10/05/2005

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS  / Associated Press

A defunct mine that produced uranium for Cold War-era nuclear weapons will finally be cleaned up, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday.

The Midnite Mine, a Superfund site located on the Spokane Indian Reservation north of Spokane, operated from 1955-1981. The area now is a series of open pits filled with mildly radioactive heavy metals and water that can enter nearby streams and hurt humans, animals and plants, the EPA said.

The EPA, in its preferred alternative, is proposing to remove mine waste rock from the surface and place it in two open pits on the site. The pits would be covered with several feet of clean soil. Other pits already filled with mining waste would also be covered, the EPA said.

Native vegetation would be planted over the pits to prevent erosion. Groundwater entering the pits would be pumped to a nearby water treatment plant, where sludge would be removed and disposed of, the EPA plan said.

The work would cost $123 million to perform, plus $29 million for operations and maintenance, for a total cost of $152 million, the EPA said. The EPA has sued Dawn Mining Co. and Newmont Mining Co. to pay for the cleanup.

If that fails, taxpayers will pay, said Ellie Hale of the EPA's regional headquarters in Seattle.

Deb Abrahamson, a Spokane Indian and member of The Lands Council environmental group, said it was too soon to comment on the plan.

"We want some time to be able to look at this plan to ensure it is to the best benefit of our people," she said. "We want to ensure that the cultural and spiritual needs of our people are taken into consideration."

The work would reduce the amount of radon on the surface, lower the amount of radiation on the surface to natural levels and prevent continued pollution, while meeting EPA and tribal standards, the agency said.

"The preferred alternative will protect humans, animals and plants from direct contact with mine waste," the EPA document said.

People will not be allowed to drive, drill or build on the covered pits or to drill wells close to the waste, the EPA said. Water treatment will be necessary for many years.

There will be public hearings on the proposal on Oct. 19 and Nov. 2, then EPA will make a final decision. It would take five to seven years to perform the actual work on the preferred alternative, the EPA said.

The open pit, hard-rock mine covered about 350 acres of land northwest of the town of Wellpinit. Dawn Mining Co. leased the land from the Spokane Tribe and private landowners. Some 33 million tons of rock was blasted to get uranium ore.

Contaminants include radium-226, lead-210, uranium-234 and uranium-238. Runoff from the mine area flows into streams and eventually into the Spokane River, the EPA said.