The governors of Arizona and New Mexico wrote the White House Council on Environmental Quality this week urging the federal government to prioritize cleanup of old uranium mines in the Southwest, and appoint a regional coordinator.
There are 650 abandoned uranium mines spread across the two states. Many date to the 1950s, before implementation of most environmental cleanup regulations, wrote New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, both Democrats, in a Tuesday letter to Brenda Mallory, chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.
New Mexico also experienced the 1979 Church Rock uranium mill spill, one of the largest radioactive releases in U.S. history, according to the press release.
The governors want a clear point of contact to work with Arizona, New Mexico, and tribal communities on the contamination posed by hundreds of abandoned mines, according to a press release. More than 100 of the old uranium mines are on private land, according to the release, which includes a link to the April 9 letter.
Responsibility for the old mines is scattered across more than two dozen state and federal agencies with varying jurisdictions, the governors said in the release. Some agencies involved include the Environmental Protection Agency, DOE, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management.
“All abandoned uranium mines contain radioactive material wastes, whether they are found on private, federal, state, or tribal lands throughout our region,” the governors said in the letter. “Cleaning up abandoned uranium mines will require billions of dollars of investment over the coming decades.”
“Current federal funding available under hard rock abandoned mine lands programs is insufficient for the scale and complexity of the abandoned uranium mines challenge,” the governors go on to say in the letter. “Our country has a long history of uranium mining in support of national interests, especially national security, which is why it is incumbent upon the federal government to financially assist with clean-up,” the governors added.
Hobbs and Lujan Grisham prefer appointment of a federal decision-maker to work together with counterparts from Arizona, New Mexico and tribal lands.
While DOE is documenting orphaned uranium mines in the region, the agency effort “is limited to reporting and physical safeguarding,” of the old sites, the governors said.
