Progress in Moving the Moab Tailings

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) Good news for Moab residents down stream from the abandoned uranium mill tailings on the banks of the Colorado River. The U.S. Department of Transportation has granted a permit that will allow the waste to be shipped by rail car in its entirety, "without having to get a special permit for each load," says Molly Gregerson, hydrologist for the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

"We are 100% behind getting the tailings moved as quickly as possible and this should facilitate that."

The mill tailings will be moved by the U.S. Department of Energy to a permanent disposal site in Crescent Junction by rail car. Gregerson says the relocation is likely to begin in 2009. Meanwhile, water levels on the Colorado River are far enough from the mill tailings to pose no immediate threat residents.

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