The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management’s (LM) Defense-Related Uranium Mines (DRUM) program will begin conducting verification and validation (V&V) at abandoned uranium mines in the Navajo Nation from mid-October to mid-December. The initial phase of work will be conducted in the areas of Cove, Sweetwater, Round Rock, and Red Valley.
The DRUM program is a partnership between DOE, federal land management agencies, and state and tribal abandoned mine lands (AML) programs to verify and validate the condition of an estimated 4,225 mine sites across the United States. These DRUM sites provided uranium ore to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission for defense-related activities that occurred between 1947 and 1970.
Working with the Navajo Nation Abandoned Mine Lands Department (NNAML) and Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency (NNEPA), LM will be conducting mine inventories of DRUM sites on the Navajo Nation. LM uses a technical support contractor to conduct fieldwork for the V&V of DRUM sites. Typically, each DRUM field team will consist of four to five people traveling in multiple vehicles with U.S. government-issued license plates. A Navajo language-speaking liaison from NNAML or NNEPA will accompany field crews to help answer questions that arise during field work.
The fieldwork will not involve construction or heavy equipment. The only vehicles will be those used by the team to access each DRUM site.
Field team members will be easy to identify by logoed shirts. They will also have DOE photo identification with them at all times.
Technical specialists on each field team will perform the following tasks:
- Inventory DRUM sites by collecting location and condition data on mine features, such as adits, shafts, and waste-rock piles.
- Perform gamma radiation walkover surveys.
- Conduct soil and water sampling (if applicable).
- Develop reports that provide rankings of physical safety hazards at DRUM sites and perform preliminary screenings of potential risks to human health and the environment.
Coordination With Navajo Nation Leadership
Prior to the DRUM field inventory work, DOE coordinated with Navajo Nation leadership, including the President of the Navajo Nation, NNAML, NNEPA, Community Outreach Network, Chapter Houses, and other leaders. DOE has also coordinated closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 9.
To learn more about DRUM’s V&V work, got to /lm/defense-related-uranium-mines-program.
Original source can be found here.
