Dawn Prepares Pits To Take Uranium Tailings Toxic Water Moved Out So Mine Can Sell Space For Mill Waste

Dawn Mining Co. began pumping 138 million gallons of acidic, radioactive water out of a 28-acre disposal pit so that it will be ready late next spring to receive out-of-state uranium mill tailings.

The contaminated water is going into five shallow, plastic-lined evaporation ponds that cover 97 acres. The terraced evaporation ponds were built next to the disposal pit this summer at a cost of $4 million.

Dawn officials hope the work will convince federal officials to award them a contract to dispose of slightly radioactive uranium mill tailings from urban areas. State Health Secretary Bruce Miyahara authorized the disposal plan so Dawn could raise money to clean up its abandoned uranium mill at Ford.

There is no bond to pay for the cleanup because of inadequate environmental laws when the mill opened in 1957. Dawn now is nearly bankrupt and state officials were pessimistic about their chances of forcing Dawn’s parent, Newmont Mining of Denver, to pay.

Newmont advanced funds to build the evaporation ponds, and is gambling that legal challenges won’t stop the project and prevent the company from recovering the money.

A coalition of environmental organizations, called Dawn Watch, and the Spokane Tribe have filed a lawsuit against the state Health Department for licensing the cleanup plan. Dawn Watch says it makes no sense to clean up contamination with contamination, and the Spokane Tribe is concerned about water quality in nearby Chamokane Creek, which flows onto tribal land.

The tribe has asked a state Health Department review judge to reconsider her decision earlier this month to reject the tribe’s challenge of the environmental impact statement that led to approval of the plan.

Tribal attorney Shannon Work, of Coeur d’Alene, said Review Judge Colleen Klein has promised an answer early next month. Work said the tribe has not decided whether to add the impact-statement issue to the pending lawsuit if Klein stands by her decision.

Although Klein said the scientific analysis in the impact statement was adequate, the tribe disagrees.

“We don’t think they understand the site well enough to know whether activities that are occurring today at the site are going to contaminate the lowermost aquifer that the tribe is depending on for water supply,” Work said.

Ground water at the Dawn mill feeds Chamokane Creek, known as Tshimakain Creek on the reservation. The creek supplies water for the tribal fish hatchery among other uses.

In addition to concerns about increased contamination of the creek, Work said the tribe fears water volume in the creek may be jeopardized by a plan to clean up underground contamination at the mill by pumping ground water into the new evaporation ponds.

“We want it recognized that the tribe has senior rights to what water is left after the pumping,” Work said.

If reduced flow caused use restrictions, “perhaps that burden should be shared by the other users,” Work said.

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