Congressman Kennedy, Grand County Commissioner Winfield Visit Moab Project

Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project staff members gather with U.S. Rep. Mike Kennedy of Utah, third from left, and Grand County Commission Chair Bill Winfield, far right, at the Moab Project site rail bench overlook. Haul trucks carry sealed steel containers of uranium mill tailings at the Moab Project up to the hillside rail bench where they are loaded on train cars and transported 30 miles north to the disposal cell at the Crescent Junction site.

MOAB, Utah ― The Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project recently hosted U.S. Rep. Mike Kennedy of Utah and Grand County Commission Chair Bill Winfield for a tour of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) cleanup site.

EM Moab Project staff provided the visitors with an overview presentation of the project, explaining the origins of the site and how it came to contain an estimated 16 million-ton uranium mill tailings pile. The staff members also detailed cleanup efforts for contaminated groundwater and placement of the tailings and other contaminated materials — called residual radioactive materials — in the Moab Project’s disposal cell near Crescent Junction, Utah.

Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project team members are pictured with staff members from U.S. Rep. Mike Kennedy’s office in the Moab Project well field, which is the location of groundwater extraction and injection wells.

As the Moab Project moves closer to cleanup completion, EM continues to collaborate with local stakeholders to plan for the future of the Moab Project site.

“We were thrilled to welcome the congressman to our project,” Moab Federal Project Cleanup Director Matthew Udovitsch said. “There’s no better way to grasp the scope of our cleanup efforts and develop an appreciation for the Moab property than experiencing it firsthand.”

-Contributor: Barbara Michel