Homestake Mining Company is not abandoning remediation site
MILAN, N.M. - In the story written on April 21, “Homestake abandons $230 million remediation efforts,” three issues were misreported by the Cibola Citizen. The Cibola Citizen regrets these errors.
First and foremost, the Homestake Mining Company is not abandoning the remediation efforts at the Grants Mill site. Homestake Mining Company Closure Manager Brad Bingham said, “We are more engaged with the site than at any time since the mill was shuttered in 1990.”
Bingham said Homestake Mining continues the treatment of groundwater at the site and is accelerating its final reclamation activities including the recent removal from service of over 530 wells that were previously used as part of its uranium recovery system but are no longer needed.
These wells will be plugged and abandoned according to state regulations by filling them with cement and then capping each well site.
The second clarification in the original story was intended to explain that Homestake has recently submitted scientific studies to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the United States Environ mental Protection Agency, and the New Mexico Environmental Department to document that the remediation efforts, which began in 1977 have cost more than $230 million to date. Homestake has removed more than one million pounds of uranium from the groundwater and that recent studies indicate that additional remediation will not reduce the long-term plume foot print any further. Homestake has addressed the health risks by replacing individual wells with connections to the Milan public water supply and is increasing its’ efforts to purchase properties and abandoning wells in the vicinity of the Homestake site where groundwater is still not appropriate for household use.
Finally, the article incorrectly quotes that lithium would require an additional 350 years of remediation. Lithium has never been a constituent of concern at the Grants Uranium Mill Site and the article should have referenced molybdenum.
“Homestake is demonstrating through robust scientific studies that the need for active remediation is quickly coming to an end and that final reclamation activities could be com pleted in the next several years,” Bingham said. “Homestake remains committed to our communities in Cibola County and will continue to meet its obligations until the NRC, EPA and NMED have approved the next steps in site closure and site ownership is transferred to the Untied States Department of Energy.