Moab Uranium Riding the Rails

Yesterday, the Department of Energy (DOE) reaffirmed its prior decision to relocate the uranium mill tailings predominantly by rail from Moab, Utah.  The tailings will be trained from the banks of the Colorado River 30 miles north to Crescent Junction, Utah.  DOE may still consider using truck transport under certain circumstances, but it won't be the primary mode of transportation for the contaminated pile.

This reaffirmation is good news for the Colorado River ecosystem, environmentalists, and the millions of people whose drinking water is pumped from the river.  POGO has followed this case for over 10 years, with an investigative report, letters to DOE officials, public comments to government notices, letters to Congress, and awards for good government advocates.

DOE originally projected that the site would be cleaned up by 2011, but it now estimates that the uranium tailings pile won't be moved until 2028.  However, if additional funding becomes available and some final issues are worked out with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2019 is a possibility.

Seems like Congress is steering the ship, and we can hope that a little more money flows downstream to DOE.  The longer that DOE waits, the longer the uranium pile sits eerily close to the Colorado River and leaches from the unlined pile into water supplied to millions of people in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah.  This is one case in which spending money is in the public's best interest.

-- Scott Amey