&EPA Northeast Church Rock Mine Site Update U.S. Environmental Protection Agency • Region 9 • San Francisco, CA • February 2023 Background The Northeast Church Rock Mine (NECR) is a former uranium mine located at the north- ern end of State Highway 566, approximately 17 miles northeast of Gallup, New Mexico in the Pinedale Chapter of the Navajo Nation. United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) oper- ated the NECR mine from 1967 to 1982. During mining, approximately 3.5 million tons of ore was extracted, making it one of the highest producing uranium mines on the Navajo Nation. Due to the proximity of resi- dents to the mine site, this mine was identi- fied as the highest priority for cleanup by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency (NNEPA) out of over 500 abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation. What Has Been Done? • Over 200,000 tons of contaminated soil has been removed from the residential area and brought back to the mine waste pile. • The mine waste pile has been temporarily covered and stabilized until it can be removed. USEPA, working with the Navajo Nation and the State of New Mexico, has decided to move the waste to the UNC Mill site. • UNC/GE completed a design for the NECR cleanup which has been approved by USEPA. What is Happening Now? In September of 2018, UNC/GE (General Electric) submitted a request for a license amendment (which includes the completed design) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to build a repository for the NECR mine waste at the UNC Mill Site. NRC is currently reviewing the request. LEGEND f—1 Mine Site Step Out Area (contamination already removed) em UNC Mill Site Disposal Cells Evaporation Ponds ~ Structures Navajo Nation Boundary 0 025 C5 ^ Mi es Northeast Church Rock Mine, Kerr-McGee Quivira and UNC Mill Superfund sites map. ------- What Will Happen Next? NRC must approve the request for a license amendment at the UNC Mill Site before the NECR Mine Site cleanup construction can begin. The NRC currently estimates a license decision in January 2022. Cleanup construction is anticipated to take approximately four years to complete. GE contractors take samples on the Northeast Church Rock Mine site. Who is Involved? • The company conducting the cleanup is UNC. UNC is owned by General Electric. • USEPA oversaw the design with the help of a design review team. • The design review team included USEPA, Navajo Nation EPA, State of New Mexico Environmental Department, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the U.S. Department of Energy. The team also included a local resident appointed by the Red Water Pond Road Community Association, who was assisted by a technical support representative from the Technical Assistance Services for Communities (TASC) contract administered by USEPA. How Can You Learn More? Priscilla Tom US EPA Community Involvement Coordinator (415) 972-3377 tom.priscilla@epa.gov Tennille Denetdeel US EPA Remedial Project Manager (928) 323 - 4908 denetdeel.tennille@epa.gov Warren Roan Navajo Nation Environmental Department Manager Waste, Regulatory and Compliance Department (928) 871-7995 warrenjroan@navajo-nsn.gov USEPA Eastern Region Abandoned Uranium Mine site page: https://www.epa.gov/navajo-nation-uranium- cleanup/eastern-region-abandoned-uranium-mines USEPA United Nuclear Corporation Mill site page: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/united-nuclear Five Year Plan to Address Impacts of Uranium Contamination 2014-2018: http://www.epa.gov/navajo-nation-uranium-cleanup ------- |