Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
9/18/2015
The Environmental Protection Agency late last week issued a request for information for companies capable of performing assessments and technical support activities related to the Navajo Area Uranium Mines cleanup, according to a notice in FedBizOpps. The draft scope of work says the winner of the Navajo Area Uranium Mines Response Assessment and Evaluation Services contract would need to “be prepared to provide scientific/technical support for EPA activities in furtherance of the agency’s primary mission: the protection of human health and the environment.” The scope of work includes preliminary assessments, site inspections, remedial investigation/feasibility studies, and technical support services. Responses are due by Oct. 9.
According to the EPA, the RFI focuses on receiving expertise on uranium mines, as well as expertise in working with tribes and communities, to ensure a quality and comprehensive cleanup. “EPA anticipates spending more than $100 million with local and tribal businesses through our upcoming cleanup contracts,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest, in a statement. “We are looking for their help to make sure our scope of work takes full advantage of Navajo expertise and talent.”
The Navajo Nation earlier this year received a roughly $1 billion settlement that will aid in the cleanup of 50 abandoned uranium mine sites across the tribe’s land in Arizona and New Mexico. The money comes in conjunction with a larger settlement from Anadarko Petroleum Corp., the parent company of Kerr-McGee Corp., which agreed to a settlement with the Department of Justice for $5.15 billion, a record sum from the federal government for the cleanup of environmental contamination. Four million tons of uranium ore were mined on or adjacent to Navajo Nation land under the authority of the Atomic Energy Act, leaving more than 400 abandoned mines with elevated radiation levels, the EPA said in a release.
According to the draft scope of work, the cleanup “will bring an unprecedented level of support and protection for the people at risk from these sites. Much work remains to be done, and EPA is committed to working with the Navajo Nation to remove the most immediate contamination risks and to find permanent solutions to the remaining contamination on Navajo lands.”
