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More groundwater testing for uranium-contaminated Riverton site

The U.S. Department of Energy will run additional groundwater tests at a Riverton site contaminated with uranium. The Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act site was contaminated after hosting a uranium mill there in the 1960’s.  

After tailings were removed from the Riverton site, the DOE recommended that nature be permitted to flush the uranium out of the system, and the DOE would monitor progress by testing at established wells. However, the model used to assess progress did not take into account events like big storms, and a flood in June, 2010 caused spikes in uranium levels. DOE’s April Gil says the new testing, which will be a onetime event, will help update the model.

“We wanted to very precisely understand the contamination, where it is under the site, and how quickly it's moving,” says Gil.        

Gil said that if the testing reveals something significant, the DOE may have to reconsider the natural flushing approach it uses as a management strategy. Meanwhile, Gil says that regular bi-annual testing has also been increased to three times a year due to concerns from stakeholders.

Irina Zhorov is a reporter for Wyoming Public Radio. She earned her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from the University of Wyoming. In between, she worked as a photographer and writer for Philadelphia-area and national publications. Her professional interests revolve around environmental and energy reporting and she's reported on mining issues from Wyoming, Mexico, and Bolivia. She's been supported by the Dick and Lynn Cheney Grant for International Study, the Eleanor K. Kambouris Grant, and the Social Justice Research Center Research Grant for her work on Bolivian mining and Uzbek alpinism. Her work has appeared on Voice of America, National Native News, and in Indian Country Today, among other publications.
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