Cleanup to begin in July at Haystack Mine in Prewitt

WINDOW ROCK

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced an agreement with BNSF Railway Company to begin cleanup three abandoned uranium mine sites near Prewitt, New Mexico, according to an EPA press release on Monday.

The Haystack Mine site, which operated from 1952 to 1981, produced 400,000 tons of uranium ore during its heyday. Since it closed 36 years ago, the 174-acre old uranium mine site is become a grazing site for livestock and a homestead for some homes.

The EPA said cleanup is expected to begin in July and last for about four months. Under the agreement, BNSF is expected to provide temporary housing for anyone affected by the cleanup efforts, construct access roads, and excavate contaminated soil.

Since 2008, the EPA has remediated 48 contaminated sites, provided safe drinking water to over 3,000 families in partnership with the Indian Health Service, performed cleanups at nine mine sites, and has entered into settlement agreements valued at $1.7 billion, the EPA statement says.

Currently, funds are available to begin the cleanup process at over 200 abandoned uranium mines, which represents over 40 percent of the mine sites that have yet to be cleaned.

“This work is a closely coordinated effort between federal agencies and the Navajo Nation to address the legacy of uranium contamination,” the statement said.

Over 500 abandoned uranium mines once produced 30 million tons of uranium during the Cold War, which began after World War II, and lasted until the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. During the Cold War, the U.S. and the Soviet Union began a nuclear arms race.

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