman told the House Energy and Commerce Committee in February that the tailings may not be removed until 2028, which shocked Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, who sits on the committee. Matheson also has sent a letter to Bodman about concerns that the agency is not acting fast enough on the issue.

The project, as approved by Congress, is to move the 16 million tons of uranium mill tailings from a pile near the Colorado River, north of Moab, to a location near Crescent Junction, Grand County.

James A. Rispoli, assistant secretary of energy for environmental management with the Department of Energy, told Bennett at a Senate hearing in March that he does not see the 2028 date as a delay.

"It's just a planning number that we had and that's the number we gave to the secretary to use based upon what we estimate," Rispoli said in response to questions from Bennett.

The department is in the process of picking a contractor to work on the site. But in his letter, Bennett asks that the selected company stick to the original seven-to-10-year plan laid out in the environmental impact statement. He also asks for a cost comparison of the original plan compared to a 21-year plan.

"Removing the tailings expeditiously is critical not only for my state but also for the more than 25 million downstream water users in the Colorado River basin," Bennett wrote.

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