Colorado River floodwaters reach UMTRA site; tailings pile is safe, officials say
by Rudy Herndon
Staff Writer
Jun 05, 2014 | 2697 views | 0 0 comments | 53 53 recommendations | email to a friend | print
The Colorado River spilled out of its banks last week, flooding a section of the Moab UMTRA cleanup site located adjacent to the river and Moab Wash. Officials said floodwaters had encroached further inland this week but a series of protective berms built to prevent water from reaching the radioactive tailings pile are working. Photo courtesy of the Department of Energy
The Colorado River spilled out of its banks last week, flooding a section of the Moab UMTRA cleanup site located adjacent to the river and Moab Wash. Officials said floodwaters had encroached further inland this week but a series of protective berms built to prevent water from reaching the radioactive tailings pile are working. Photo courtesy of the Department of Energy
slideshow
The Colorado River overflowed its banks last week and crossed a cleaned-up section of the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) site. But officials say that improvements to the property have kept floodwaters away from the tailings pile.

Grand County UMTRA Liaison Lee Shenton noted that the pile itself is protected by a series of three berms that have been designed to keep floodwaters away from potentially radioactive materials.

“They’re all working the way they expected them to,” Shenton said June 3.

A 20-acre area along the river north of the Moab Wash was remediated in early 2011 after floodwaters spilled into that section of the former uranium mill site, raising concerns among some local citizens about the need for further flood protections. That site has since been recontoured to allow for more gradual flooding, which minimizes the river’s erosive force, according to Shenton.

“The project hydrogeologist told me that that was actually part of the plan,” Shenton said. “It doesn’t create wetlands, but it creates a more natural floodplain.”

The Colorado River Basin Forecast Center is projecting that river will crest at about 39,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) some time later this week. That compares to peak flows of nearly 49,000 cfs in 2011 – the last time that the river spilled onto the UMTRA site.

River flows at the closest official gauging station near Cisco were up to 37,200 cfs by 8 a.m. on June 3, according to provisional date from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). By mid-afternoon on June 4, those flows had decreased to 35,700 cfs, the USGS reported.

Runoff from above-average precipitation in the mountains of west-central Colorado is feeding the flows. Releases from dams on the Colorado, Gunnison and Dolores rivers are also boosting water levels, according to Wendee Ryan, public affairs manager for the S&K Moab TAC Team, which is a contractor to the U.S. Department of Energy.

For the latest information on flooding at the UMTRA site, go to: http://www.gjem.energy.gov/moab/project_docs/river_flooding.html.
Share This Article |
similar stories

Tailings cleanup has slowed slightly after November rockslide | 8 days ago by Molly Marcello
Staff Writer

Danish Flats facility ordered to adopt new emissions controls | 15 days ago by Molly Marcello
Contributing Writer

Idea of passenger rail linking Moab to Salt Lake City proposed | 1 day 14 hrs ago by Molly Marcello
Contributing Writer

My View Why maintain wildlife habitat diversity and connectivity? | 8 days ago by Pam Hackley

Book Cliffs Highway too expensive... | 8 days ago


Copyright 2013 The Times-Independent. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

report abuse...

Express yourself:

We're glad to give readers a forum to express their points of view on issues important to this community. That forum is the “Letters to the Editor.” Letters to the editor may be submitted directly to The Times-Independent through this link and will be published in the print edition of the newspaper. All letters must be the original work of the letter writer – form letters will not be accepted. All letters must include the actual first and last name of the letter writer, the writer’s address, city and state and telephone number. Anonymous letters will not be accepted.

Letters may not exceed 400 words in length, must be regarding issues of general interest to the community, and may not include personal attacks, offensive language, ethnic or racial slurs, or attacks on personal or religious beliefs. Letters should focus on a single issue. Letters that proselytize or focus on theological debates will not be published. During political campaigns, The Times-Independent will not publish letters supporting or opposing any local candidate. Thank you letters are generally not accepted for publication unless the letter has a public purpose. Thank you letters dealing with private matters that compliment or complain about a business or individual will not be published. Nor will letters listing the names of individuals and/or businesses that supported a cause or event. Thank you letters about good Samaritan acts will be considered at the discretion of the newspaper.