HOW THIS SITE IS ARRANGED

This site was updated on 10/24/98.

Newmont's solution is to convert a gigantic hole at the DMC site into a radioactive waste dump. The dump project is supposed to raise enough money for reclamation of the mill, which by the early 90s was expected to cost $20 million. Newmont says any additional money raised will go towards clean up of its mine on the Reservation, which may cost over $160 million. The company threatened to leave its radioactive mess for Washington state's tax payers to deal with unless it was allowed to move ahead with the dump.

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) originally ordered the company to forget the dump plan because of Washingtonís policy to limit the amount of radioactive waste flowing into the state. Additionally, DOH told Dawn to use clean fill because that is what the Spokanes and other people living in the area were demanding. The Department was also convinced that importing such a large amount of dirt in 5-axle trucks would cost the state millions in highway repair costs.

Nevertheless, Newmont had its eyes on tons of radioactive dirt the federal government is removing from sites that were formerly used to produce nuclear weapons and energy. Under a program called Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program, the federal government is paying to dispose of this dirt and Newmont sought to make the Dawn site available for this purpose. So the company pressed on and convinced a new state administration to support the dump.

Despite assurances by the company and DOH that a new radioactive dump was not actually being established -- that this was in fact a simple clean up project -- Dawn Mining announced in November that U.S. Ecology, site operator of the low-level commercial radioactive waste dump at Hanford, would be the site operator at Ford.

The new dump is located in an impoverished rural area forty miles northwest of Spokane, Washington. It lies on the border of the Spokane Indian Reservation, next to a creek that drains into the Columbia River. The site is directly above the Walker's Prarie Aquifer which has been polluted by the company's activities. In 1992 Dawn began to pump water out of the aquifer in order to remove radionuclides and sulfates. This water is now evaporating in plastic-lined pools constructed by the company on over 100 acres.

The Spokane County Commissioners and the Spokane City Council passed resolutions asking Washington's Governor Gary Locke to rescind the license that paved the way for a radioactive caravan of 50,000 waste haulers to pass through Spokane to the millsite at Ford. Thousands of people have signed letters opposing the dump.

One of the main concerns revolves around the transportation of the wastes to the DMC site. An estimated 38 trucks per day, carrying 400 cubic feet each, 260 days per year, for five to seven years, is expected on the two lane rural highway to Ford. This road connects the communities of Springdale, Ford, Reardan, and Wellpinit on the Spokane Indian Reservation.It is the main route people from these communities use to access Spokane, the nearest urban center, and major highways. The road is a school bus route and it is regularly used by businesses to move goods to and from the area.

Dawn Watch is concerned the dump scheme encourages irresponsibility by mining companies.  If this project is not stopped other large mining companies will want to promote disposal proposals of their own instead of simply cleaning up after themselves. Why not when Newmont, an industry leader, has demonstrated that an old uranium mill can be converted to national dump?
 
 

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Since the mid 80s, despite considerable local opposition, DMC has persisted in a plan to convert a 28-acre below-grade tailings impoundment (TDA-4) into a dump for various radioactive waste products including, radium-tainted dirt from New Jersey, NORM, "select material" and 11.e(2) material. The company says it has no idea how much money has been spent promoting the dump. However, Bogle and Gates of Seattle, one of the most prestigious law firms in Washington, and Linda Hull, the highest paid lobbyist in the state, have been retained to assist with the effort. The dump project is supposed to raise enough money for reclamation of the mill, which by the early 90s was estimated at $20 million. Any additional money raised will go towards clean up of the mine on the Reservation, which may cost over $160 million.

The companyís disposal proposal triggered the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review. In 1991, the Final Environmental Impact Statement was published by the Washington State Department of Health (lead agency). In it, then- Secretary of Health Kristine Gebbie wrote her ìclean fill decision,î saying that no imported radioactive products were to be used to fill TDA-4. She ordered the company to resubmit a closure plan that would outline how reclamation would be accomplished utilizing only clean dirt as fill. The company did not comply. Instead, they submitted a revised proposal, (see  Sept 1992 Clark to Slagle, Sept 1992 Technical Advisory Committee, April 1993 Clark to Miyahara) which the state eventually accepted. Newmont's plan was finally accepted under a new administration (Governor Lowry), and a new Secretary of Health (Miyahara). In spite of Washingtonís policy to limit the amount of radioactive waste flowing into the state, a national dump for 11.e(2) FUSRAP materials was established by amending the company's Radioactive Materials Handling License.

FUSRAP is an acronym for Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. Previously managed by the Department of Energy, the program was transferred to the Department of the Army, Army Corps of Engineers in October 1997. The mission of FUSRAP is to clean up contaminated sites around the nation that contracted with the federal government for nuclear weapons production and nuclear energy. FUSRAP sites are located in many states including, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and Missouri. While Dawn Watch is sympathetic to other communitiesí desires to rid themselves of their radioactive rubble, we contend that the Ford site is not an adequate location for any of the nation's radioactive waste.

The new dump is located in an impoverished rural area forty miles northwest of Spokane, Washington. It is located on the border of the Spokane Indian Reservation, next to a creek that drains into the Columbia River. The site is directly above the Walker's Prarie Aquifer which has been polluted by the company's activities. In 1992 Dawn began to pump water out of the aquifer in order to remove radionuclides and sulfates. This water is now evaporating in plastic-lined pools constructed by the company on over 100 acres. The process is expected to take about twenty years, depending on local weather conditions.

Dawn Watch representatives believe the new dump was chosen solely on the basis of DMCís financial requirements. Had a responsible team of experts been commissioned to identify and establish the nationís next FUSRAP repository, this site would never have been considered.

Dawn Watch was founded in 1994 by a local farmer who became alarmed at the companyís influence on Washington State's decision makers (see especially, Clark at Wellpinit and "Blackmail Memo"). Dawn Watch is recommending the use of clean fill at the companyís expense to achieve reclamation. The group monitors the situation and disseminates information. We have been challenging the disposal proposal in court since it was approved by DOH in 1995.

Both the Spokane County Commissioners and the Spokane City Council passed resolutions asking newly-elected Governor Gary Locke to rescind the license that paved the way for a radioactive caravan of 50,000 waste haulers to pass through Spokane to the millsite at Ford. While the resolutions do not hold any legal weight, they do reflect the will of communities that will be impacted by the project.

One of the main concerns revolves around the transportation of the FUSRAP wastes to the DMC site. The TDA-4 pit can hold 44 million cubic feet of material. The company has been reticent to say exactly how much radioactive waste they will import. Through the years the figures have fluctuated from 12 to 40 million cubic feet. In attempting to determine the impact of the haul on transportation infrastructure, the figures of 38 trucks per day, carrying 400 cubic feet each, 260 days per year, for five to seven years, has been consistently utilized in EIS documents. This figure is based on experience with past hauling out of FUSRAP sites.

A great deal of discussion has revolved around the transportation impacts and the Washington State Department of Transportation has performed two studies to figure out how much the resulting road degradation will cost. The primary concern is the destruction of SR-231, a two lane rural collector route that connects the communities of Springdale, Ford, Wellpinit (on the Spokane Indian Reservation) and Reardan. This is a main route people from these communities use to access major highways and Spokane, the nearest urban center. The road is a school bus route for these communities and it is regularly used by businesses to move goods to and from the area.

While the community is primarily concerned with the danger, stigma and inconvenience of having the materials transported to Ford, there are other serious, albeit more subtle issues raised by the disposal proposal. Dawn has promoted the dump as a ìself-funding closure planî because instead of walking out and leaving the $20 million mess at the mill site to Washington state taxpayers, and leaving the contamination on the Reservation unresolved, DMC would sell space in the impoundment. Yet, the federal contracts the company hopes to win are funded by federal tax dollars. If this conversion of a defunct uranium mill to a radioactive waste dump is completed, other companies will likely find such "self-funding" (that is citizen-funded) closure plans highly attractive.

This concern was exressed during the EIS scoping but DOH and DMC insisted the scenario in Ford was not only innovative, but also unique. Secretary of Health Bruce Miyahara told Dawn Watch representatives he had no knowledge of it being replicated anywhere else, however, several other jurisdictions have considered, and are considering disposal proposals.

In November 1997 Dawn Mining sent a notice to members of the Local Citizens Monitoring Committee saying U.S. Ecology of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a subsidiary of American Ecology Corporation, the oldest, most experienced commercial low-level radioactive waste management company in the country, will be the site operator at the Dawn Millsite, in charge of receipt and disposal of the 11.e(2) materials. U.S. Ecology serves private businesses and public agencies including colleges and universities, hospitals and medical laboratories, industrial facilities, biotechnology firms, power generating companies and government agencies. U.S. Ecology serves the Northwest and Rocky Mountains Compacts, operating the low-level radioactive waste repository on the Hanford reservation.