Lowman, Idaho (Umtra Site)

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The Lowman former processing site is one 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.

LOWMAN, IDAHO (UMTRA SITE)

The Lowman millsite, which covers 15 hectares (37 acres), is located approximately 121 kilometers (75 miles) northeast of Boise, Idaho, in the Boise National Forest. It is 0.8 kilometers (one-half mile) northwest of the Town of Lowman. When the remedial action project started, piles of radioactive tailings were scattered over a two-hectare (five-acre) parcel of the site. Other contaminated areas on the site included the millyard, ore storage area, evaporation ponds, and wind-borne and water-borne contaminated material. The total amount of contaminated material onsite was more than 95,760 cubic meters (126,000 cubic yards).

FACILITY MISSION

The mission of the Lowman mill site was to provide uranium for the United States Government. The source of contamination was the residual tailings remaining after the uranium was extracted during the milling process. Parker Brothers Corporation of Boise was the original owner of the site, operating the mill from 1955 until 1960. Following mill shutdown, Velsicol Chemical Corporation, formerly known as the Michigan Chemical Corporation purchased the site. The State of Idaho owned the site, but title has been transferred to the Federal Government.

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 and license the completed disposal cell.

FUTURE USE

The Federal Government owns the Lowman disposal site, which is under the custody of the Department of Energy. The Department will monitor and maintain the disposal cell under Controlled Access in accordance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved Long-term Surveillance Plan. Under the provisions of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act, public access to the disposal site is restricted.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

Surface remedial action has been completed, and the source of contamination has been stabilized. There is no contaminated ground water at this site.

Surface Project

Residual radioactive material (tailings and other contaminated materials) from the processing site was stabilized on site in a controlled, engineered disposal cell to preclude further release of contaminants into the environment, including the ground water. Surface remedial action was completed in June 1992, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed the site in September 1994. The disposal site was transferred to the Grand Junction Projects Office's Long-Term Surveillance and Maintenance program in March 1995.

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 the report. Site-specific National Environmental Policy Act documentation will be developed to propose an appropriate ground-water compliance strategy and reasonable alternatives for the Lowman site once the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement is completed.

This report assumes that the Lowman site will follow a No Further Action ground-water compliance strategy. For all types of ground-water compliance strategies, once the site is determined by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to be in compliance with Subpart B of the Environmental Protection Agency Standards and it is certified, no additional long-term surveillance or monitoring will be conducted.

Results of ground-water monitoring in 1994 at the Lowman disposal site indicate that there is no contamination of ground water. The UMTRA project site characterization program conducted by the Department of Energy at the Lowman site included extensive hydrogeological investigations involving seventeen five-centimeter (two-inch) monitoring wells.

In May 1994, ground-water samples were collected from two background monitoring wells upgradient of the disposal cell and four monitoring (point-of-compliance) wells downgradient of the disposal cell. Parameters selected for analysis included antimony, barium, chromium, lead, molybdenum, nitrate, uranium, and radionuclides.

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 Lowman site.