Bond Puts Dawn Step Closer Action Required For Firm To Fill Ford Pit With Radioactive Dirt

Wed., June 4, 1997

By Karen Dorn Steele karend@spokesman.com

Dawn Mining Co. has posted a $14 million bond with Washington state to cover the cost of closing its defunct uranium mill near Ford.

Putting the money under the state’s control was required in the company’s 1995 license from the Washington Department of Health to import millions of cubic feet of slightly radioactive dirt to fill the big pit.

Dawn originally said it would import up to 30 million cubic feet, but is now saying it’s looking for 20 million cubic feet over five years.

Environmental groups have criticized Dawn for waiting more than a year to post the bond.

During an April visit to Spokane, Health Secretary Bruce Miyahara said he wouldn’t wait much longer for the money and had asked the attorney general’s office “to look into how much time we ought to give them.”

But even with the bond in place, Dawn still has no firm deals with the federal government or private companies for uranium rubble to fill the hole.

“Posting the bond allows us to go ahead. But we have no contracts at this point,” said David Delcour, Dawn’s executive vice president in Denver.

Citing safety risks, Spokane County and city officials passed resolutions this year opposing Dawn’s plans to unload the dirt in Spokane and haul it by truck to Ford.

Meanwhile, the Washington Department of Transportation is evaluating the impact of the project on Eastern Washington highways.

The Spokane Indian tribe and a grass-roots environmental group, Dawn Watch, have raised questions about the safety of the project’s preferred route from Spokane along Highway 2 to Reardan and north to Ford on Highway 231.

In addition to the $14 million bond, Dawn has already spent more than $6 million on the closure project, Delcour said.

The money’s been spent on a ground-water treatment system, evaporation ponds to rid the site of millions of gallons of water in the tailings ponds, and other closure costs.

Dawn, a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Co. of Denver, also is responsible for cleaning up the nearby Midnite Mine on the Spokane Indian Reservation, which provided raw material for the mill at Ford.

That project will be perhaps 10 times more costly: Current estimates range up to $200 million.

The $14 million bond is expected to cover the costs of closing the mill. But if Dawn makes more than $14 million on its import contracts, any excess funds must go into a trust fund for the Midnite Mine cleanup, according to an agreement with the state.

, DataTimes

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