Waste Management Symposia panel discusses complex technical, legal, and regulatory considerations
March 14, 2024
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Director of LM Site Operations Jay Glascock, center, reacts to a question during a panel on DRUM waste on Wednesday at the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix. Pictured at left is U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Branch Chief Bill Von Till, and pictured at right is Shahid Mahmud, Director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains.
The annual Waste Management Symposia centers on the many issues related to waste management at current or former nuclear facilities that played a role in U.S. defense-related efforts.
Office of Legacy Management (LM) personnel Darina Castillo and William Burns co-chaired a conference panel Wednesday on a specific type of wastes — those associated with defense-related uranium mines (DRUM).
Presenters on the panel included Director of LM Site Operations Jay Glascock, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Branch Chief Bill Von Till, and Shahid Mahmud, Director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Mountains, Deserts, and Plains.
Thousands of unremediated abandoned uranium mines (AUMs) exist in the American west, with a significant concentration of mine sites in the four corner states of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.
Many of the AUMs are on or near non-tribal and tribal communities, including the Navajo Nation. Those AUMs pose risks to human health and the environment in these communities. In response to community concern about the mine waste, federal agencies have formed a task force to collaborate on ideas and solutions.
Panelists indicated there are a number of recent developments that show progress in the efforts to identify strategies to address DRUM waste.
- EPA is considering work with potentially responsible parties for remediation and long-term care.
- NRC is considering comingled mill tailings and mine waste.
- EPA is considering an agreement with Navajo Abandoned Mine Lands for long-term care of mine waste that could be potentially contained on Navajo land.
- EPA is working with the U.S. Department of Defense to ascertain the potential of a mine waste cell at a base realignment and closure facility.
- Sites have been ruled out due to transportation distances.
- The composition of mine waste may not require much long-term care.
Glascock said it’s important to know that no decision or site selection has been made. He also indicated a long-term view has to be taken with all the technical, legal, and regulatory considerations that surround the treatment of DRUM wastes.
“This does not happen overnight. So people shouldn’t kid themselves that this could happen this fiscal year,” Glascock said. “It takes years, but it is encouraging that multiple agencies are working together to solve the problem.”