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Facing criticism, EPA withdraws uranium-mining cleanup rule
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Water sampling -- In this Sept. 14, 2004, file photo, Smith Ranch-Highland employee, April Frausto, samples water for contamination, at a monitoring well on the perimeter of the uranium mining zone 30 miles north of Douglas, Wyo. The Environmental Protection Agency is reconsidering plans to require groundwater at former uranium mines to be restored to conditions similar to those that existed before mining began. (AP/Robert Black, File)
T
he Environmental Protection Agency will reconsider whether to require groundwater at former uranium mines to be restored to conditions similar to those that existed before mining began, a plan that has faced criticism from Republicans in Congress.
The proposed rule withdrawn Wednesday involves a process known as in-situ mining, in which water containing chemicals is used to dissolve uranium out of underground sandstone deposits. Water laden with uranium is then pumped to the surface and no digging or tunneling takes place.
The uranium occurs in the rock naturally but the process contaminates groundwater with uranium in concentrations much higher than natural levels. Mining companies take several measures to prevent uranium-tainted water from seeping out of the immediate mining area.
Even so, underground leaks known as excursions sometimes occur, though most in-situ uranium mines are located away from population centers. No in-situ uranium mine has contaminated a source of drinking water, the industry and its allies assert.
Wyoming's Republican US Sens. John Barrasso and Mike Enzi praised the EPA decision to reconsider, saying the rule was unnecessarily burdensome for the uranium industry. Wyoming has five active in-situ uranium mines and is the top uranium-producing state.
"In-situ uranium recovery has been used in the United States for decades, providing valuable jobs to Wyoming and clean energy to the nation," Enzi said in a release. "I rarely say this about the EPA, but the agency made the right decision."
Along with setting new cleanup standards, the rule would have required companies to monitor their former in-situ mines for potentially decades. The rule, which had been set for implementation, now will be opened up for a six-month public comment period.
EPA officials didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Environmentalists and others say uranium mining companies have yet to show they can fully clean up groundwater at a former in-situ mine. Clean groundwater shouldn't be taken for granted, they say, especially in the arid and increasingly populated West.
"We are of course disappointed that this final rule didn't make it to a final stage. It was designed to address a very real and pressing problem regarding water protection at uranium mines," said Shannon Anderson with the Powder River Basin Resource Council.
The EPA rule is scheduled for further consideration in President-elect Donald Trump's administration.
The basin in northeast Wyoming has three in-situ uranium mines and several associated facilities. Other in-situ uranium mines are active in Nebraska and Texas.
In-situ uranium mining surged on record prices that preceded the 2011 tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. Prices lately have sunk to decade lows, prompting layoffs.
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Follow Mead Gruver at https://twitter.com/meadgruver (**)
