DOE to move Moab tailings

More than 12 million tons of radioactive waste will be moved away from the Colorado River, which provides drinking water for more than 25 million people across the West.

The Department of Energy on Monday said the radioactive tailings about 750 feet from the river near Moab in southeastern Utah will be moved, predominantly by rail, to a proposed holding site at Crescent Junction, Utah, about 30 miles from the Colorado River.

"The only way we can look at this is good news," said Energy Department spokesman Mike Waldron. "We have identified a solution that will help to ensure the environmental quality of the region for generations to come."

The department's decision was announced in the final environmental impact statement for the tailings site. It will become final after being published in the Federal Register.

The 94-foot-tall waste pile came from Moab's rich uranium deposits, which were mined in the 1950s for nuclear bombs. The Uranium Reduction Co. sold its mill in 1962 to Atlas Corp., which ran it sporadically until declaring bankruptcy in 1998. The Energy Department took over the site in 2001.

"Taking all the facts into account, we believe the recommendations issued today provide the best solution to cleaning up Moab and protecting the river," Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said in a prepared statement. "The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the Southwest."

The Energy Department "made the right decision to move this pile to a safe location," said U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

In a news release, Hatch said, "Millions of people near Moab and throughout the Southwest have good reason to fear for their drinking water. We shouldn't have this radioactive waste so close to the Colorado River."