NEAR URAVAN ON HWY 141
The 680-acre Uravan Uranium site began as a radium-recovery plant in 1912. Its owners converted it for vanadium extraction. From the 1940s to 1984, the plant operated as a uranium and vanadium processing facility. Operations at the 680-acre site left a large volume of wastes, contaminating air, soil and groundwater near the plant and the San Miguel River. Contaminants included radioactive products such as raffinates, raffinate crystals and mill tailings containing uranium and radium. Other chemicals in the tailings and groundwater water were heavy metals, such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and vanadium. EPA added the site to its National Priorities List in 1986. The State of Colorado is the lead agency for the cleanup. Cleanup for much of the site is complete, with final construction completion expected in the late fall of 2007. Following cleanup completion, the site will be deleted from the National Priorities List (NPL) and transferred to the Department of Energy for long-term management. Two historic structures—a recreation hall and boarding house—were deleted from the NPL and them demolished in 2007. Demolition debris from the two structures and underlying contaminated soils will be consolidated in an on-site repository by October 2007. Since waste is left in place, five-year reviews will be required to ensure that the remedy remains protective of human health and the environment. The most recent review was completed in September 2010.
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