Transcript Church Rock Uranium Monitoring Project

Church Rock Uranium Monitoring Project
PROJECT RESULTS, 2003-2004
Report to the
Navajo Nation Council Resources Committee
Church Rock Chapter House
October 14, 2004
Community
Involvement
Environmental
Health Monitoring
Uranium Mining Impacts
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Presentation Outline
• CRUMP Goals, Collaborators
• Church Rock uranium history
• Radiation monitoring program
– Gamma radiation surveys
– Indoor radon monitoring
Head frame, waste piles at
uranium mine in early 1960s
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Air particulate monitoring
Water quality results
Threat of new uranium mining
Recommendations
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CRUMP Goals, Collaborators
• Assess contaminants in water, air and land in
residential areas near abandoned uranium mines
– Establish human exposures for future health studies
– Educate, involve community members
• Supported by private grants, in-kind contributions
• Collaborators:
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Church Rock Chapter
Diné College UEP
Navajo AML, NNEPA, NNDWR
NM Environment Department
Southwest Research & Information Center
TAMS Center, UNM/CEHP, USEPA Las Vegas Lab
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CR Uranium Mining History:
50 years of impacts
• Uranium mining occurred
early-50s through mid-80s
(map, top right)
• 16 abandoned mines, 1
closed uranium mill that’s a
federal Superfund site
(photo, bottom right)
Grants Mineral Belt uranium mines, deposits
• Little environmental
monitoring in last 20 years
• No health studies ever
conducted in community
United Nuclear Corp. uranium mill tailings
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impoundment (left), Pipeline Arroyo in middle
CR Uranium Mining History (cont’d)
UNC Tailings Dam Failure, 7/16/79
Dam breach: 75 ft.
high, 35 ft. wide
Livestock tracks in Puerco
River 3 days after spill
Spill deposited
yellow salts on
Puerco R. bank
20+ miles
downstream
near Manuelito;
warning signs
posted along
river; local
Navajos said,
“Our animals
can’t read!”
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Radiation Monitoring Program
• Measure gamma radiation along roads, near homes
in former mining areas
• Measure radon — an colorless, odorless
radioactive gas — in homes near mining areas
• Understand natural radiation sources: sun,
elevation above sea level, soils, rocks
• Study Area A — Pipeline, Water Pond roads
• Study Area B — Old Churchrock Mine area
• Study Area C — Springstead Estates site
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Nahodishgish,
Standing Rock
Chapters
Coyote Canyon Chapter
Study Area A
Church Rock Chapter
Study
Area B
Pinedale Chapter
Study Area C
Church Rock
Uranium
Monitoring
Project,
2003-2004
Chapter House
Gamma Radiation Monitoring
• Roads, housing areas near
abandoned uranium mining and
milling sites prioritized
• Surface gamma radiation
measured with hand-held
instruments, USEPA “Scanner
Van”, October 2003
Carl Holiday, Perry
Charley and Edith Hood
(background) conduct
gamma radiation
monitoring
• 20+ people from Church Rock
Chapter, Navajo Nation, SRIC,
TAMS Center, USEPA participated
• Data compiled, analyzed, mapped
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Gamma Radiation Monitoring (cont’d)
Instrumentation
Hand-held Ludlum-19 detectors
(above) loaned by NNEPA Superfund.
USEPA Las Vegas Lab loaned CRUMP its gamma radiation “Scanner Van” and two
technicians for 3+ days. Sodium iodide (NaI) detectors (above right, in cylinder)
measure radiation levels within 200’ of van (top middle). On-board computers record
and map radiation levels as the van travels at 5 mph. Use of van valued at >$15,000.
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Gamma Radiation Monitoring (cont’d)
“Hot Spots” Identified
CRUMP technicians discuss
radiation levels at base of
UNC Northeast Church Rock
Mine waste dump
• Both sides of Hwy 566 from
Old Church Rock Mine north
past UNC tailings pile
• Both sides Pipeline Road
through tailings area
• Water Pond Road past UNC,
Kerr McGee mines
• Arroyo downstream of UNC
Northeast Church Rock Mine
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Gamma Radiation Monitoring (cont’d)
Water Pond Road Area
Uranium mine waste dump
• 6 Navajo homes are located <1,200 feet from an
unreclaimed uranium mine abutting the Navajo Reservation
boundary in Church Rock and Coyote Canyon chapters
• CRUMP studies detected gamma radiation levels 5x to 10x
greater than background in sands in arroyo in middle of
photos; local kids played in this sand
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Uranium mine wastes at
abandoned UNC Northeast
Church Rock Mine
Approximate Navajo
Researvation
boundary
Gamma radiation levels at the base of this mine-waste pile
ranged up to 20 times background at the Reservation line.
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Water Pond Road
Map of Gamma
Radiation Levels
In the Water Pond Road
area, 16 Navajo
residences are
sandwiched between
two large abandoned
uranium mines; gamma
radiation levels >2x
background shown by
red dots and lines; map
prepared by NNEPA
Superfund staff using
radiation data from
hand-held instruments
and Scanner Van.
Mine
site
Navajo Reservation boundary
Mine
site
Map by J. Begay, NNEPA/Superfund
Hwy.
566
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Gamma Radiation Monitoring (cont’d)
Springstead Estates Area
• Scanner van, hand-held
meter surveys limited to
roads, arroyo through
Springstead property
• Majority of radiation levels
within background
– small piles of red-pink
stones had slightly
elevated gamma levels
• More extensive studies
needed before 900-unit
housing complex is built
Springstead was site of mobile home
park for miners in 1960s-early 1980s
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Indoor Radon Monitoring
• 7-day radon canisters placed in
139 homes in Feb.-March ’04
• 34 homes had radon levels
greater than the USEPA “action
level” of 4 pCi/l-air*
• Homes with high Rn in 1st test:
CRUMP Radon Team: Gerald
Brown, Vivian Craig, Alta
Yazzie, John Plummer
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Uphill Road
Lime Ridge Road
Happy Valley
Old Churchrock Mine Road
Red Top Road, Becenti Trail
*8-hr exposure = smoking 1-2 packs cigarettes per day
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Indoor Radon Monitoring (cont’d)
• Re-tests done in June-July
– 3 Lime Ridge homes > 4pCi/l
– Happy Valley homes tests
invalid; new tests needed
• Gamma radiation surveys did
not reveal contaminated
building materials
• High Rn levels may be from
rocks, abandoned mines
• Mitigation measures will be
researched, recommended
John Plummer, NNEPA Radon
Program, shows Pipeline Road
resident Alta Yazzie the charcoal
inside a radon canister
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Air Particulate Monitoring
• Tiny dust particles in the air
• Dust irritates lungs, makes
breathing problems worse
• Dust may be contaminated with
radioactive elements
• People living near uranium mine
wastes more likely to be exposed
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Air Particulate Monitoring (cont’d)
• Two monitoring sites selected near
abandoned mines
– Pipeline Road
– Water Pond Road
• Using continuous, high-volume air
samplers loaned by Tribal Air
Monitoring Support (TAMS) Center
• Electric connections to 2
residences paid by CRUMP
Annabelle Allison, TAMS
Center, explains air sampler
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Air Particulate Monitoring (cont’d)
Installation of Samplers
The Boss
The Crews
• Each platform was built by CRUMP and CR Chapter staff
• Outer security fence protects sampler
• Electric lines buried, connected to nearby homes
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Air Particulate Monitoring (cont’d)
Operations, Expected Results
This is a typical two-sampler array;
single samplers will be installed on
CRUMP platforms
• 1 year of air quality data
• USEPA-LV lab to test
filters for particulates
• Results compared with
federal Clean Air Act
maximum dust limits
• USEPA-LV lab will test
radiation levels on about
10% of samples
• Exposures to people
calculated
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Water Quality Survey
• Field reconnaissance of water
sources in Church Rock area,
July-August 2003
• Water assessment team
sampled 13 “unregulated”
water sources in August,
October 2003
– Water sources that are not
regularly tested or treated
• Water tested at USEPA, NTUA,
NMSLD labs for:
CRUMP water team members
collect samplers from a developed
spring in Pinedale Chapter
– radionuclides, heavy metals,
general chemistry
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Water Sources, Uses
• Unregulated
water sources: hand pumps, springs, windmills
• Uses: human drinking water, domestic uses, livestock
water, irrigation
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Water Quality Results
• 2 wells exceeded drinking
U.S., Navajo drinking water
standards for U, Ra
– NNEPA recommends closure of
these wells
Public water supply
source at Crownpoint
Chapter House
• ALL but 1 well had salty, hard
water unsuitable for human
consumption
• Wells not tested for bacteria
• high cost of hauling water
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Threat of New Uranium Mining
• 4 uranium in situ leach
mines proposed, 2 in
Church Rock, 2 in
Crownpoint
• Would contaminate portions
of Westwater Canyon
Aquifer, the principal source
of high-quality drinking
water in the Eastern Agency
• Processing plants would be
built in Church Rock,
Crownpoint
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Threat of New Mining (cont’d)
Navajo communities say “Łeetso Dooda”
• Communities oppose new
uranium mining
• Church Rock Chapter:
resolutions in June 2000,
July 2003
• New mining is
environmental injustice
• Church Rock Chapter
supports ENDAUM
• Compensation, cleanup,
health studies needed
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Recommendations
• Reclamation of UNC NECR Mine should include offsite contamination
– Residents, Chapters, Navajo Nation need involvement in
state-ordered reclamation plan
• More extensive gamma surveys needed along Hwy.
566 and north of UNC tailings dump on TNN land
• Long-term radon monitoring needed in some homes;
re-tests of some homes fall-winter 2004
• Navajo Nation should inform, involve Church Rock
Chapter in environmental studies at Springstead
• Navajo Nation should oppose new uranium mining
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