Federal officials plan to remove more than 16 million tons of abandoned uranium waste from a mining site on the banks of the Colorado River, but environmental groups warn that new threats of toxic pollution lurk downstream from future mining activity.

The pile of uranium waste near Moab, Utah, will be hauled away by train, but the move could take a decade or longer. The abandoned mine, environmentalists say, highlights the risk of other mines near the river.

The Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, compiled a database of mining claims on public lands and found more than 5,500 hard-rock mining claims within 10 miles of the river and nearly 1,200 within 5 miles. Claims for uranium, gold and other metals have doubled along the river in the past five years as demand for the materials rose. Environmental groups say mines too close to a river could contaminate the water and damage fragile ecosystems. The Colorado River supplies water for drinking and irrigation to more than 25 million people in Arizona, Nevada, California and four other states.

Existing laws permit mining on public lands with only a few restrictions. Attempts to protect rivers or to close ecologically sensitive areas to mining have failed in the past. A broad rewrite of the laws was passed this year in the House but seems unlikely to even come up for a vote in the Senate, where mining enjoys stronger support.

"The Colorado River is the lifeblood of the West," said Dusty Horwitt, an analyst for the Environmental Working Group. "The Senate's failure to pass the mining law (would leave) citizens virtually powerless to protect drinking water."

Full Story: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/
2008/08/11/20080811river-mining0809.html

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