Durango, Colorado (Umtra Site)

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COLORADO UMTRA SITES

The Durango, Grand Junction, Gunnison, Maybell, Naturita, Rifle (Old and New) and Slick Rock (Old North Continent and Union Carbide) former processing sites are nine of 24 uranium mill processing sites designated by the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act for remediation by the Department of Energy. During the 1960s private firms processed most of the uranium ore mined in the United States for the Atomic Energy Commission, a predecessor of the Department of Energy. Congress passed the Act in 1978 in response to public concern regarding potential health hazards from long-term exposure to uranium mill tailings. It authorized the Department of Energy to stabilize, dispose of, and control uranium mill tailings and other contaminated material at 24 uranium mill processing sites and vicinity properties. For a general discussion of the UMTRA Program, see the overview presented in the New Mexico section of this report.

The cost estimate model used for this report provides costs for each of the UMTRA sites. All costs for waste management activities, program management, and relevant landlord activities attributable to the Department are provided for within the scope of environmental restoration. There are no Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act sites with either current or planned nuclear material and facility stabilization activity needs. Funding for all sites is 100 percent nondefense.

Pursuant to the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act, the Department of Energy entered into a Cooperative Agreement in 1982 with the State of Colorado. The agreement outlines the roles and responsibilities of each party. It also delineates the cost sharing arrangement that states that the Department of Energy is responsible for 100 percent of the assessment costs and 90 percent of the remediation costs, and the state is responsible for the remaining 10 percent of the remediation costs. In addition, the Department of Energy is responsible for paying 90 percent of the state*s costs. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission concurred on the original agreement and is required to concur on all major modifications thereafter.

DURANGO, COLORADO (UMTRA SITE)

The former Durango uranium processing site is located just outside the city limits of Durango in southwest Colorado. The site is bordered on the east by the Animas River, on the north by Lightner Creek, and on the southwest by Smelter Mountain. Two tailings piles were located on the 59-hectare (147-acre) site. Prior to the cleanup, the two tailings piles contained approximately 912,000 cubic meters (1.2 million cubic yards) of contaminated material and covered four hectares (ten acres) of the site. The mill site and ore storage area covered about 20 hectares (eight acres). The raffinate pond area was located nearly 0.8 kilometers (one-half mile) southeast of the millsite and covered about six hectares (15 acres).

FACILITY MISSION

The mission of the Durango mill site was to provide uranium for the United States Government. The source of contamination was the residual tailings that remained after the milling process extracted the uranium. The original mill was built on the site of an old lead smelter that operated from 1880 to 1930. The Vanadium Corporation of America designed and built the mill in 1942 to furnish vanadium during World War II. In 1943, Vanadium Corporation reprocessed the vanadium tailings to recover uranium for use in the Manhattan Project. The original mill operated until 1946 and was then shut down until 1949 when Vanadium Corporation of America contracted to sell uranium to the Atomic Energy Commission. Vanadium Corporation of America leased and then later purchased the property. Plant operation continued until March 1963, when the mill was shut down permanently. Various owners held the property until 1990, when the State of Colorado was granted ownership of the site.

The Environmental Management program is responsible for cleaning up surface- and ground-water contamination at the UMTRA sites. The Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act designated the residual radioactive material found at this site for cleanup and stabilization. The Act directed the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate standards (Code of Federal Regulations Title 40, Part 192) and the Department of Energy to perform the cleanup. It also assigned the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to oversee and certify the cleanup, as well as license the completed disposal cell.

FUTURE USE

Following concurrence by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regarding the adequacy of the processing site cleanup, control of the site will revert to the State, for future use as deemed appropriate by the State and local authorities, pursuant to the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act. This report assumes future use of the site to be unrestricted once the ground-water project is complete. The disposal site will remain in the control of the Federal Government and will be monitored and maintained in accordance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved Long-Term Surveillance Plan.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

Surface remediation action has been completed, and the source of contamination has been stabilized. However, residual milling-related contaminated ground water remains.

Surface Project

Remedial action was completed in May 1991 at the Durango former processing site. All contaminated materials were relocated to an isolated disposal site in Bodo Canyon, Colorado. Approximately 1.9 million cubic meters (2.5 million cubic yards) of residual radioactive materials were remediated, including remediation of 129 vicinity properties. The disturbed areas of the site were backfilled with uncontaminated soil to a level compatible with the surrounding terrain, recontoured to promote surface drainage, and revegetated. Site certification by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is scheduled for March 1996, and Bodo Cell Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing is expected in June 1996.

The Durango Remedial Action Plan, which was concurred upon by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in December 1994, outlines the contaminant distribution and remediation needed. The UMTRA Surface Project will conduct surveillance and maintenance of the disposal cell after the completion of remedial action and prior to its transfer to the Grand Junction Projects Office's Long-Term Surveillance and Maintenance program in FY 1996.

Ground-Water Compliance Project

The Department is developing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement pertaining to all 24 UMTRA sites. For a discussion of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, see the UMTRA program narrative in the New Mexico section of this report. Site-specific National Environmental Policy Act documentation will be developed to propose an appropriate ground-water compliance strategy and reasonable alternatives for the Durango site once the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement is complete.

This report assumes a natural flushing ground-water compliance strategy. With this approach, contamination concentrations can be reduced naturally to maximum, background, or alternate concentration limits within 100 years, as established in the Environmental Protection Agency standards. For all types of ground-water compliance strategies, once the Nuclear Regulatory Commission determines the site to be in compliance with Subpart B of the Environmental Protection Agency Standards and the site is certified, no additional long-term surveillance or monitoring will be conducted.

The total volume of contaminated ground water is estimated to be 984 million liters (260 million gallons), and the contaminant plume extends offsite. The ground-water contaminants of potential concern are antimony, cadmium, lead, manganese, molybdenum, selenium, sodium, sulfate, uranium, vanadium, chloride, arsenic, and thallium.

The following milestone dates have been established for planning purposes.

Ground water at the former mill tailings area moves toward the Animas River. The Animas River does not recharge the local aquifer. Ground-water samples collected in previous years from the wells downgradient of the processing site show the ground water is contaminated as a result of former uranium milling activities. Hydrogeologic information on the aquifer characteristics, however, indicates that the amount of ground water discharging to the Animas River is small relative to the flow in the river.

During the first ten years of remediation, verification monitoring will be performed to ensure that natural flushing is working as predicted. The data collected during this phase will be provided to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a confirmation report. Upon acceptance of the confirmation report, the site will be turned over to the Grand Junction Projects Office's Long-Term Surveillance and Maintenance program. This program will conduct "compliance monitoring" for up to 90 years. When maximum concentration limits or background or alternate concentration limits have been achieved, a certification report will be prepared to close out all Department of Energy involvement at this site.

Direct Program Management/Support

Program management supports management efforts for the National Environmental Policy Act process, site characterization and licensing, public information/participation, applicable state and federal regulator costs, quality assurance audits, program and management support for the technical assistance contractor, special studies, document control, technical assistance contractor site and technical management, cost and schedule controls, planning and preparation of the federal budget, and the Environmental Management Progress Tracking System.

FUNDING ESTIMATE

The following table presents estimated funding information for the Durango site.