The White Mesa Mill owner received approval from the Utah Division of Waste
Management and Radiation Control in July 2020 to accept waste from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency ’ s uranium mines , although these materials had not yet arrived as of December , the authors found , citing public records .
Utah also approved the receipt of waste from Estonia ’ s Silmet OÜ rare earth metals processing plant in July , but these materials also have yet to appear , according to the report .
White Mesa Mill ’ s waste ponds covered about 275 acres as of 2021 and sit above the nearby Navajo Aquifer , which supplies drinking water to the White Mesa Community and to southeastern Utah and northern Arizona , including part of the Navajo Nation , the report stated .
The authors described the waste ponds — some of which lack modern liners — as “ a toxic and radioactive goulash ” that contains a variety of heavy metals classified as human carcinogens , as well as nitrate and chloroform plumes .
While scientists remain uncertain about how far and fast pollutants could travel if leaks from the ponds occurred , White Mesa Community members continue to express concern about the safety of their drinking water , according to the report .
“ Our water quality is really doomed when we have operations like the White Mesa Mill ,” Regina Lopez-Whiteskunk , former member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council and former co-chair of the Bears
Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition , said in a statement . “ We ’ re very tied to our land .” “ We ’ re very tied to our culture ,” she continued . “ It ’ s our identity . It ’ s very important that we protect every aspect of our natural resources , our air and our water .”
A 2011 U . S . Geological Survey study identified the potential for contaminants to migrate from the mill and into the environment , while a 2018 report from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe ’ s Environmental Programs Department showed rising levels of acidity in area springs , the authors noted .
Although the Environmental Protection Agency prohibited the mill from accepting waste from federal hazardous waste sites in December , due to concerns about the emission of toxic radon gas , that order does not bar other radioactive waste deliveries , the authors stressed .
“ Uranium and the mill represent environmental injustice that continues to be endured by the county ’ s Indigenous and low-income populations ,” Commissioner Kenneth Maryboy of the San Juan County Commission said in a statement .
Arguing that this uranium mill “ would not be allowed to operate near a wealthy white neighborhood in Salt Lake City ,” Maryboy stressed that the county ’ s Native American populations “ deserve nothing less .”
In response to the report ’ s findings , the Utah Department of Environmental Quality ’ s Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control affirmed the White Mesa Mill ’ s adherence to state and national exposure regulations .