And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: In depth: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Source: <A HREF="http://www.sltrib.com/03131999/utah/90283.htm"> http://www.sltrib.com/03131999/utah/90283.htm</A> ========================================================= March 13, 1999 NRC Rules Atlas Can Cap Uranium Tailings Near Moab Bankrupt firm can't cover cost; federal money will be requested BY JIM WOOLF THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Friday authorized Atlas Corp. to cap its uranium tailings in place on the banks of the Colorado River near Moab. Cost of the project is estimated at $16 million to $19 million. Coincidentally, negotiations in Denver on Atlas' bankruptcy revealed Friday the company has only between $9 million and $11 million that can be used on the work. "It is now utterly clear that Atlas has failed to provide the resources needed to clean up the site," said Bill Hedden, Utah conservation director for the Grand Canyon Trust. "So Congress needs to address this if we are going to resolve it." He and most of Utah's political leaders want the tailings moved to a disposal site several miles from the river to eliminate long-term concerns about contaminating the water and creating problems for four species of endangered fish. Moving the tailings would cost significantly more than capping them in place, creating an even larger financial shortfall. A bill recently was introduced in the U.S. House of Representative by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., that would pay for the Atlas pile to be moved. Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, is working on a similar measure. Bill Sinclair, director of the Utah Division of Radiation Control, said "it's no big surprise" that NRC's final environmental impact statement found capping the 10.5 million tons of radioactive dirt in place acceptable. Despite repeated complaints from wildlife officials, downstream water users in California and Arizona, and Moab residents, it has been obvious for months that NRC officials believed the tailings can be left safely on the river bank. NRC's only stipulation is that measures be taken to reduce the amount of ammonia seeping into the groundwater beneath the 10 acres of tailings to levels that pose no threat to endangered fish. Exactly how this would be done was not specified. Under normal circumstances, Atlas now would begin the cleanup using profits from past operations and money from a special "reclamation bond" that NRC requires all uranium mills to maintain in case of unforeseen economic problems. But Atlas' bankruptcy has complicated matters. And the bankruptcy negotiations show Atlas' reclamation bond is woefully inadequate, providing only about $5 million for the cleanup. While the funding shortfall is alarming, Sinclair said it could have been worse. There was a possibility that Atlas' bankruptcy would have left nothing for the cleanup. "Now there is at least some money," he said. So what next? Since there is not enough money to do any type of cleanup, nothing will happen soon at the site. In the courts, Atlas is expected within the next two weeks to transfer its assets into a trust that will be set up to pay for the cleanup. From that moment, the company will be free from any future liability and no longer involved in the cleanup. The focus then will shift to Congress, where Miller and Cannon will try to convince their colleagues to pay for moving the tailings. "The state doesn't have the money to do it. Atlas doesn't have the money to do it," said Sinclair. "We are going to have to look to the federal government." &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
