Panel OKs tailings $$

WASHINGTON — It is a far cry from the $395 million that will ultimately be needed to clean up the Atlas mill tailings from the banks of the Colorado River near Moab.

But the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, approved Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee, sets aside $28 million requested by Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, for continued cleanup of 11.8 million tons of contaminated mill tailings and debris, groundwater and land in Moab.

"Moving the Atlas tailings pile to a permanent location away from the Colorado River remains a priority in the eastern part of our state, and these funds will make a significant dent in the costs associated with this effort," Bennett said.

Earlier this year the Department of Energy announced that its preferred alternative, as part of the draft Environmental Impact Statement, is to move the tailings pile to a permanent disposal site away from the Colorado River.

The relocation site, Crescent Junction, is located just north of where I-70 and U-191 intersect some 30 miles north of Moab and 15 miles east of the Green River. The other site considered, Klondike Flats, was near the area airport and a little closer to Moab.

The final EIS is expected to be completed later this year.

The site is of particular public interest to Utah and other downriver states because the tailings are leaching contaminants to the river through the groundwater, giving rise to concerns over the potential impact on endangered native fish, critical habitat and downstream water users.

Public interest is also heightened by the site's proximity to a Nature Conservancy wetlands preserve and its shared boundary with Arches National Park.

In all, the bill includes $103 million in Utah projects requested by Bennett. Among the projects getting full committee approval:

• $10 million to help Utah rural communities with water infrastructure improvements. At least two dozen communities have contacted the Army Corps of Engineers with interest in water projects for this year.

• $34.35 million for the Central Utah Water Conservancy District and other agencies for projects related to the CUP.

• $1.75 million for oil shale research to be conducted at the Utah Center for Heavy Oil Research at the University of Utah. The center will focus on the commercial potential of oil sands, oil shale and coal resource deposits in concert with the Utah Geological Survey and USGS.

• $6.7 million to the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission to offset the adverse impacts to fish and wildlife resources resulting from the development and operation of federal water reclamation projects throughout the state.