Overlooking the NECR Mine facing Northeast | Click to EnlargeThe Northeast Church Rock Mine (NECR) is a former uranium mine located at the northern end of State Highway 566 approximately 17 miles northeast of Gallup, NM in the Pinedale Chapter of the Navajo Nation. A licensed facility located off of Navajo tribal trust land has yet to be identified for the remaining highly contaminated Northeast Church Rock Mine waste material. 71, Ln. In a license amendment issued Feb. 15, the NRC authorized the company's plan to dispose of approximately 1 million cubic yards of waste from the mine at the tailings site in McKinley County, New Mexico, northeast of Gallup. The Church Rock proposal comes despite the EPA's 10-year plan requiring that traditional ecological knowledge and Din Fundamental Law , a set of . Eastern. We will come back here eventually.. This is our connection to Mother Earth. You will receive an email to confirm your address. 2015 Workshop on the Superfund Process in the Gallup Community Center. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property. The cleanup only focused on the top ~7.6 centimeters (3 inches) of the riverbed, ignoring the danger seeping further into the riverbed and contamination of groundwater. Second interim action occurred September 2012. A MOU was executed between NRC and EPA for this site in August 1988. Year Last Production: 1981 Northeast Church Rock Mine (NECR) is one of the largest mines on the Navajo Nation, NECR is the highest priority mine for cleanup due to its size as well as the location of the adjacent community. Cleanup The revised schedule for the NRC staff review is as follows: Public Comments on the Draft EIS (companion to Final EIS), A Meeting with the Navajo Tribal Community Members of the Red Water Pond Road, Discussion of the Ten-Year Plan to Address Impacts of Uranium Contamination on the Navajo Nation and Lessons Learned from the Remediation of Former Uranium Mill Sites, Follow-up to SRM-M220422AA Mtg. The team also includes a representative from the community assisted by a technical support representative from the Technical Assistance Services for Communities contract administered by EPA. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. Investigation/Cleanup. Dataset Publication Date: 2014-11-19. After the permanent repository for mine waste from NECR was designed, in September 2018, UNC/GE submitted a request (license amendment) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build the repository. LOCATION OBTAINED FROM SHEET 1 OF GEOLOGIC MAP 31 NMBMMR, 1979. The county seat and only incorporated city is Susanville. Alpha radiation can be detrimental to health over time wheningested for example viaeating or drinking contaminated material increasing the risk of developing cancer. A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. From Morning until Night, eating Chinese and Western Food Makes You Happy, A Journey of Taking Beautiful Photos! The previous reclamation plan for the TDA was reviewed and approved by NRC on March 1, 1991. The UNC Mill Site is a non-operating uranium mill and tailings disposal site located approximately 17 miles northeast of Gallup in McKinley County, New Mexico (Figure 1). Discovery Year: 1965 UNC began developing a Site Wide Supplemental Feasibility Study (SWSFS) as directed by EPA on June 24, 2005. > Sandstone, Grants Uranium District: Church Rock Subdistrict, New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, New Mexico Bureau Of Mines And Mineral Resources. Organizes periodic public meetings at local chapter houses or in Gallup, NM, Participates in regularly scheduled calls and meetings with the Red Water Pond Road Community Association, Provides technical assistance to the Red Water Pond Road Community Association through an EPA national contract, Technical Assistance Services for Communities, Presented with NNEPA and the Red Water Pond Road Community Association representatives to high school classes in Gallup, NM, Participated in the Eastern Agency Navajo Abandoned Uranium Mine Open House in April 2017, Distributed a Community Involvement Plan with input from the community in 2017, Facilitated voluntary alternative housing efforts during construction activities, Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, Navajo Nation Abandoned Mine Lands Program, Red Water Pond Road Community Association, Others as suggested by community members and local officials. Comment (Development): REPORTED TO BE A 745000 TON PER YEAR OPERATION. A monitored natural attenuation approach has been proposed for Southwest Alluvium. No. Please click here to see any active alerts. The NECR mine site is located in the Pinedale Chapter near the border of the Coyote Canyon, Churchrock, and Standing Rock Chapters, in the Eastern Agency of the Navajo Nation. However, it left a lasting imprint on the local population. In some cases, the mines were discovered only after people fell down old shafts. Subscribe today for ourWeekly Newsletterin your inbox! Urgent actions have been taken. Comment (Geology): ORE OCCURS IN THE WESTWATER CANYON MEMBER OF THE MORRISON FM. Part 2 of the SWSFS was submitted in July 2009 and the NRC commented on this technical document. On September 24, 2018, General Electric (ADAMS Accession Numbers ML18360A424 and ML18267A235) requested an amendment to their reclamation plan approved as described in License Condition 34 as well as the reclamation timelines defined in License Condition 35. These ten states contributed the most to the gold production that built the West from 1848 through the 1930s. Therefore, the mining was conducted over 1,000 feet below the ground surface accessed through two main underground shafts. In a license amendment issued Feb. 15, the NRC authorized the company's plan to dispose of approximately 1 million cubic yards of waste from the mine at the tailings site in McKinley County, New Mexico, northeast of Gallup. has spent $1 million on temporary housing for residents of Red Water Pond Road; much of that cost will be reimbursed by General Electric, which acquired the old Northeast Church Rock Mine site in 1997, and also its subsidiary company, United Nuclear Corporation, which operated the mine. The Red Water Pond Road Community Association wasn't surprised when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided to issue a license amendment allowing the United Nuclear Corporation to move toxic waste from the Northeast Church Rock mine to the company's uranium mill site near Gallup. Although the uranium mines that once pocked the hillsides were shut down decades ago, mounds of toxic waste are still piled atop the dirt, raising concerns about radioactive dust and runoff. The design review team consists of EPA Regions 6 and 9, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NNEPA, New Mexico Environmental Department (regulatory agencies), and the Department of Energy. EPA issued a Ground Water Operable Unit ROD in Sep- tember 1988 selecting a remedy for the contaminated ground water that included extraction of the ground water and treatment by evaporation. Uranium ore from the UNC mine was processed at the adjacent UNC Mill Site, located on private property across Highway 566. The mill, designed to process 4,000 tons of ore per day, extracted uranium using conventional crushing, grinding, and acid-leach solvent extraction methods. Quivira Mine. 9 min read. The group talked of their grandparents medicine men who were alive when the mines first opened and wondered what they would think about Red Water Pond Road today. Organizes periodic public meetings at local chapter houses or in Gallup, NM, Participates in regularly scheduled calls and meetings with the Red Water Pond Road Community Association, Provides technical assistance to the Red Water Pond Road Community Association through an EPA national contract, Technical Assistance Services for Communities, Presented with NNEPA and the Red Water Pond Road Community Association representatives to high school classes in Gallup, NM, Participated in the Eastern Agency Navajo Abandoned Uranium Mine Open House in April 2017, Distributed a Community Involvement Plan with input from the community in 2017, Facilitated voluntary alternative housing efforts during construction activities, Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, Navajo Nation Abandoned Mine Lands Program, Red Water Pond Road Community Association, Others as suggested by community members and local officials. The milling of uranium ore produced an acidic slurry of ground waste rock and fluid (tailings) that was pumped to the tailings disposal area. However, in the early hours of July 16, 1979, the river raged with a radioactive flood the largest accidental release of radioactive material in United States history. How come you havent prayed to have this all fixed up?, Amid Toxic Waste, a Navajo Village Could Lose Its Land, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/20/us/nestled-amid-toxic-waste-a-navajo-village-faces-losing-its-land-forever.html. The proposal is part of a longstanding U.S. Environmental Protection Agency effort to clean up the Northeast Church Rock mine site, which was contaminated during mining operations from 1967 to 1982. But before the latest round of cleanup can begin, an application to remove the waste pile must be submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which will then conduct environmental and safety reviews. UNCs mining at Church Rock stopped in 1982 after it was no longer profitable. Age Type: Host Rock An ephemeral drainage channel, Pipeline Arroyo, runs along the western edge of the tailings cells. October 2009 - Overlooking the NECR mine facing Northeast. This soil was brought back to the mine site waste pile which was regraded, covered, and vegetated to stabilize the contamination during the long planning process for the much larger cleanup of approximately 1.4 million tons of contaminated soil on the NECR Mine Site. Northeast Church Rock (NECR) Mine Site Update (PDF) (2 pp, 419 K, January 2020) This fact sheet provides site history and update of the cleanup progress of Northeast Church Rock Mine. UNC is a wholly owned indirect subsidiary corporation of the General Electric Company. North Central. The uranium ore body is located up to 1,800 feet below grade at the NECR Mine Site. On February 15, 2023, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a license amendment to United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) authorizing the placement of waste from the Northeast Church Rock mine site at the UNC mill site. Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem. UNC was aware of cracks forming from at least 1977. EPA completed and put out for public comments the Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis. Some residents wondered as they have for years now if the land will ever really be clean. JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. Abstract: 2010 water sample results of unregulated livestock water sources near the NECR uranium mine. The project includes improvements to the existing tailings impoundment and nearby infrastructure. Evaluation of Cleanup options in 2013. It is important to note that most of the local population was Indigenous, mostly Navajo. The Church Rock uranium mill site is licensed by the commission and it's a Superfund site identified and listed by the United States' EPA. Meteorite Hunters Using Magnets Wiped Our Best Chance To Confirm Mars Ancient Magnetic Field, New Chapter Of The Bible Found Hidden Inside 1,750-Year-Old Text, These Giant Caves Were Not Made By Geological Processes Or Humans, First-Ever Image Of Black Hole Has Been Sharpened By AI And Its Incredible, This Small, Vibrating Bracelet Might Change Your Life, Don't Travel Without These CES-Featured Translation Earbuds, Stay Warm in a Blackout with this CES-Featured Power Station, The Ancient Persians Built Windmills Over 1,000 Years Ago That Still Work Today, A Day In The Life Of An Ancient Egyptian Doctor, Listen To The Sounds Of Ancient Languages Being Spoken, From Egyptian To Aztec. Ton PER YEAR OPERATION an email to confirm your address was processed at the NECR mine facing Northeast,... 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