EPA outlines uranium cleanup

Tons of mildly radioactive discards from a Cold War-era uranium mine on the Spokane Indian Reservation would be cleaned up under a newly proposed Superfund plan released this week.

Approximate cost of the Midnite Mine cleanup: $152 million.

If the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency prevails in a recent natural resource damages lawsuit against Dawn Mining Co. and its parent Newmont Mining Co., the companies that profited from the mine, the cleanup cost won’t be borne by taxpayers through the government’s Superfund account, according to the EPA’s project manager.

“We hope it’s not going to be paid for by the federal government,” said Ellie Hale of the EPA’s regional headquarters in Seattle.

The Midnite Mine operated from 1955 to 1981, except for four years in the late 1960s. It was named for the midnight discovery on Lookout Mountain of the richest uranium lode in the Pacific Northwest by twin brothers John and Jim LeBret on April 4, 1954. The brothers, one-eighth Spokane Indians, became millionaires, along with other early investors. But the tribe was left with a toxic mess.

The open-pit mine covered about 350 acres leased by the Dawn Mining Co. from the Spokane Tribe.

More than 33 million tons of rock were blasted to reach the uranium ore. The operation changed surface water and groundwater flow and resulted in acid rock drainage, a threat to water quality and fish. Two deep pits were left open after the price of uranium fell and mining stopped.

Site contaminants include radioactive radium-226, uranium-234, uranium-238 and lead-210. High sulfate levels provide evidence of acid drainage, according to EPA site studies under way since 1999.

Tribal officials worked to educate the EPA on the ways tribal members use reservation resources for cultural, spiritual and subsistence purposes, said Shannon Work, the Spokane Tribe’s attorney.

“The tribe sees EPA’s plan as being generally protective, but it leaves open a couple of technical questions,” Work said. The tribe is still questioning whether sludge left over from treatment of the mine wastes should be disposed of on the reservation, Work said.

Most of the mine’s tainted runoff flows into Blue Creek, which discharges into the Spokane River arm of Lake Roosevelt.

Dawn Mining has collected and treated much of the contaminated water, reducing the pollution discharged to surface water, but the drainages and Blue Creek still show ongoing contamination, the EPA says.

Under an EPA order, Dawn recently cleaned up ore spilled from haul trucks along the road between the mine and the town of Ford, where the ore was processed at Dawn’s mill. The spilled ore was deposited at the Midnite Mine and will be included in the cleanup.

David Delcour, Dawn Mining Co. president, didn’t return a call seeking comment on the EPA’s proposed plan.

EPA’s “preferred alternative” for the cleanup calls for:

• Removing rocks, sediments and gravel from the surface of the mine and putting the waste in two open pits;

• Covering the waste with clean soil and planting native plants over the disturbed areas;

• Pumping water entering the pits to a water treatment plant at or near the site, treating it to remove contaminants and piping the effluent to a nearby stream or river;

• Disposing of sludge from the treatment plant in an engineered landfill;

• And preventing human exposure to contaminated water until safe cleanup levels are met.

The EPA has scheduled three public meetings at the Spokane Tribe’s Longhouse in Wellpinit to discuss the cleanup plan. The first sessions are from 1 to 3 and 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 19. A formal public comment period is scheduled 4 to 6 p.m. Nov. 2.

For questions about the project, contact Ellie Hale, EPA project manager, at 800-424-4372 or at hale.ellie@epa.gov or Renee Dagseth, EPA community involvement coordinator, at 800-424-4372 or at dagseth.renee@epa.gov.