A stimulus for cleanup

What a difference an anemic economy can make. A month ago, Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, was told the removal of the Atlas uranium mill tailings near Moab might not be completed for another 20 years because of a lack of funding.

Then comes the economic stimulus package. On Tuesday, Energy Secretary Steve Chu announced that $108 million in federal funds will be allocated to the remediation project, which will move 16 million pounds of tailings from a site along the Colorado River to a disposal site at Crescent Junction about 33 miles away.

This is great news for Utah and Colorado River users. The river, which serves 25 million people downstream, is at risk of contamination from radioactive waste if the tailings are not moved in a timely fashion. Earlier studies by the Department of Energy detected ammonia and uranium in gravel below the Matheson Preserve, which is located across the river from the tailings pile. That means the river has not acted as a barrier to the contaminants.

Rep. Matheson says the stimulus funds will add to the DOE's budget to tackle the remediation of the tailings pile, which is comprised of waste from uranium mill operations between 1956 and 1984. The funding also means that the 2019 deadline set by Congress (as urged by Matheson) to move the tailings pile will be backed by an appropriate level of resources to do the job.

Meanwhile, Secretary Chu said the investment will put Americans to work cleaning up contamination from the Cold War era, which reflects the federal government's commitment to future generations.

Cleanup of the tailings site must remain a top priority. Carbon dating research conducted by the University of Utah confirmed that twice in the past 1,000 years floods ripped through the river valley where the tailings pile is now located. A catastrophic flood could sweep the radioactive tailings into the river, possibly contaminating drinking water with ammonia, uranium, radium, lead and other toxins.

Theoretically, river water contaminated with this waste could be sufficiently treated for human consumption. But the cost of such intense treatment would be greater than that of moving the mill tailings. The better course is to remove the source of possible contamination. It appears that the stimulus money will allow that to take place. Utah's congressional delegation must now labor to ensure that ongoing funding is appropriated to finish the job.