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Voices from the Earth: Current Issue Report of the Church Rock Uranium Monitoring Project 2003-2007 — Executive Summary |
In support of ENDAUM-SRIC The following data tables were extracted from the written testimony of William P. Staub, Ph.D., a geophysicist and expert in uranium in situ leach mining technology. Dr. Staub is a consultant to Eastern Navajo Din, Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM) and Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC) in the groups' legal challenge of a source materials license issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to Hydro Resources, Inc. (HRI), in January 1998. HRI proposes to construct and operate the Crownpoint Uranium Project at three sites in northwestern New Mexico: Church Rock, Unit 1, and Crownpoint. All three sites are on or adjacent to Navajo lands or communities. Dr. Staub was the principal author of a 1986 NRC consultant report that evaluated performance of the uranium ISL industry during its infancy in the mid-1970s to early-1980s. In his written testimony for ENDAUM and SRIC, he described how some of the industry's early problems with solution control are still evident at uranium ISL operations today. He described recent excursion experience at several ISL mines in Wyoming and Texas and how ground-water restoration remains difficult and has taken longer than expected at operating mines in Wyoming. He concluded that to this day, there is no example of a completely restored, commercial-scale uranium ISL operation in Wyoming. Tables 1 through 5 appeared in his testimony to illustrate these points. Dr. Staub also noted there are important differences in "baseline," or "pre-mining," ground-water quality in Wyoming and Texas and at the proposed HRI sites in New Mexico. The Texas sites have significantly poorer baseline water quality, which in Dr. Staub's view, should make them easier to restore. The Wyoming sites have similar water quality to those in New Mexico, with the exception of much higher concentrations of dissolved radium-226 and uranium. His view is that baseline water quality is exceptionally high at the New Mexico sites, making them potentially very difficult, if not impossible, to restore to baseline conditions. Table 6 provides a comparison of selected ground-water quality data for ISL mines in several states. Further details on Dr. Staub's findings, and those of ENDAUM's and SRIC's other ground-water experts, Dr. Richard J. Abitz and Mr. Michael Wallace, are available from SRIC by calling 505-262-1862 or by writing SRIC at sricdon@earthlink.net. Contact people are Chris Shuey and Paul Robinson. Table 1. Partial list of monitor wells recently or currently on excursion status at
Table 2. Partial list of monitor wells recently or currently on excursion status at
Table 3. List of monitoring wells currently (as of 12/10/98)
Table 4. List of monitoring wells currently (as of 12/10/98)
Table 5. Restoration Performance at Selected
gws = groundwater sweep * COGEMA Mining, Inc., the Christensen Ranch-Irigaray operator, reported that all groundwater sweep operations at Christensen Ranch was "terminated" in July 1998 "when
COGEMA ceased all surface discharge activities. COGEMA's NPDES [National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System] permit for the discharge of restoration wastewater was reissued on July 31, 1998 with a new selenium limit of 0.05 mg/l. As COGEMA is not able to meet this limit through conventional water treatment methods, the discharge of restoration solutions stopped on July 31. . . .[T]he other wastewater disposal systems such as the disposal well and evaporation ponds are not capable of handling the additional volumes of groundwater sweep solutions. . ." (COGEMA 1998, at 7.) My interpretation of this statement is that COGEMA has suspended restoration until new disposal capacity is permitted and installed. Table 6. Average baseline groundwater quality for
*Conductivity concentration in umhos/cm; radium concentration in pCi/l. Table 7. Geometry of Orebodies, Number of Production and Injection Wells
(This table, which was derived from information submitted by HRI to the NRC Staff, was used by Dr. Staub to show that the orebodies at the Crownpoint Project are elongated, channel-like geologic structures. Mr. Wallace testified that these channels typify the heterogeneous hydrogeologic systems at the HRI sites. They have the potential to make fluid control more difficult because ground water is transmitted faster through the rocks.)
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