Desert spreads endlessly beyond the horizon, where crystalline azure meets rusted bronze. This is red rock country. Moab, Utah is known for its breathtaking scenery. Red rock arches, labyrinth-like canyons, the clever Colorado River. This paradise permeates the soul and the soil. But something else sleeps in the soil: uranium tailings.
Uranium was discovered near Moab in the early 1900s, but it wasn’t significantly mined until 1952 when Charlie Steen, a geologist, discovered large quantities of uranium in Lisbon Valley, south east of Moab. Enough Uranium was mined that a sign in town declared that Moab was “The Uranium Capitol of the World!”
By Max Lindberg •
July 9, 2008
Just another reason why uranium isn’t the way to go, it costs the taxpayer way too much money for what he receives.
Take the former Fernald Feed Materials Production Center at Fernald, Ohio, that’s about 20 miles northwest of Cincinnati. The former uranium processing site opened in complete secrecy during the Cold War in 1951. The plant fabricated uranium fuel cores for the U.S. nuclear weapons production complex until 1989, when it shut the doors.
Releases from the plant exposed residents of the small community of Fernald to radon, soluble and insoluble forms of uranium and various chemicals, both in groundwater and from blowing dust. The health consequences to residents and former workers are still being evaluated.
By Max Lindberg •
March 3, 2008
Those steel tanks you see are some of the 177 that contain 53 million gallons of heavy metals, acids and solvents. They also contain plutonium, cesium, strontium and uranium. All are buried underground.
Of those 177, sixty-seven are confirmed leakers, meaning their contents are leaching into the soil and headed toward the Columbia River. Most have exceeded their anticipated 50 year life span, creating fear of a catastrophic tank failure.
Thousands of tons of radioactive and hazardous waste has been buried in unlined landfills and 450 billion gallons of liquid waste has been poured into ponds, ditches and drainfields at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in the state of Washington.
