Oregon UMTRA Site

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The Lakeview 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.

LAKEVIEW, OREGON (UMTRA SITE)

The former Lakeview mill and tailings site is located in south-central Oregon, approximately 26 kilometers (16 miles) north of the California-Oregon border and 155 kilometers (96 miles) east of Klamath Falls, Oregon. The tailings pile covered approximately 12 hectares (30 acres) of the 104-hectare (258-acre) site. Six evaporation ponds occupied another 26 hectares (64 acres).

FACILITY MISSION

The mission of the 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 Lakeview uranium mill was built in 1958 and was operated by the Lakeview Mining Company. Uranium ore was processed at the mill from 1958 to 1961. In 1968, the mill site was acquired by the Atlantic Richfield Company, which began a cleanup operation in 1974. By 1977, the mill buildings and the surrounding areas had been decontaminated to meet State regulations then in effect. The mill was sold in 1978 to the Precision Pine Company, which used the site as a lumber mill and a stockpile facility for sawdust and scrap waste.

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

Remedial action at the processing site was performed under a Remedial Action Agreement with Lake County, the owner site. Under the terms of the Remedial Action Agreement, beneficial use of the site will be returned to the owners upon Nuclear Regulatory Commission certification of compliance with Subpart B of the Environmental Protection Agency ground-water protection standards. Some restricted use will be allowed following certification of

surface cleanup. The future use of the site is unknown, but this report assumes it will be Industrial/Commercial. The disposal site will remain under the control of the Federal Government, and will be monitored and maintained in accordance with the Long-Term Surveillance Plan approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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

Surface remedial action was completed at the processing site in October 1989, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission certified it in September 1993. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed the disposal site in September 1995 and transferred it to the Grand Junction Projects Office's Long-Term Surveillance and Maintenance program in September 1995.

Remedial action of the Lakeview site, which began in June 1986, involved relocating approximately 716,680 cubic meters (943,000 cubic yards) of residual radioactive materials to the Collins Ranch disposal site, located approximately 11 kilometers (seven miles) northwest of Lakeview. Relocation was required because possible seismic and geothermal activity in the area precluded stabilizing the residual radioactive material in place.

Ground-Water Compliance Project

The Department is developing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement pertaining to all 24 UMTRA sites. For a discussion of this 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 Lakeview site once the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement is completed.

This report assumes a demonstrated compliance strategy with additional characterization and application of supplemental ground-water standards for the Lakeview site. For all types of ground-water compliance strategies, once the Nuclear Regulatory Commission determines that the site is 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 2.8 billion liters (727 million gallons), and the contaminant plume extends offsite. The ground-water contaminants of potential concern are arsenic, boron, cadmium, chloride, iron, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, polonium-210, sodium, sulfate, and uranium.

The following milestone dates have been established for planning purposes.

In 1994, under the UMTRA Ground-water Project, ground-water samples were collected at the former Lakeview processing site to monitor water quality changes that have occurred since the removal of the tailings pile, evaporation ponds, and associated contaminated soil. To assess the extent of ground-water contamination caused by former processing activities, the baseline/ground-water quality was compared to the background ground-water quality and the Environmental Protection Agency UMTRA maximum concentrations limits.

Total dissolved solids and sulfate, arsenic and molybdenum were selected as indicator parameters because they have historically exceeded the maximum concentration limits. Manganese, iron, vanadium, nickel, tin, and zinc also were analyzed to assess potential risks to human health and the environment. Major cationic and anionic constituents and the field parameters were analyzed to track changes in background and baseline ground-water quality and in contaminant migration.

Sulfate appears to define best the extent of site-related contamination in ground water. The distribution of sulfate concentration data suggests that separate contaminated areas are associated with the location of the former tailings pile and evaporation ponds. Different types of background ground water (nongeothermal or geothermal) also influenced these areas.

Proposed additional data collection will focus on site-specific hydrogeologic and geochemical conditions, and ground-water quality. These conditions are located in an area that is naturally affected by geothermal sources and salt leaching from soils and logging debris fill, which has contributed to the natural degradation of the environment in the area. Ground water at the site is not currently used. Some residents in the vicinity use municipal water supplies, others use wells, and others use bottled water because of the naturally poor water quality.

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 Lakeview site.