nuclear-news

Federal Uranium Contamination Rule Withdrawn, Wyoming Public Media By COOPER MCKIM • OCT 23, 2018 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has withdrawn a proposed rule that would limit contamination of groundwater from uranium mining long-term. The regulation was proposed on former President Barack Obama’s last day in office.The form of mining is called in-situ recovery (ISR); it’s the only technique used in Wyoming. It retrieves uranium from aquifers by drilling an injection well and then using liquid to mobilize it and produce it. The problem is that same mobilization technique brings out other chemicals and heavy metals like lead, arsenic, and mercury. Those contaminate the aquifer water and potentially seep into other groundwaters.

The proposed rule under Obama would have set standards requiring operators to do long-term monitoring of groundwater conditions while lowering how much of eachchemical is allowed. Both would be stricter than Wyoming’s current standards. The federal version would require quarterly monitoring over three years rather than one ensuring contaminant concentrations remained at pre-mine levels. ……

The National Resource Defense Council found no groundwater near ISR mines have been returned to pre-mine conditions.http://www.wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/federal-uranium-contamination-rule-withdrawn#stream/0