Cleaning up the uranium legacy: Utah

Comment:  No to uranium mining and milling all over the world, not needed, not wanted in the name of nuke cyle of death!

At a glance—
Cleaning up the uranium legacy

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is about halfway through its five-year program to address historic contamination from uranium mining on the Navajo Reservation, which includes the southeastern corner of Utah. Mining took place on the reservation from 1944 to 1986, and mine operators removed nearly 4 million tons of uranium ore from more than 2,000 mines.

Progress so far includes:

■Screenings of 197 abandoned uranium mines. An additional 134 site surveys should be completed by spring.

■Sampling at 235 unregulated water sources. Too much uranium was found in 27 of them.

■Plans to spend $22 million to build water systems for homes near eight contaminated water sources.

■Checking out 199 structures for potential contamination. Twenty-seven structures and 10 residential yards were demolished and excavated, and seven more are scheduled for next year. Fourteen homes were rebuilt.

Read more:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50949776-76/uranium-begay-died-epa.html.csp