Matheson encouraged by nuke waste cleanup near Moab

Salt Lake City, UT—Congressman Jim Matheson said more progress is being reported at the cleanup site of 16 million tons of radioactive waste near Moab.  The Department of Energy (DOE) says 2 million tons of uranium mill tailings has now been moved away from the Colorado River and deposited in a secure disposal cell.

“Just five months after the first trainload of waste was shipped, this milestone has been reached,” said Matheson.  “It is very satisfying to watch this long-standing threat to health and safety in Moab and downstream, begin to go away.”

Matheson notes that extensions to the rail spurs at both Moab and at Crescent Junction (site of the disposal cell) have allowed the contractor to add two more railcars, which each carry four containers of mill tailings.   The two-a-day train shipments run five days a week, transporting 5,000 tons with each trainload.

Matheson successfully fought for an environmental decision by DOE to remove the huge pile, rather than leave it permanently on the river bank.  Matheson also successfully pushed for a deadline of 2019 for completion of the cleanup.  Matheson said scientists have documented the dangers posed to Moab and to downstream water users from radioactive elements leaching into the groundwater and threatening the river environment.