[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 9 (Wednesday, January 20, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E83]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              MOVE RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM COLORADO RIVER

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                           HON. GEORGE MILLER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 19, 1999

  Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California. Mr. Speaker, ten and a half million 
tons of toxic wastes generated by the now-defunct Atlas Mine are stored 
in a tailings pond located immediately adjacent to the Colorado River 
near Moab, Utah. These tailings are radioactive and contain high 
concentrations of ammonia, arsenic, lead, vanadium, selenium, mercury, 
molybdenum, nickel, and other toxic metals left by the leaching process 
used to separate uranium from ore.
  The tailings pond, built in the 1950's, is not lined, and as a 
result, these radioactive and toxic wastes are seeping down through the 
aquifer into the Colorado River. Water from the Colorado River makes up 
a significant part of the drinking water supply for Los Angeles, San 
Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson, and is used additionally to 
irrigate hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural lands. 
Moreover, the tailings pond, which has been designated as critical 
habitat for four endangered species, is situated between Canyonlands 
and Arches National Parks.
  Leaving a huge, leaking tailings pile adjacent to the Colorado River 
does not make sense. In the event of flood, the Colorado River could 
easily be contaminated. Lacking regulatory and financial alternatives, 
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is ready to approve the Atlas 
Corporation's inadequate plan to reclaim the site by simply placing a 
dirt cap over the top of the pile rather than by requiring removal to a 
safer location. This plan will not stop contamination of the Colorado 
River, which is expected to continue for hundreds of years.
  Moving the tailings will remove the source of the contamination. By 
placing the tailings in a more modern and technologically safe 
situation, the threats from earthquakes, high water, flooding will be 
eliminated. In every similar case under the jurisdiction of the 
Department of Energy, uranium tailings have been moved away from 
riverbeds to lined and protected areas. Sadly, the NRC has seems 
determined to perpetuate rather than resolve this dangerous situation 
in the case of the Atlas site.
  The National Park Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
Fish and Wildlife Service, and many state and local government agencies 
have all expressed concerns about the quality of scientific data and 
information upon which NRC decisions have been based.
  Today, Reps. Filner, Pelosi, Gutierrez, and I am introducing 
legislation to require the Department of Energy to move the tailings to 
a safe location. Once this has been accomplished, the Attorney General 
would be charged with ascertaining the extent of the Atlas Corporation 
liability, and its parent companies, to secure reimbursement as 
appropriate.

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