Local Stakeholders Join Moab Project to Mark Historic Milestone

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) team members join local officials and others to celebrate the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project's milestone removal of 16 million tons of uranium mill tailings from the banks of the Colorado River at an April 9 event in Moab, Utah. Pictured from left: Adán Ortega Jr., chair, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Lara Beasley, deputy director, DOE Office of Legacy Management; Matt Udovitsch, federal cleanup director, Moab Project; Joette Langianese, mayor, City of Moab; Grace F. Napolitano, retired U.S. representative, California; Mary McGann, chair, Moab Tailings Project Steering Committee; Jack Zimmerman, acting associate principal deputy assistant secretary, DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM); Melody Bell, acting director, EM Consolidated Business Center; and Melodie McCandless, chair, Grand County Commission.

MOAB, Utah — The Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project last week celebrated a landmark milestone: removal of a cumulative 16 million tons of residual radioactive material and the complete disposal of the uranium mill tailings pile away from the Colorado River, enabling future beneficial reuse of the cleanup site.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) team members commemorated the achievement at a community ceremony, celebrating strong partnership and collaboration among federal, state and local partners.

The Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project celebrated the removal of 16 million tons of uranium mill tailings from its Moab, Utah, site by transferring the final tile from one commemorative plaque — depicting the Moab tailings pile — to another, representing the disposal cell in Crescent Junction, Utah. Pictured from left, foreground: Moab Mayor Joette Langianese; U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management Acting Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jack Zimmerman; Moab Tailings Project Steering Committee Chair Mary McGann; DOE Office of Legacy Management Deputy Director Lara Beasley; and Grand County Commission Chair Melodie McCandless. Moab Project Federal Cleanup Director Matt Udovitsch is pictured in the background.

A main attraction at the ceremony was a set of commemorative plaques commissioned at the start of the Moab Project in 2009. One plaque once depicted the tailings pile with 16 movable tiles — each representing 1 million tons of tailings.

Each of those tiles has been transferred to the plaque depicting the Crescent Junction, Utah, disposal cell, where the radioactive material was safely relocated throughout the years. The placement of the final tile at the ceremony signified both the complete disposal of the pile and the achievement of the 16‑million‑ton cumulative milestone.

Since 2009, DOE Office of Environmental Management (EM) crews have transported the tailings by rail to the disposal cell, 30 miles to the north of the Moab Site.

"It's been an honor to work alongside our committed stakeholder groups and local workforce to reach these incredible milestones," said Matt Udovitsch, federal cleanup director. "Achieving the complete removal of the tailings pile and the 16-million-ton milestone reflects DOE's commitment to safety and environmental protection."

With the tailing pile relocated, the project now enters its final phase, which includes:

• Finalizing and implementing a groundwater compliance action plan
• Removing remaining contaminated soils
• Completing radiological verification of cleanup
• Disposing of remaining equipment and infrastructure
• Completing an evapotranspiration cover, which will be the upper-most layer or “cap” on the disposal cell, designed to minimize water infiltration
• Restoring and stabilizing the site, including regrading and revegetating

EM will work with DOE’s Office of Legacy Management to close the Moab Site, which is expected in 2029.