Dawn Mining Debris Plan Drawing Ire Of Legislators Locke’s Tour Of Site Pleases Opponents Of Radioactive Waste Fill

Dawn Mining Co. should fill its stadium-sized pit in Ford, Wash., with good, clean dirt hauled by Washington truckers - not radioactive debris carted from across the country, one Eastern Washington legislator suggests.

And if that plan fails, Spokane County should at least get to charge the mine for the damage 48,000 truckloads of waste would do to area roads, another senator said.

The mining company’s plan to cover $20 million in reclamation costs by hauling in mildly toxic uranium tailings from as far away as New York has a few state lawmakers burning.

Sen. Bob Morton, R-Orient, and Sen. Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, are pushing bills to outlaw or further regulate the plan.

Meanwhile, Gov. Gary Locke and his health secretary, Bruce Miyahara, toured the site Tuesday and met with players on both sides of the dispute.

But whether this rush of activity signals any changes to the cleanup program remains to be seen.

Locke’s staff said the governor was just fulfilling a promise to visit the site, but Brown, who has urged him to rethink the state’s acceptance of the plan, views the tour as a “good sign.”

John Erickson, a state health department worker in the radiation protection division, said only that the department “continues to look into all concerns,” while a mining company lobbyist characterized the legislative proposals as merely the latest in a string of failed efforts to sabotage their plans.

The debate revolves around the mining company’s plan to contract with the federal government to use tailings leftover from the Manhattan Project of the 1940s as cleanup fill.

Although its parent company, Newmont Mining Co., is the largest in North America, Dawn Mining says it’s broke and could not otherwise afford the cleanup. That could leave the state financially responsible.

Morton called that “holding Washington taxpayers hostage with a ransom note.” He said his bill would require the fill material be waste-free and trucked to Ford, in southern Stevens County, from within a 45-mile radius.

“It’s part of my continued vigilance in fighting the federal government’s buying of $60 claw hammers or shipping contaminated dirt clear across the nation to fill a hole in Washington,” Morton said. “We’ve got good clean dirt right here that can be obtained by using Washington machinery - Washington trucks and Washington bulldozers operated by Washington workers.”

The company could pay for the cleanup using bonds it must post before obtaining federal contracts, he said.

Company lobbyist Linda Hull said that’s probably not legal and company spokesman Richard Milne said it shouldn’t matter since the state already approved the project.

“We are trying to responsibly address a problem that has been through numerous public hearings, environmental review and court review and upheld in every venue,” he said.

Brown’s proposal would allow Spokane to charge an impact fee if it established criteria that indicated company trucks were adding wear and tear to the roads. The company expects to ship up to 38 truckloads a day, carrying 60,000 pounds of uranium dirt, 260 days a year, for up to five years.

If the company’s plan comes to fruition, Spokane County will need the money, Commissioner John Roskelley said.

Morton has signed on to Brown’s plan, and both are set for a hearing next week before the committee he chairs.

He expects the company, using some of the state’s highest paid lobbyists, to put up a fight, but said he can win if residents rally behind him.

“I’m hoping I have the best chance, but that will only be if the citizens of this state rise up and say ‘This is wrong,”’ he said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo; Map of Dawn Mining Company mine site