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Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project Site

LTS&M Planning

LTS&M Conference

Grand Junction, CO

November 16, 2010

Donald Metzler

U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management

Moab Federal Project Director

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Moab Site Background Former uranium-ore

processing facility (1956-1984)

Transferred to DOE ownership in 2001

400-acre site; 130 acres covered by uranium mill tailings pile

Largest uranium mill tailings pile (16 million tons) in the world to be relocated

Regulated by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

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Project Scope

Relocate 16 million tons of uranium mill tailings and other contaminated materials from the Moab site by rail to Crescent Junction, Utah, for permanent disposal

• Being remediated under Title I of Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act

Actively remediate ground water at the Moab site Remediate vicinity properties that exceed regulatory

standards

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Moab UMTRA Project Site

Arches National Park

Rail Load Out

N

Moab

Colorado

River

Tailings Pile

U.S. Highway 191

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Status

Currently shipping up to 144 containers per train, two trains per day, Monday through Friday

Through October 2010, about 2.5 million tons of mill tailings (15.5 percent of the total) shipped and disposed

Project end date currently at 2025; substantial additional annual funding required to meet 2019 legislated end date

Crescent Junction disposal cell

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Moab Site Cleanup Requirements

Surface (soils) remediation• Moab site soils are being cleaned up to U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) standards in 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)192

– 5 picocuries per gram (pCi/g) in top 6 inches and 15 pCi/g in subsurface

Ground water remediation• Biological Opinion identifies a

limit of 0.3 mg/L ammonia in surface water

• Anticipate active ground water remediation to be complete concurrent with surface remediation

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Supplemental Standards

40 CFR 192 allows the development of alternate cleanup levels, or supplemental standards, based on an assessment of risk to human health and the environment for specific exposure scenarios

At Moab site, may be applied along utility corridors, under roadways, and for ground water

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Current Activities with Future in Mind

Tamarisk removal• Near ground water well field

Erosion control• Along hillside up to rail

load out area

• To assist with storm runofffrom U.S. Highway 191 and Moab Wash

Revegetation of disturbed areas with native species

Fauna study

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End State Vision

Land ownership and use• DOE will transfer ownership at completion of cleanup

– Water rights on Colorado River―Could be sold separately

• Park-like setting

Coordination with stakeholders

• Other federal agencies – National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management

– Discussing possible land transfer mechanisms and infrastructure and facilities disposition

• NRC, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Corps of Engineers

• Local government and community groups– Mill Tailings Project Steering Committee will likely act as reuse

organization to represent community’s interests

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Crescent Junction Disposal Site

Land withdrawal• 2008: 500 acres permanently transferred to DOE

• 2009: 20-year renewal of 936 acres held in temporary withdrawal, remaining 864 acres returned to public domain

Cell aligned in a east-to-west direction and roughly rectangular, about 5,200 feet long by 2,400 feet wide

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Crescent Junction Site Specifications

Cell excavated in phases; second phase begun in January Tailings thickness: 25 feet below the surrounding grade

and 25 feet aboveground Up to 10-foot-thick, multi-layered cover composed

of native soils and rock

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Crescent Junction Site LTS&M Planning

Permanent land transfer area will be fenced Disposition of 28-mile construction waterline from

Green River Standpipes to be installed

in tailings material to monitor transient drainage

Observation wells to be installed around cell perimeter

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Moab Project Information

gjem.energy.gov/moab