Success Stories - Siting Renewable Energy on Contaminated Land
New Rifle Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) Title I Site, Colorado
Solar to Power the Rifle Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility at Former Uranium Processing Site
Site Description
The New Rifle Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation
Control Act (UMTRCA) Title I site is located
approximately two miles southwest of the City of
Rifle, Colorado. The Colorado River defines its
southern boundary. The site is the chosen location of
Rifle's proposed Energy Innovation Center—an
innovative industrial cluster that will promote bio-
based industry development and pioneering energy
technologies and provide quality, reliable, and clean
power sources to the community and local industry.
The first installation of clean energy technology on
this site is a 12-acre, 1.7 megawatt (MW) solar zero
emission solar energy system to power Rifle's new
$23.2 million Regional Wastewater Reclamation
Facility, which is also located on the site.
Property History
The New Rifle mill, owned and operated by Union
Carbide Corporation (UCC), produced uranium and
vanadium concentrates, processed tailings and
uranium ore, and refined upgrade products from 1958
to 1970—which 96 percent of the uranium produced
during this time was sold to the Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC), while all of the mill's vanadium
production was delivered to the commercial market.
During the period, the mill averaged 400 tons of ore
per day (TPD) throughput and treated a total of 1.8 million tons of ore. At the termination of UCC's last
AEC-procurement contract (December 1970), there were about 2.5 million tons of radioactive tailings
impounded at the New Rifle Mill site. The mill continued to produce uranium during 1971 and 1972
for the commercial market, and part of the mill was used to produce vanadium concentrate from 1973
to 1984.
From years of these milling operations, the site became contaminated with radioactive tailings, and the
groundwater with arsenic, molybdenum, nitrate, selenium, uranium, and vanadium. In 1978, Congress
passed the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) that required the cleanup of 24
inactive uranium ore processing sites, including the New Rifle site by the U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE). The site under UMTRCA was purchased for cleanup by the State, while DOE performed the
cleanup of surface and groundwater contamination at the site. Encapsulation of radioactive materials in
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission-approved disposal cells began in spring 1992 and was completed
in October 1996. The site's groundwater contamination is being treated by natural flushing in
conjunction with institutional controls and monitoring. The State of Colorado transferred ownership of
the site to the City of Rifle, Colorado in 2004.
QUICK FACTS:
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Current Status:
EPA Region 8, Garfield County, CO
130 Acres
City of Rifle, CO
Uranium and vanadium processing site
Arsenic, molybdenum, nitrate,
selenium, uranium, and vanadium
DOE Uranium Mine Tailings
Remediation Act (UMTRA)
Solar PV
Not publicly available
U.S. Department of Energy Office of
Legacy Management, State of
Colorado Department of Public Health
and Environment, Garfield County, CO,
SunEdison
Under construction, 2009 completion
(1.7 MW Solar PV system only)
CONTACT: Richard P. Bush, DOE Office of Legacy Management, Site Manager: (970) 248-6073, richard.bush@lm.doe.gov
Matt Sturgeon, City of Rifle, CO, Rifle Energy Innovation Center: (970) 625-6224, msturgeon@rifleco.org
To learn more about siting renewable energy on contaminated land, visit: www.epa.gov/renewableenergyland
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Success Stories - Siting Renewable Energy on Contaminated Land
New Rifle Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) Title I Site, Colorado
Solar to Power the Rifle Regional Wastewater Reclamation Facility at Former Uranium Processing Site
Renewable Energy Development
The City of Rifle began construction of its new
wastewater reclamation facility on the UMTRCA
Title I site in December 2008. SunEdison, LLC (the
largest solar energy provider in North America) began
installation of a 1.72 MW Direct Current (DC) solar
photovoltaic (PV) system on 12 acres of the site in
December 2008. The system will provide 60 percent
of the daylight power needed to operate Rifle's
wastewater reclamation facility. On a nearby site,
SunEdison installed a 0.60 MW DC PV solar system
that provides 100 percent of the power needed to
pump drinking water for local residents from the
Colorado River. During their first complete year of
operation, these two systems will produce more than
4 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean solar energy,
and more than 75 million kWh over 20 years—
enough energy to power 7,039 homes for a year. Over
the first 20 years of generation, the two zero-emission
systems will offset more than 152 million Ibs. of
carbon dioxide that would have been emitted during
the production of electricity from fossil fuels. In
addition to solar energy, a geothermal system will
heat and cool the wastewater facility's administration
building, and premium efficiency motors will power
the facility's pumping system.
In addition to the PV solar project, and at the core of
Rifle's Energy Innovation Center is the development
of an bio-based industry cluster— a collection of
individual pads for private, bio-based companies that
can utilize renewable bio-based materials such as
carbohydrates to produce products and energy,
helping to make Rifle a center for energy and bio-
processing and production. These pads will all be
connected as part of a large power grid, and will be
able to either utilize or supply electricity, steam heat,
cooled water, or natural gas to other users on the site
or onto the external power grid. The Rifle Energy
Innovation Center also will include a bio-based
research and visitor center, an energy feedstock
storage area, and gathering space for renewable energy
expositions and conferences.
PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS:
No upfront capital cost to the City of Rifle, CO—
SunEdison financed, is installing and will maintain the
clean solar energy systems. Under a 20-year solar power
services agreement with SunEdison, Rifle will purchase
the solar electricity from SunEdison at costs less than
retail rates for traditional energy sources—saving
taxpayers on utility rates.
The combined 2.3 MW PV solar system is one of the
largest municipal solar rollouts in the United States.
Up to $2 million saved by Rifle and taxpayers by
redeveloping contaminated land already owned by
the city.
Energy produced by solar PV systems requires little or
no water.
Leveraged 20-25 green construction jobs, retained 3
jobs, and created 1 new job at Rifle's new wastewater
reclamation facility.
Use of green building materials in the new wastewater
reclamation facility—masonry units made from recycled
materials.
Solar energy produced will be used to help meet
Colorado's Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS)
mandate, which requires large utilities to generate 20
percent of their power (4 percent specifically from solar)
from renewable sources by 2020.
The Energy Innovation Center will help create long-term
quality employment for local residents, foster
entrepreneurial opportunity, and guide land use
decisions within the area to be sustainable, innovative,
and technology driven.
CONTACT: Richard P. Bush, DOE Office of Legacy Management, Site Manager: (970) 248-6073, richard.bush@lm.doe.gov
Matt Sturgeon, City of Rifle, CO, Rifle Energy Innovation Center: (970) 625-6224, msturgeon@rifleco.org
To learn more about siting renewable energy on contaminated land, visit: www.epa.gov/renewableenergyland
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