Utah UMTRA Sites

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The Green River, Mexican Hat, and Salt Lake City former processing sites are three 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.

GREEN RIVER, UTAH (UMTRA SITE)

The former Green River mill and tailings site covers approximately 3.6 hectares (nine acres) and is located in the east-central portion of Utah in Grand County. The site is 1.6 kilometers (one mile) southeast of the City of Green River and 113 kilometers (70 miles) west of the Utah-Colorado border. The U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range Utah Launch Complex uses most of the vacant land south and east of the site.

FACILITY MISSION

The mission of the Green River 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. Union Carbide built the mill in 1958 and operated it until 1961. Later, the mill buildings were used for assembly of missile components for the Utah Launch Complex. The State of Utah acquired ownership of the mill and tailings site in 1988.

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.

Pursuant to the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act, the Department of Energy entered into a Cooperative Agreement in 1983 with the State of Utah. The agreement outlines the roles and responsibilities of each party. It also delineates the cost sharing arrangement that makes the Department of Energy responsible for 100 percent of the assessment costs and 90 percent of the remediation costs, and the State 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 10 percent, and the State is responsible for the remaining 10 percent of these costs (one percent of the total). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission concurred on the original agreement and must concur on all major modifications.

FUTURE USE

The State of Utah currently owns the site and will participate in decisionmaking. When the Nuclear Regulatory Commission certifies the site under the Surface Project, the State of Utah will transfer the deed for the disposal cell to the Federal Government, under the custody of the Department of Energy. It will be monitored and maintained under Controlled Access in accordance with the Long-Term Surveillance Plan approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Public access to the disposal cell will be restricted. A portion of the processing site that is not used for the disposal cell of the residual radioactive material will be dispositioned pursuant to the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION

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

Surface Project

Remedial action began in 1988 and was completed in December 1989. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission certified the site in July 1992 and will license it in September 1996. The surface project cleanup involved consolidating and stabilizing the residual radioactive material in a disposal cell at the former processing site and included remediating 17 vicinity properties. Approximately 290,092 cubic meters (381,700 cubic yards) of contaminated materials were remediated.

The Green River Remedial Action Plan outlines contaminant distribution and necessary remediation. The Remedial Action Plan, which requires concurrence by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was published in March 1991. The UMTRA Surface Project will conduct surveillance and maintenance of the disposal cell after 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 Green River site, after completion of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.

This report assumes a strategy of demonstrated compliance with additional characterization of ground water. The Project will apply for a supplemental standards application from the Environmental Protection Agency because the ground water is not a current or potential source of drinking water, due to either poor quality or limited quantity. Additional data will be collected to fill data gaps and to determine the applicability of the supplemental 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 454 million liters (120 million gallons), and the contaminant plume extends offsite. The ground-water contaminants of potential concern are arsenic, manganese, molybdenum, nitrate, radium-226, selenium, sodium, sulfate, uranium, and vanadium. There are no known uses of the ground water at or near the Green River processing site. The City of Green River uses water from the Green River, upriver of the tailings site, for its water supply.

The following milestone dates have been established for planning purposes. er>

The Green River is about 610 meters (2,000 feet) west of the site and surface-water samples from the river indicate that site-related contaminated ground water is not adversely affecting surface-water quality. The 1994 monitoring data for the former processing site area does not indicate significant impacts to ground water in the alluvial sediments from uranium processing. However, historical site data indicates that contamination related to the processing site is present in the Brown*s Wash alluvium. Pools of water that may be created by the discharge of contaminated ground water into Brown* s Wash are often present downstream of the site. Sediment analysis shows processing site contamination in Brown's Wash. Sediment contamination appears to be confined to the immediate vicinity of the former processing 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 Green River site.