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Church Rock Uranium Monitoring Project

Report to theNavajo Nation Council Resources Committee

Church Rock Chapter HouseOctober 14, 2004

PROJECT RESULTS, 2003-2004

Community Involvement

Environmental Health Monitoring

Uranium Mining Impacts

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Presentation Outline

• CRUMP Goals, Collaborators

• Church Rock uranium history

• Radiation monitoring program– Gamma radiation surveys– Indoor radon monitoring

• Air particulate monitoring

• Water quality results

• Threat of new uranium mining

• RecommendationsHead frame, waste piles at uranium mine in early 1960s

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CRUMP Goals, Collaborators• Assess contaminants in water, air and land in residential

areas near abandoned uranium mines– Establish human exposures for future health studies– Educate, involve community members

• Supported by private grants, in-kind contributions• Collaborators:

– Church Rock Chapter– Diné College UEP– Navajo AML, NNEPA, NNDWR– NM Environment Department– Southwest Research & Information Center– TAMS Center, UNM/CEHP, USEPA Las Vegas Lab

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CR Uranium Mining History:

50 years of impacts

• Uranium mining occurred early-50s through mid-80s (map, top right)

• 16 abandoned mines, 1 closed uranium mill that’s a federal Superfund site (photo, bottom right)

• Little environmental monitoring in last 20 years

• No health studies ever conducted in community

United Nuclear Corp. uranium mill tailings impoundment (left), Pipeline Arroyo in

middle

Grants Mineral Belt uranium mines, deposits

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CR Uranium Mining History (cont’d)

UNC Tailings Dam Failure, 7/16/79

Dam breach: 75 ft. high, 35 ft. wide

Livestock tracks in Puerco River 3 days after spill

Spill deposited yellow salts on Puerco R. bank

20+ miles downstream

near Manuelito; warning signs posted along

river; local Navajos said, “Our animals

can’t read!”

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Radiation Monitoring Program

• Measure gamma radiation along roads, near homes in former mining areas

• Measure radon — an colorless, odorless radioactive gas — in homes near mining areas

• Understand natural radiation sources: sun, elevation above sea level, soils, rocks

• Study Area A — Pipeline, Water Pond roads• Study Area B — Old Churchrock Mine area• Study Area C — Springstead Estates site

Study Area A

Study Area B

Study Area C

Church Rock Uranium

Monitoring Project,

2003-2004Chapter House

Church Rock Chapter

Coyote Canyon ChapterNahodishgish, Standing Rock Chapters

Pinedale Chapter

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Gamma Radiation Monitoring

• Roads, housing areas near abandoned uranium mining and milling sites prioritized

• Surface gamma radiation measured with hand-held instruments, USEPA “Scanner Van”, October 2003

• 20+ people from Church Rock Chapter, Navajo Nation, SRIC, TAMS Center, USEPA participated

• Data compiled, analyzed, mapped

Carl Holiday, Perry Charley and Edith Hood (background) conduct gamma radiation monitoring

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Gamma Radiation Monitoring (cont’d)

Instrumentation

Hand-held Ludlum-19 detectors (above) loaned by NNEPA Superfund.

USEPA Las Vegas Lab loaned CRUMP its gamma radiation “Scanner Van” and two technicians for 3+ days. Sodium iodide (NaI) detectors (above right, in cylinder)

measure radiation levels within 200’ of van (top middle). On-board computers record and map radiation levels as the van travels at 5 mph. Use of van valued at >$15,000.

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Gamma Radiation Monitoring (cont’d)

“Hot Spots” Identified

• Both sides of Hwy 566 from Old Church Rock Mine north past UNC tailings pile

• Both sides Pipeline Road through tailings area

• Water Pond Road past UNC, Kerr McGee mines

• Arroyo downstream of UNC Northeast Church Rock Mine

CRUMP technicians discuss radiation levels at base of UNC Northeast Church Rock Mine waste dump

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Gamma Radiation Monitoring (cont’d)

Water Pond Road Area

• 6 Navajo homes are located <1,200 feet from an unreclaimed uranium mine abutting the Navajo Reservation

boundary in Church Rock and Coyote Canyon chapters

• CRUMP studies detected gamma radiation levels 5x to 10x greater than background in sands in arroyo in middle of

photos; local kids played in this sand

Uranium mine waste dump

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Gamma radiation levels at the base of this mine-waste pile ranged up to 20 times background at the Reservation line.

Approximate Navajo Researvation

boundary

Uranium mine wastes at abandoned UNC Northeast Church Rock Mine

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In the Water Pond Road area, 16 Navajo

residences are sandwiched between two large abandoned

uranium mines; gamma radiation levels >2x

background shown by red dots and lines; map

prepared by NNEPA Superfund staff using

radiation data from hand-held instruments

and Scanner Van.

Map of Gamma Radiation Levels

Mine site

Mine site

Navajo Reservation boundary

Map by J. Begay, NNEPA/Superfund

Water Pond Road

Hwy. 566

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Gamma Radiation Monitoring (cont’d)

Springstead Estates Area

• Scanner van, hand-held meter surveys limited to roads, arroyo through Springstead property

• Majority of radiation levels within background– small piles of red-pink

stones had slightly elevated gamma levels

• More extensive studies needed before 900-unit housing complex is built

Springstead was site of mobile home park for miners in 1960s-early 1980s

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Indoor Radon Monitoring

CRUMP Radon Team: Gerald Brown, Vivian Craig, Alta Yazzie, John Plummer

• 7-day radon canisters placed in 139 homes in Feb.-March ’04

• 34 homes had radon levels greater than the USEPA “action level” of 4 pCi/l-air*

• Homes with high Rn in 1st test: – Uphill Road– Lime Ridge Road– Happy Valley– Old Churchrock Mine Road– Red Top Road, Becenti Trail

*8-hr exposure = smoking 1-2 packs cigarettes per day

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Indoor Radon Monitoring (cont’d)

• Re-tests done in June-July– 3 Lime Ridge homes > 4pCi/l– Happy Valley homes tests

invalid; new tests needed

• Gamma radiation surveys did not reveal contaminated building materials

• High Rn levels may be from rocks, abandoned mines

• Mitigation measures will be researched, recommended

John Plummer, NNEPA Radon Program, shows Pipeline Road

resident Alta Yazzie the charcoal inside a radon canister

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Air Particulate Monitoring• Tiny dust particles in the air

• Dust irritates lungs, makes breathing problems worse

• Dust may be contaminated with radioactive elements

• People living near uranium mine wastes more likely to be exposed

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Air Particulate Monitoring (cont’d)

• Two monitoring sites selected near abandoned mines– Pipeline Road– Water Pond Road

• Using continuous, high-volume air samplers loaned by Tribal Air Monitoring Support (TAMS) Center

• Electric connections to 2 residences paid by CRUMP

Annabelle Allison, TAMS Center, explains air sampler

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Air Particulate Monitoring (cont’d)

Installation of Samplers

• Each platform was built by CRUMP and CR Chapter staff• Outer security fence protects sampler• Electric lines buried, connected to nearby homes

The Boss The Crews

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Air Particulate Monitoring (cont’d)

Operations, Expected Results

• 1 year of air quality data

• USEPA-LV lab to test filters for particulates

• Results compared with federal Clean Air Act maximum dust limits

• USEPA-LV lab will test radiation levels on about 10% of samples

• Exposures to people calculated

This is a typical two-sampler array; single samplers will be installed on CRUMP platforms

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Water Quality Survey

• Field reconnaissance of water sources in Church Rock area, July-August 2003

• Water assessment team sampled 13 “unregulated” water sources in August, October 2003– Water sources that are not

regularly tested or treated

• Water tested at USEPA, NTUA, NMSLD labs for:– radionuclides, heavy metals,

general chemistry

CRUMP water team members collect samplers from a developed

spring in Pinedale Chapter

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Water Sources, Uses

• Unregulated water sources: hand pumps, springs, windmills

• Uses: human drinking water, domestic uses, livestock water, irrigation

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Water Quality Results

• 2 wells exceeded drinking U.S., Navajo drinking water standards for U, Ra– NNEPA recommends closure of

these wells

• ALL but 1 well had salty, hard water unsuitable for human consumption

• Wells not tested for bacteria• high cost of hauling water

Public water supply source at Crownpoint Chapter House

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Threat of New Uranium Mining• 4 uranium in situ leach

mines proposed, 2 in Church Rock, 2 in Crownpoint

• Would contaminate portions of Westwater Canyon Aquifer, the principal source of high-quality drinking water in the Eastern Agency

• Processing plants would be built in Church Rock, Crownpoint

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Threat of New Mining (cont’d)

Navajo communities say “Łeetso Dooda”

• Communities oppose new uranium mining

• Church Rock Chapter: resolutions in June 2000, July 2003

• New mining is environmental injustice

• Church Rock Chapter supports ENDAUM

• Compensation, cleanup, health studies needed

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Recommendations

• Reclamation of UNC NECR Mine should include off-site contamination– Residents, Chapters, Navajo Nation need involvement in

state-ordered reclamation plan

• More extensive gamma surveys needed along Hwy. 566 and north of UNC tailings dump on TNN land

• Long-term radon monitoring needed in some homes; re-tests of some homes fall-winter 2004

• Navajo Nation should inform, involve Church Rock Chapter in environmental studies at Springstead

• Navajo Nation should oppose new uranium mining