First Americans are doing their part by cleaning up abandoned mines on their reservations. A settlement was reached this month on cleanup of the Midnite Mine Superfund site on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Elevated levels of radioactivity posed a risk to human health and the environment. Members of the Spokane Tribe found uranium in 1954 and formed a company to obtain mining leases from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The tribal company joined with Newmont USA Ltd. to exploit the deposit. The mine operated from 1954 to 1964 and again from 1969 to 1981. Two open pit mines were created disturbing 350 acres of land. Clean up is expected to cost $193 million and take about ten years. EPA has already spent $25 million on the site.
The largest abandoned uranium mine on the Navajo Reservation, Northeast Church Rock Mine will be clean up according to a plan approved by the EPA. The 125 acre mine site which includes a 1800 shaft, waste piles and ponds, most of which is on tribal land, was operated by United Nuclear Corporation from 1967 to 1982. The multi-year clean up process will include the removal of 1.4 million tons of contaminated soil into a lined and capped depository that meets the strictest standards in the country. After the work is done, the tribe will have unrestricted use of the surface again. A high health risk is present at the site from contaminated dust and radon gas. Chronic exposure to elevated levels of radioactivity can result in anemia, cataracts, bone cancer and even death. The largest release of radioactivity in US history occurred at the mine site when an earthen dam failed in 1979 releasing radioactive tailings into the Puerco River. Environmentalists say that the spill and 20 years of untreated discharges have contributed to the the long-term contamination of the river in Arizona and New Mexico.
Albuquerque will get its first urban wildlife refuge of 570 acres along the Rio Grande River. Interior Secretary Salazar announced the designation on September 29th. The acreage is a former dairy farm and is one of the largest undeveloped tracts in metropolitan Albuquerque. It will provide habitat for the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher
[photo] as well as provide urban dwellers healthy outdoor recreation opportunity and a chance to reconnect with nature. The US Fish & Wildlife Service will complete planning studies and begin purchasing the land from the private owner, estimated to cost $20 million. The project has the enthusiastic support of state and local government. The flycatcher has lost more than 90% of its habitat to human development.
