MOAB, Utah - EM’s Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project recently welcomed more than 40 members of the public to the site as a part of the third annual Moab Festival of Science.
Tour participants learned about the project’s scope, including the relocation of mill tailings to a disposal cell, soil and groundwater remediation, and native plant revegetation. The tailings remain from a former uranium mill that operated from 1962 to 1984.
Employees with project contractors S&K Logistics Services and Pro2Serve led the tour, showing the guests a revegetated area, injection and extraction wells along the Colorado River, and the remaining tailings pile.
“We are honored to be part of the Moab Festival of Science and have the community and our neighbors visit the site to see the accomplishments our team has achieved," EM Federal Cleanup Director Russell McCallister said. “Most of what we do revolves around geology, chemistry, and ecology, so the project is a great fit for this festival, allowing people to see science in action."
Moab is located in southeastern Utah. It is home to unique geological formations and concentrations of dinosaur fossils and tracks. There are also international dark-sky destinations at the nearby Dead Horse Point State Park, offering lessons in astronomy and opportunities for stargazers. The Festival of Science held activities in those disciplines as well.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
