SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $65 million contract to help in the long-term project to cleanup hundreds of abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation.
Under the contract, Tetra Tech will investigate mine sites, analyze possible cleanup options, provide technical support to the EPA and support EPA efforts to coordinate with and report results to the Navajo government, Navajo communities and other members of the public.
More than 30 million tons of uranium ore were extracted from the Navajo Nation and adjacent lands during the Cold War — a practice that left over 500 abandoned mine sites.
The five-year contract is the second that the EPA has awarded to address public health and environmental risks from the abandoned mines. The first contract allowed the EPA to oversee work at over 240 mine sites and develop a Navajo-specific risk assessment calculator.
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Written by SYDNEE GONZALEZ, KSL.com.
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