ML20114F153
| ML20114F153 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Monticello  |
| Issue date: | 04/15/1966 |
| From: | Faulkner R US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| To: | Quinn G US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML093631134 | List:
|
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9210120387 | |
| Download: ML20114F153 (7) | |
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UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT Memorandum 1
To George F. Quinn, Assistant Generel Manager DATE: April 15, 1966 for Plana and Production FROu Rafford L. Fa D
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$UBJECT:
URANIUM MILL TAILIIUS - CBS PROGRAM l
We aaw been advised by GJO that tac CEi cameramen and the CBS reporter with k.lter Cronkite's program arrived at GJ for an interview in the late afternoon on April 14. Le CBS reporter, a Mr. Drinkvater, appeared to haw been ven briefed on the status of uranium mill tailings prior to his arrival at the Grand Junction Office. He was accompanied by Mr. Donald T.
Ruble of the Denver Office of the Federal Water Pollution Control Aininistration. The CBS man had been to Durango, Uravan, and Naturita, and on conclusion of the visit made arrangements to go to Monticeno. So a
far as ve know they did not go to Climax.
After a britfing in the office, during which Mr. Jones drev upon the statement which had been prepared by Public Information for use in cc.:nection with inquiries on The New Republic article (copy attached), Mr. Jones was asked to conduct the intervie standing on the Climax tailings piles, which Mr. Jones declined to do.
Re interviev was conducted at the North Gate of the Grand Junction Office entrance and covered a period of about 10 minutes.
In response to questions, Mr., Jones pointed out that the Federal Water Pol]utica Control Administra-tion report and an available data confirmed that the uranium mill tailings pose no radiological safety hazard to Colorado rivers. He mentioned the recently passed Colorado State lav setting up a stream pollution comf.esion and also stated that on May 9 the Colorado Public Health Service ve holding a hearing at which ths.y plan to pro =ulgate regulations for attacking the problem of stabilizing uranium mill tailings.
Mr. Jones said that the processing mill operators vould, in his opinion, conform to the State requirements as soon as standards had been established and they are already doing engineering and other studies in anticipation.
Mr. Drinkwater asked if the AEC vere today rewriting the contracts which we had vritten 10 years ago, would ve now put clauses in the contracts 5
requiring the clus to deal with the tailings problem. Mr. Jones declined I4C
.to speculate on what we might or might not do in a hypothetical situation.
h, 4b@[if Drbkvater then o ked is it not true tha M ;
pfnot}true'ari that he is aware of no such conflict between AEC and the fbetween Public Health Service and AEC regarding the radioactivity in the g
streams and the need o clean it up. To this Mr. Jones replied that it is 6'(B5alth.; ; Service.
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. A gyfjngs' Bonds Regularly on the PaywilSavings Plan 923 70387 920520 4.
Drinkvater asked if AEC agreed that some new regulation is needed.
Mr. Jones endeavored to avoid cornitting the AEC to any position but stated that the question was being examined by all the parties and it h:sd not yet been decided who has' jurisdiction -- federal, state, or municipalities.
Drinkwater asked what are the uranium mining compantes doing to abate this problem. Mr. Jones vent over the position again, citing the Colorado State law and stating that the milling companies were avaiting word as to State requirements to be announced on May 9 In the meantime, he said the milling companies are making engineering studies and appear ready to cooperate fully. Drinkvater then said the Public Health Service said something should be done quickly, while the AEC and others say there is no hurry. Mr. Jones pointed out that the Public Health Service report indicated that there was no imacdiate health hazard, although he acknowledged that i
different people had different views as to the necessity for quick action.
As a final question, Mr. Drinkvater wanted to know what the AEC had done to encourage abatement of this problem. Mr. Jones mentioned the work that AEC had done to stabilize the AEC Monticeno tailings piles, that it had furnished all min operators with information on the methods and cost of this work and had urged them to study the problem and to devise ways and means of coping with it.
Fonoving this interview, Mr. Ruble indicated that Public Health thought the problem needed to be handled on an 12:: mediate basis. Mr. Drinkvater pressed the question of whether we thou6ht the Cornuission should do some-thing about tailings on an urgent basis. Mr. Jones noted that our contracts end in 1970, that mins vould be on a commercial basis then, and pointed.
out that the cost of properly handling vaste products should be considered by the mins as part of the cost of doing business.
He said he thought that these tailings were largely a nuisance-problem, just as any other tailings. Mr. Drinkwater said the.+e was no' evidence that anything was being done.
Mr. Jenes pointed out that the Stste is establishing recom-mendations and the companies vere moving in on the problem.
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PROPOSED RESPONSE TO INQUIRY ON FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION ADMINISTRATION REPORT ON llILL TAILINGS Qs The Federal Water Pollution Administration has released a report focommending measures to control possibic long term radiation hazards resulting from uranium mill tailings in the Colorado River Basin..Do you have any comment on this report?
A.'
Members of the AEC staff havo worked closely with Fedoral Water Pollution Administration personnel concerning the tailings situatio.n.
This report was made as a result of a request made by the Commission's staff in August 1963 that tho Public ilcalth Servico.asscmble and
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I cvaluato data on rivers and streams near uranium mills.
As the Feders) l Water Pollutio:i Administration's study confirms, all availabic data on rivers and streams show that'there is no radiological-i safety prob 1cm in these waters from uranium mill tailings.
Radiation Icycis in the waters are o.11y a small fraction of tho. drinking water Icycis permitted by the government. The Public }Icalth Service routinely monitors the waters in the Colorado Basin and publishes the resulk.
If a radiological safety,probicm develops whatever action necessary to protect the health and safety of the.public will be taken.
In addition, the Commission recognizes the possibility that tailings which are locate'd near communitics now may be a source of dust and other nuisance prob 1 cms. AEC representatives'have met with mill owners urging them to take necessary action to stabilize tailings piles where a possible objectionablo situation exists.
Each of tho milling companics has been furnished data on methods which have been used ciscwhero for stabilizing mill tailings. At the recent National Western eining Conferenco in Denver several of the mill owners described
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their plans for stabilization of the tailings. Furthor, wo understand that the State of Colorado is preparing regulations which would requiro g
tailings. stabilization.
As a result of this cooperativo effort betwocn tho government and the mi11' owners, wo are confident that sub' tantial s
-,.. r :progres's is' boing mado' in this' area.
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s. :s Rademacher - Durango happens to he one of the largest auch pilec, one and
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' one-half millica tons of this cand. It has what we cencider come radioactivo
. fractions left, possibly S5*4 of t.
vadioactivity that originally was in the ore ctill retnains in this pile.
l Drinkwater - Does that prosent a danger to fature generations ?
Radamacher - Uc feel that thero is a long term potential harard to the generations that follow, its something that we do not want to have as a logacy for our children
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' and their children.
Drin% water - In addi: ion to Durango, there are nearly 20 other radicactive taillugs piles in the Colorado Basin. Small particles flow into the otroams and rivers.
Other radic::,ctive particles are eroded andflow down the waterways of the vast Colorado Easin. Vlater campics tahen up rivar and down the Colort:do after the.-
' W-7 water had flowed by all of tho tailings, indicato the content of radioactive "
I radicm 226 incroaced ten-fold. There is still loca radium in the water tlian the e
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permicsiblo Icycle as act dovin by International and Atomic Energy Commission i
l standards hut cautions actenticts point out that toicrable lovals of radiation" -
change as man Icarns more nbout the effects on health from 11vir; in the Nuclear.
Age.. The old D.urango uranturn mill and its giant pile of tailings are so close' to tho town that it causes other problems apart from the radioactive wat' r.r And e
Itke almost everyone c',co in Duran7,o, its loading doctor, Choctor Wigtori,lts
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worried, particularly, about the town's children.
Doctor, how do you as a medical me.n and as a long timo resident of Durango feel about the
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tailings over therc?
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l' Dr. Tigten - V/c11, I bellove it is a definite health hazard to the 0,Q?ggM,n v g.
/g all the population here, j .
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L.. 5 ipa - mt unty as a cource of air pollution, if thorp were no radioactivity in the tailin;c pileit would still be a definito health hanard as far 2s atr~ pollutant and the fact th:.: it he.s radioactivi:y in the form of radium. It is a serion's health ha:ard.
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.4 Drir.hwater - Wh:.: happens hero on a street like this when the wind bloy$p
- s?y Dr. Wirton - Well, 'the dust blows. In fact, you can see the wind whipping part' W
of the pilo off over there and you can even taste it,
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Drin'. water - The /.tomic Cue:gy Commlucion which cversees the entiro uraniurn f
indunrf c;js m:t licencin; ccatrol of tailinks le not required. The AEC does na :,;; a r:11 :;r itself in dein; an'/ thin; about the tailinga.
r L:.Cc..cher - In this re:;;ect, at the present time, no.
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.ter - What dearce of cooperc. tion have you found fron: many privato cc. n:nica tht.t operato these ;acilities here.? None of them have dono anything L.) :. :.
Lu a r.ach::t - '!ho cooperation to ;ood. They have gonc into the problem. I do n:...
...t they 4.11 have cas..a p.::.n ih:t they are working on now and they will want
- c env wh;..or this plan will fit the requirernento of the futuro. Ylo foci that the brer.
- n.u vi the dust, the ingecting of water havin; the radioactivity from these pile: cached into it reprecento a real hazard over the long period and that indac:rf and government cannot stand still f or leaving a legacy of these piles in this country today.
Drinh'v:.ter - Some companico have lon; range plans to cover up the radioactivo nm t e rial r..
Lut ctill, all of the pilir.gs have been there for 10 years and no work has star:cd anywhere yet. If nothing 10 done to cover up or remove these tailings a:1d if the revernn.ent health officials are ri;ht then another ;;cncration may wc11 look at thes.e radioactive n.an mr.de mountains as rnonumento to the i arelessaces of this cencration; rnan's carelescness in the early years of the Nuclear Age.
Terry Drinhwater, CBS News, G :.nd Junction, Colorado.
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&fk%f$hl "C DS n!.DIC' MC'i/S Problonas of Atomic Polluti 93;.Nfik 4-4046 on #bvw2w q# -
y Tha r.; tion's.ttentien was focused h
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- ..ow.ic wacte when thoce hun
- ' red t ic s of barrels cf dirt contaminated bmonth ci c. t A, wen ~3r ta ep:.in w there c.: e other epity impo t ere brou;ht bach to this country of the we t. where t..a uranium b y the crash r ant problemo cf tomic pallati.nd buried.
but.aL rahat.ctive mounds of And
.cm cf the 500 has left vact piles of won, especially in Colorado, CL3 News Cor capand ciit called tailta:s.
Drinkwa er - Governmcat ccienti Terry Drinkwater -From Crand Junction,orked over ent.
to rr.an.
particles are croded and flow down thStr.cIl particles flow i atreams ar.d rivers.
e dangerous V.' hole citico and towns in the southwest now drinh the water fre waterway Department of Ec:.lth EducationThe sn.cIl amounts of ra asin.
and Welfare scientiotc believe that thy water could contribute to the cau a hundred, perha o ay. but ses of cancer exprece concern.ps a thousand years from now.and birth defects in see radioactive Dep:.rtment of Health EducationRademacher la Director of the C lScien e people, and Welfare.
o orado Basin Project for the er
{:.dem:-cher - We feel r.no;..ere in Durango, that this reprocents a long t in Aricaa. At reprocento a real ha:c dto a town the sinc of Moab erm har.ard t over the lon; period., Utah, or to an Indian family r
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Vi; ton, no worried.Drinhw:.ter - Like almost every one else in Duranco. its leading D Dr. Wi ton - Our major concer octor, Chester phero a;re over a thousand grama of radinm, pile a n is that this in tno ctty et Duranso, it is from 30 to 100 times Orcater than athe radioactivity of namely, Denver, Colorado.
n it.
Energy Commiccion or the U S Nobody known anywhere, includi e radium, tailtn;s piles will have on fut control city; ure generations or at the procent. Public M ng the Atomic Orichwater - We talked with Lob B
, if any, the
- .t t..e Union Carbido uranium facilitieverly. the man in charge of Ra e s.
EcVerb - We are making a numb ation Control
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.st j:.inment of these tailings piles no they do not cr er of studies now t
artakwater - How soon will you be abl acard of any e to do anything about them ?
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icverbl. We will havo definite pans within uix m
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onths and in the next h
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term but we wP.1 be working in the corr.ing ye : c.Cf course, there y
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i3f by law to do anythina at cil about th: radioactiva tim
~ 4The Atomic Fnagy Commiccion, whih over:ecs the entirs urani m(
says.it should La in the crea of ctate rc::poncihility.
um industry, Det even though states, Qe Colorado, which have considered the radioactive tatlin;s problems are far adioactive n.an n:.ade mountains as tr.onutr.cnto to the e
eneration.
rry Drichwater. CDS News Gran,1 Junction, Colorado.
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