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WASHINGTON - Cleaning up a mountain of uranium tailings near Moab will take five times as long as initially projected, potentially dragging on through 2028, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Thursday.
"The information I have is that 2028 is the schedule," Bodman told Rep. Jim Matheson during a House hearing. "We have a lot of demands on our environmental operations."
The Energy Department made a final decision in 2005 to haul the 10.5 million tons of tailings - remnants of uranium milling done at the Atlas Minerals Corp. mill during the Cold War - by rail to a lined pit. At that time, the department planned to begin moving the pile this year and finish shuttling the tailings and complete the project between 2011 and 2012.
"That was shocking to hear," Matheson said after the hearing. "This is an expensive project, I don't want to deny that. . . . I've always been worried that budget constraints are going to lower this on the priority scale."
Matheson asked Bodman about the Energy Department's plans for the pile because the department has requested bids to move 2.5 million tons of the pile and the congressman wanted to know why the department seemed to be breaking the work into pieces.
DOE spokeswoman Megan Barnett said 2028 is the current target for closure based on the current funding levels and could change once a contractor is selected. The department is in the process of reviewing proposals from contractors who would move at least 2.5 million tons over five years.
The Bush administration has proposed spending $23 million on the Moab project next year.
Over the last five years the department has pumped 75 million gallons of contaminated water and put other measures in place to keep chemicals in the pile from reaching the Colorado River, she said.
"We are committed to making progress there," she said.
Both of Utah's senators said they were troubled by the Energy Department's delays on the Moab pile.
"That's very disturbing to me, and I intend to push DOE to recognize the need to keep as close as possible to the original timeline," Sen. Orrin Hatch said in a statement.
Sen. Bob Bennett said Bodman is scheduled to be before the appropriations committee next month and he will work with the administration "to make sure this project stays on track."
"Obviously, I am very concerned if DOE plans to extend the project timeline too far," Bennett said.
The tailings pile now sits just outside Arches National Park on the banks of the Colorado River and studies have found that toxic chemicals such as ammonia are seeping into the groundwater, threatening four species of endangered fish.
The contamination has also alarmed officials downstream, since the river provides drinking water for an estimated 25 million people.
"I continue to get evasive, incomplete information from DOE regarding the need to remove the health and safety threat posed by this pile. I will press this issue with the Secretary until I get satisfactory answers about the project timeline and the budget," Matheson said.
The pile spans about 130 acres. Thick sludge is what remains of the Cold War uranium pile. Atlas bought the uranium mill in 1962, but closed it down in 1984. In 1998, the company filed for bankruptcy, leaving a temporary cap on the pile and an inadequate cleanup fund.
In 2000, Utah's delegation got legislation passed putting the Energy Department in charge of remediation of the site.
Moving the 10.5 million tons of tailings and 1.4 million tons of other contaminated soil entails building a dedicated rail line and shipping rail cars full of material 30 miles north to Crescent Junction.
Groundwater remediation is expected to take 75 years.