Grants Mining District Site Activities Update August 2014


SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Site Activities Update
Grants Mining District
August 2014
This Fact Sheet will tell you about:
Introduction to the Grants Mining District
Project
•	First Five-Year Plan
Second Five-Year Plan
Current Status
•	Where to Get More Information

INTRODUCTION
The Grants Mining District is an umbrella project to
cover a large area. There are other projects encompassed
within this large area. The Grants Mining District is in
the northwestern corner of New Mexico and covers an
area of approximately 100 miles by 25 miles. It extends
from the Laguna area to near Gallup and includes four
mining sub-districts: Ambrosia Lake, Laguna, Marquez
and Bernabe Montano. The four sub-districts contain
over 100 legacy uranium mines and five former uranium
mills where uranium extraction and production
operations were conducted from about the mid-1950s to
the 1990s. This large project is managed in Five-Year
Plans.
Note: Contamination associated with historical uranium
mining activities in the Shiprock District (and part of the
Ambrosia Lake mining sub-district) is under the
jurisdiction of the Navajo Nation and is being addressed
by EPA Region 9.
FIRST FIVE-YEAR PLAN
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Region 6
(EPA) and other federal, state and tribal agencies
developed the first Grants Mining District Five-Year
Plan (Plan) in 2010. The goals of the Plan include
promoting and advancing the work needed to ensure
protection of human health and the environment. The
Plan presents objectives designed to (1) mitigate urgent
health risks, (2) comprehensively address water
resources, legacy mines and mills, and structures, and
(3) identify actions and resources needed into the future.
The objectives focus on the following:
¦ Assessment of water sources for contamination
(private wells, public water supply sources,
other sources);
GMD 5-YEAR PLAN
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Forest Service
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services-ATSDR
New Mexico Environment Department
NM Energy, Minerals and Natural
Resources Department - Mining
and Minerals Division
Pueblo of Laguna Environmental and
Natural Resources Department
¦	Assessment and cleanup of legacy uranium
mines;
¦	Assessment, cleanup and performance of long-
term management of former uranium mills;
¦	Assessment and cleanup of contaminated
properties and structures.
SECOND FIVE-YEAR PLAN
EPA and the other regulatory partners will develop a
second Grants Mining District 5-Year Plan for 2015-
2019. The first Plan described above covered the period
from 2010 through the end of 2014. The second Plan
will continue to promote and advance activities for
achieving the objectives discussed above as well as
define the framework for coordination and
communication with all stakeholders. It is anticipated
that the second Plan will be completed in early 2015 so
we can further the goals of the project.
CURRENT STATUS
EPA and the other regulatory agencies continue to
identify contamination caused by uranium mining and
milling and to conduct and coordinate response actions.
Assessment of Water Sources
EPA is working with the New Mexico Environment
Department (NMED) to characterize the nature and
extent of ground water contamination in the San Mateo
Creek (SMC) drainage basin north of Grants. A field
data collection program that includes sampling of

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existing monitoring wells and private wells and
installing new monitoring wells is planned for
September/October of this year. EPA and NMED have
agreed to sample some private water wells proposed by
the Bluewater Valley Downstream Alliance (BVDA)
and the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment
(MASE) as part of the overall basin wide effort. Most of
the private wells are located in the vicinity of the
Homestake Mining Company (Homestake) uranium mill
National Priorities List (NPL) Superfund site.
EPA and NMED are currently contacting some property
owners to obtain permission to enter their land to
conduct seismic surveys, drill boreholes and construct
wells for sampling shallow alluvial ground water, or
sample private water wells or existing monitoring wells.
Other property owners are being contacted for
permission to travel across their land to reach the
designated drilling or seismic survey locations.
EPA is also continuing to collect historic ground water
data within the San Mateo Creek basin, including data
from the Homestake NPL site as well as other former
uranium mill and legacy mine sites within the basin.
Assessment and Cleanup of Legacy Mines
The Jackpile Mine, located on Laguna Pueblo near the
village of Paguate, was placed on the NPL of Superfund
sites in 2013 because of surface water contamination in
the Rio Moquino and Rio Paguate, two perennial rivers
which bisect the site. EPA, in utilizing its enforcement
authorities, issued a special notice letter in May 2014 to
Atlantic Richfield Company, a potentially responsible
party, to begin the process of negotiating an agreement
for the performance of a remedial investigation and
feasibility study (RI/FS) at the site.
At the Johnny M Mine located near the village of San
Mateo, Hecla Limited has completed a site investigation
and is preparing an engineering evaluation/cost analysis
(EE/CA) under an Administrative Order on Consent
with EPA to assess options for cleaning up
contaminated soil.
Assessment, Cleanup, and Long-Term
Management of Former Uranium Mill Sites
EPA continues to work with Homestake and United
Nuclear Corporation and other stakeholders at the
uranium mill NPL sites near Milan and Church Rock,
New Mexico. The activities being conducted at
Homestake are discussed in a separate community fact
sheet. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) continues
to investigate the extent of ground water contamination
at the Anaconda Bluewater mill site, including sampling
10 monitoring wells installed in 2012 as well as private
water wells located beyond the perimeter of the site.
Assessment and Cleanup of Contaminated
Properties and Structures
To date, EPA has performed radiological assessments at
nearly 900 residential properties and structures under its
removal authority since 2009 at Laguna and Acoma
Pueblos, the Mormon Farms area (an area which
encompasses 5 subdivisions) south of Homestake, and
in the village of Bluewater. Of these, 139 properties had
excess gamma radiation associated with the reuse and/or
repurposing of uranium mine related waste material.
One hundred and twenty three (123) of these have been
cleaned up and another 16 are targeted for cleanup.
WHERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION
Mark Purcell
Remedial Project Manager
U.S. EPA Region 6 (6SF-LR)
Tel: 214.665.6707 or 1.800.533.3508 (toll free)
purcell. mark@epa. gov
Or (after October 1, 2014)
Lisa Price
Grants Mining District Coordinator
U.S. EPA Region 6 (6SF-T)
Tel: 214.665.6744 or 1.800.533.3508 (toll free)
price.lisa@epa.gov
Stephen Harper, Community Involvement Coordinator
(CIC)-SEE
U.S. EPA Region 6 (6SF-VO)
Tel: 214.665.2727 or 1.800.533.3508 (toll free)
Harper. stephen@,epa. gov
Earl Dixon
New Mexico Environment Department
Tel: 505.827.2890
For press inquiries, please call the EPA Press Office, at
214.665.2200
On the web:
http://www.epa.gov/region6/6sf/newmexico/grants/nm
grants index.html
Call U.S. EPA at 1.800.533.3508 to receive a Spanish
translation of this fact sheet.
Para recibir una traduction en espanol de esta Hoja de
Datos, comunicarse con la Agencia de Protection del
Medio Ambiente de los EEUU (la EPA) al numero de
telefono 1.800.533.3508 (llamada gratis).

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