DRC-2017-010722 - 0901a068807a8d22

Public Information Meeting June 15, 2017 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Blanding Arts and Events Center
715 West 200 South Blanding, Utah Energy Fuels Resources: Public Notice, Renewal of 11e.(2) Byproduct Radioactive Material
License (RML UT1900479) and the Groundwater Quality Discharge Permit (Permit
UGW370004) for the White Mesa Uranium Mill site near Blanding, San Juan County, Utah. Ryan Johnson, DWMRC
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming. My name is Ryan Johnson and I am with
the Utah Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control. This evening we are here to take
public comment for the Renewal of the White Mesa Mill Radioactive Materials License and their
groundwater discharge permit. For your information, the license renewal application was submitted in
February 2007. As part of the license renewal for this period we are also considering the Sequoyah
Fuels Alternate Feed Request and we are also taking comments on Reclamation Plan 5.1. And as
previously said, we are also renewing the facility’s groundwater quality discharge permit at the same
time.
This was began as a 60 day public comment period starting May 1, 2017 when the public notice was
published in the Salt Lake Tribune, the San Juan Record and the Deseret News, and also was posted on
our web page. The public comment period was scheduled to end June 30th, however, we did have a
request for an extension for this comment period, so it has been extended to the end of July. July 31st.
You are welcome to provide comment here. Again, this is comment only, this meeting and we have a
number of people that have requested to provide comments, due to the large number we are going to ask
you keep your comments to 5 minute duration or less, just so that we can accommodate everybody. If
you have more to say, please send your comments to us in a written form, either via email or you can
mail it to us and our mailing address is:
Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control
P.O. Box 144880
Salt Lake City, UT 84114-4880 Or you can send an email to:

[e-mail]
All written comments and oral comments will be part of the public record. We are recording this meeting for that purpose and we will prepare a written response to all comments received and that will
probably be this fall when it’s ready.

So, when you come to the mike, please state you name for the record and we’ll go in order of who signed up.”

Amber Reimondo, Energy Program Director, Grand Canyon Trust
“Thank you. Like he just said, my name is Amber Reimondo. I am the Energy Program Director
for the Grand Canyon Trust. The uranium industry has a long history of contaminating parts of the
Colorado Plateau and often leaving behind a mess for taxpayers to cleanup. Through this licensing
proceeding the Division has a chance, if nothing else, to prevent the White Mesa Mill from adding to
that history. So, I would like to take my time tonight to talk about that issue. A uranium prospector
built the Atlas Mill on the banks of the Colorado River just outside of Moab in the 1950s. When the
mill shut down in 1984 it wasn’t properly cleaned up. By the late 1980s the surface of the tailings
pile at the Atlas Mill had dried out, exposing those that lived or spent any time in the area to health
risks from breathing too much radon. It was also leaching contaminants. When the mill operator
was told it had to remediate groundwater contamination at the mill, it filed for bankruptcy. The
company had just 6.5 million dollars in reclamation bonds, which is nowhere near the amount
needed to pay for the actual remediation of the site, which is still ongoing. Now the Department of
Energy is charged with cleaning up the mess which is costing around 37 million dollars every year
and the final total is projected to reach near a billion dollars.
A similar problem occurred with another uranium processing facility just 20 miles down the road
from here in Monticello. Long after the site was closed down the site was declared a super fund site
in 1986, a listing that labeled it as one of the most toxic sites in the country. Part of that
contamination still sits in the groundwater below the former mill site and extends over a mile down
gradient. Health impact studies done by the State of Utah and health experts found that current and
former residents of Monticello were experiencing elevated levels of certain types of cancer and
concluded that the results suggested a potential link to the former processing facility. Remediation
of the mill site to date, which is only a fraction of the size of White Mesa has cost four times the
amount proposed for the White Mesa reclamation bond.
The lesson here is that we can’t predict with certainty just how much damage the White Mesa Mill
will cause to the environment and to the people who live nearby and we can’t predict with certainty
what that will cost to clean it up. Despite that uncertainty, the company’s roughly 20-million-dollar
bond basically assumes that everything is going to go according to plan, plus or minus 3 million
dollars as a contingency. But if, like so many of these cases in the past, it doesn’t go as planned and
Energy Fuels goes bankrupt, like companies have before it, then taxpayers will be left holding the
tab, which past have shown can cost significantly more than 20-23 million dollars. Right now, all
the costs that come with the inherent uncertainties is being shouldered by the public with their health
and their tax dollars, yet it is Energy Fuels that is creating the risk and so it is Energy Fuels that
should shoulder it. Thank you for your time and the Trust looks forward to providing more detailed
comments in writing soon.”
Bradley Angel, Executive Director, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
“Good afternoon. My name is Bradley Angel and I am the Executive Director of Greenaction for
Health and Environmental Justice. I am here today at the request of the residents of the nearest
community to the mill, not Blanding Utah, but the White Mesa Ute Community and I have been
working with and at the request of White Mesa residents for over 15 years now and I share their
concern. Not just about the mill and its pollution of their air, of their land, of groundwater, but the
destruction and desecration courtesy of the State of Utah with your knowing approval of desecration
for family friendly sites, including burials.
When Americans say the Pledge of Allegiance, we end it by saying, ‘With liberty and Justice for
all.’ But apparently, that doesn’t apply to this process. This process is rigged. It is not legitimate
and in fact it’s predetermined and that is not proper and I don’t think it’s legal. The so-called public
notice says at the top, ‘Renewal of the Product License.’ It says, ‘Renewal of the Groundwater
License.’ When this hearing was introduced a few minutes ago by the hearing officer, you said, and
I quote, ‘You are here to take public comments for the renewal.’ You do not say for the proposed
renewal. You then said, ‘We are also renewing the facility’s groundwater discharge permits.’ You
should have said, we are considering renewing it or we are proposing to. But based on your written
public notice and the statements you opened tonight’s hearing with it is proof that cannot be
contradicted that this is rigged, it’s predetermined.
A week ago today I joined a lot of tribal members and others at the so-called public hearing in Salt
Lake City at the DEQ offices and as tribal members pointed out with frustration, up on the podium
was the State agency people and right next to them at the podium as though they were one of the
decision makers, which in my opinion, clearly, they are, which is not proper, was the attorney for
Energy Fuels. As tribal members pointed out, he should have been in the audience with the rest of
us. But that is not how you run things here. You make decisions before the public comment period
even starts. Why even bother? Why waste our tax dollars? And by the way I am a tax payer with
both San Juan and Grand County.
I also want to address the claim that this is a well-regulated facility. A few years ago, in this very
room as I was here with my college from Uranium Watch at that hearing and as we left, there wasn’t
a lot of people here, and as we left a very interesting thing happened. A man who identified himself
as one of the nighttime managers at Energy Fuels, a really nice guy, wanted to talk and he told us
that the nighttime shift at the time at least, according to him, was there was a culture of violation
including illegal dumping. I shared that with the State, nobody bothered to follow-up. I hear often
that the emissions are within the acceptable and legal standards. Gee, that’s funny and I don’t think
that’s true. I remember a couple years ago I was coming down from Moab and Monticello I saw a
gigantic plume of black smoke. It went for miles and it wasn’t from Blanding. It was from the mill.
We brought that to the attention, people at the State of Utah play dumb about it.
A couple of other things, number one, it was pointed out, and in fact at the hearing last week when it
was claimed that the… I had asked, ‘Which was the closest community?’ and it was admitted by the
State officials that was White Mesa Ute Community. Why isn’t there a hearing at White Mesa?
Why isn’t White Mesa residents notified if there is an emergency? And the answer from the State
officials last Thursday was, ‘Well, the local officials are notified, Blanding; San Juan County; the
State.’ Well, I have news for you. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is a local official. They’ve been
here before anybody else. What we have here, and this is not affront to any of the hard-working
people, men and women that work there, not at all, but what we have here is a rigged process, a
discriminatory process, makes believe facts coming from the State of Utah just to justify issuing the
permit as you’ve already admitted you’re going to do. So, no matter what we have to say,
apparently it will have no effect. The exclusion of the tribe and tribal members from meaningful
participation in this process is racist. The destruction, knowing destruction of the sacred sites,
including burials. I don’t think you would like a uranium mill on top of where your ancestors are
buried. So, time is over for my comments, but also for the violation of the civil rights and human
rights of the Ute people of the White Mesa Ute Community. Thank you for your time.”
Tony Turk, Previous Mayor of Blanding, Resident of the area since 1978
“My name is Tony Turk and in a previous life I was Mayor in Blanding for 10 years and I have been
a resident in this area since 1978. I would like to be on record saying that I support the mill. I am
not afraid of the mill. We have 13 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren that are in this area and
we are not alarmed at all. I found it interesting in the first presenter’s comments citing historical
record. Well, we can go back in history and we can, you know, exclaim, you know, what had
happened when, and what has happened when has provided detail on what to do correctly now. So,
when we talk about Monticello, yes, it was a bad situation. When we talk about Moab, I suppose
that was a bad situation. I am not as familiar with that. That doesn’t mean that the same conditions
that pertain then pertain now. We have increased monitoring, increased awareness, and when the
gentleman just previous makes a comment about made up facts, I think the decision should be made
on facts, not made up facts and not rhetoric, not opinion, and not appeal to emotion. The decision
should be made on fact. The reality is the White Mesa Mill is the only operating uranium mill in the
nation. It’s the only mill handling the feed stock that we’re receiving here and the Sequoyah project
that was mentioned. We need to have some place in this country where that’s going to happen. It’s
not going to happen in an urban area, it’s going to happen in a rural area and Blanding and the
citizens I am familiar with are in support of Blanding being that site for this. I think this whole area
has been the victim of preconceived decisions. Most notably, when the Bears Ear National
Monument was supposedly had public hearings in Bluff and people were transported in to
overwhelm the local voice. I think if you look in the room today, you’re going to find people that
aren’t from here. They are from somewhere else. They don’t live with the consequences; they don’t
speak for the people that live here. They may pretend to speak for the people that live here, but they
do not. We support the mill. We are not afraid of the mill. We have confidence in the science that’s
behind the mill operation and hope the decision will be made accordingly and not because of some
public outcry. Thank you.”
Bruce Adams, San Juan County Commissioner
“Hi. My name is Bruce Adams. I am a San Juan County Commissioner. I have been a
commissioner for the last 12 years here in San Juan County. Very familiar with the operation at the
mill, familiar with the personnel. I want to speak in favor of the permit being granted to the mill
operator. It’s an important economic part of our county and our citizenry. I’ve had conversations
with a number of citizens that I represent here in San Juan County and people who live here in San
Juan County. I am not saying that every citizen in the county has spoken to me or has given me their
opinion, but those that have spoken with me are very much in favor of the renewal of this license. I
do represent the people of San Juan County and I believe that the majority of people in San Juan
County would be in favor of the renewal. In the United States we produce power by a variety of
power sources. One of them is nuclear power. I believe there are 99 nuclear power plants in the
United States. Of those 99 nuclear power plants, they produce about 20 percent of the energy that is
required for the citizens of the United States. In the United States we produce domestically about 5
percent of the fuel that powers these 99 power plants. I think there is a great opportunity for this
mill site to produce fuel for these 99 nuclear power plants, especially when it comes to cleanup
operations. I’m aware there is a number of sites on the Navajo Reservation that need to be cleaned
up. It would make sense to me that that cleanup would take place and that the tailings could be
brought to the mill here in Blanding and processed in a careful, proper way and the fuel from those
products could be then used in these 99 power plants. We believe that the mill operator is judicious
in the way that they operate the mill. I’m not aware of any response that has been required by
emergency services from San Juan County in the last 12 years because of any incident that has taken
place at the mill. We are also aware that the State regulates the operation of this mill very heavily
and we have confidence that those State regulators and that the mill operator are operating this mill
in a proper manner and so I would urge you to grant the permit to Energy Fuels to continue
operating this mill. Thank you.”
Phil Lyman, San Juan County Commissioner
“Hi. May name is Phil Lyman. I’m a San Juan County Commissioner. I just want to start by
saying, first of all, how much we appreciate the efforts of Energy Fuels and their predecessors here
at the mill and how important they’ve been to our community. Uranium is a naturally occurring
substance. If you go breccia pipes down on the Colorado River, those breccia pipes have uranium in
them. It’s not like as if someone is out here producing uranium. They’re taking a substance that has
tremendous benefit to mankind, to our nation and with ingenuity, and the research, and the
technology converting that into something that is very useful to us. I think it is a beautiful industry.
I think it holds the key to a peaceful and clean world and in the future, we will be a nuclear-powered
civilization, a nuclear-powered world and moving that direction to a great extent already. Claiming
to shut down the mill to protect the environment is akin to turning Bears Ears to an industrial tourism
mecca in order to protect cultural resources. It’s the same weird logic that we’re hearing and it can
only be attributed to groups like the Grand Canyon Trust, who are politically motivated and heavily
funded for a completely different agenda than what is in the best interest of people of good will. At
the same time, you have Russia that owns 20 percent of the United States uranium supply, thanks to
the deals done by Hilary Clinton, and now is not the time to shutting down the production of the only
processing mill for uranium ore in the country. Too many good people, visionary people,
hardworking people have recognized this opportunity and have done everything they can at great
sacrifice to bring about this industry. It’s a gift. It’s an endowment. It’s a blessing to San Juan
County and if we allow this mill to lose its place in our community and in the nation, we will have
been giving up something of great value. I just want to say again that the future of energy is with
nuclear power. I’m pleased to be a part of it. I think San Juan County for years has been proud to be
a member of that community and to feel like we have something to contribute. The people who have
contributed and who have worked in those mines have done so with a great deal of pride. The same
time, the lessons that have been learned in the coal industry over the last 200 years have made coal
into a much safer and more productive resource. The same thing is true with nuclear energy. The
problems we had back in the beginning of the industrial age when these things were coming about
are not the problems we have now and I just hope that those powers that be will see the wisdom in
granting this permit. The water supply is obviously a concern to all of us. We all drink the water
here. That’s why we rely on the experts who test it, rely on the data, rely on facts and reject this
false narrative that’s being thrown at us in an effort to derail the really important industry for San
Juan County. Thank you.”
Sarana Riggs, From the Navajo Tribe
“Good afternoon. My name is Sarana Riggs. I am from the Navajo Tribe and I am here to give a
comment about what’s going on today. Listening to everybody’s comments here, it’s made me think
about, and being on the road here from the Navajo Nation, I’ve had the opportunity to view the
landscape here and meet with various people and talk to tribal members in the area and reconnect
those ties between both tribes. What I would like to say about this license renewal is that…I’m
going to talk a little bit about the history and my personal opinion about this.
I grew up in a family where my great grandfather was a mill worker and prior to that he was a
soldier and he was at Normandy. So, he lived and he made it back here and to provide for his family
he was a mill worker and so he faced these unknown dangers to him throughout his life. He lived a
really long life, all the way until he was 80, but unknowingly did he know that he had stomach
cancer and he had passed away because of that a little over 10 years ago. Nobody knew that he was
facing, going through this pain, going through this agony of the cancer that was in him. Somebody
went to his roll location and they went to go check on him to see if he needed some food or if he was
fine and OK and they found him on the ground in the kitchen just bleeding out from all areas of his
body. So, they hurried up and went to a place to make a phone call, because on the Navajo
reservation we don’t have a signal, we don’t have Wi-Fi, this is a little more than 10 years ago, so
we don’t have those resources and him living about 30 miles south of Flagstaff, I am pretty sure
somebody just ended up going into Flagstaff to get the call for help. So a helicopter came and
picked him up at his home and took him to Flagstaff Medical Center where he lived for a couple
hours. I was lucky enough to see him, really short, hold his hand and tell him that, ‘I didn’t really
get a chance to know him.’ and ‘I’m going to miss him and that when he gets to his place to give my
deceased sister and my dad a hug for me.’ That’s my personal history with a uranium mill and
worked at Rare Metals. So looking at that, way back then, the promise of the mill being safe and
providing income for the family and to live at the site where there was housing provided, which
unknowingly had caused cancer to so many families. I just recently talked to a Navajo guy in
Monument Valley this morning and he talked about living in the same community at Rare Metals
and how his whole family had succumbed to different forms of cancer and so we had that personal
point of connection this morning. What I would like to say about it is…yeah, we have the science,
we have the technology to monitor and to look into the effects of radiation or any other things that
will be here at the mill site that’s going to be processed, but that’s not to say that it’s safe. You can
be around radiation for so long in a safe zone, but that can only be short-lived and you can only get
so much radiation within you. For myself and my personal history and what’s going on at the
Navajo reservation, I have taken it upon myself over the years to be really involved in it and not just
be an activist or a protester or a naysayer or some rebel-rouser. I’ve personally had to go there and
do their training to be a remediation worker, to understand the effects of this and what it means. But
still, I hear both sides of the story, but I’m more concerned about the families that are impacted and
those families that have lost people. So, I look at water quality in our area and to the city and Gallup
and Sanders, and all these places around and they are contaminated. Cameron is…there are so many
abandoned uranium mines all over the Navajo Nation, and that’s because of the need for money.
You guys are talking about, yes, we need this mill because it is going to provide jobs for us, but you
got to remember where is the minerals coming from to help supply your jobs. Coming from our
reservations. We are the ones that are being impacted and left with that legacy. So, when you are
thinking about anything having to do with the mill site or mill processing and all that…think about
it. It’s going through our lands, it’s going through our ground, it’s coming from our ground, and
when it is coming from our ground it is going back into our water, going back into the plants, it’s
going back into the animals that we survive off of. We still hunt, most of us are not lazy, we don’t
go to the supermarket, we still farm and that’s how my family survives. When you are thinking
about all of this, think about all of us down the road. Oklahoma…they want to transport material
here and it’s going to go through Navajo Nation and other places and other communities. All of
those other communities that are being affected are not here to say something about it. So that is just
what I would like to say. Thank you.”
Corena Tate (No response)
Garrin Palmer
“I’ll be quick. I know everyone has places they want to go tonight. Thank you guys for being here
and I would just like to give my input on the mill and their license renewal. I believe the mill does a
good job of their monitoring and they go above and beyond what’s asked of them. I hope you guys
will consider the facts and renew their license. Thank you for your time.”
Wallace (Butch) Price
“Hello. I’m Butch Price. I am definitely in favor of the White Mesa Mill. But my uranium
experience, not my family, starts with my father-in-law who was working in Monticello in the mid-
1940s. I had the privilege as construction manager, project manager at the Monticello Remedial
Project to sign off on a successful closure of that project some 55 years later and the interim period
between those two dates, basically, I have worked in the uranium business, 20 years plus in the
Uravan Mill; for 4 years as a child living in the town of Uravan; 4 years at the Gas Hills Uranium
Mill in Wyoming, 10 years in different management assignments at the White Mesa Mill, here. In
1984 my company that I worked for, Union Carbide bought 70 percent interest in the White Mesa
Mill after extensive overview of the operation. We paid 45 million dollars for that 70 percent interest
because we felt like to bring the Uravan Mill up to comparable compliance would cost more than
that. The White Mesa Mill, and as far as I am aware is the only mill ever built in the United States
that started out with an EPA approved disposal system, lined tongs, underdrains, leak detection, top
to bottom, it’s was state of the art. No one else ever built a mill to that standard. They built some
others at kind of the same time, but basically, they didn’t run. The White Mesa Mill has been tested
and proven over many years. The last run we had as Union Carbide, I haven’t kept up with it as
close, but that was in ’94, the product we turned out was as good as it was made in the world. The
vanadium that we produced was the best you could buy. People were buying it from all over the
world because it mixed and blended in all your alloys and stuff super well. I don’t think there has
ever been a release from the White Mesa Mill, that I am aware of, over the last 20 years, there could
have been something, but as far as spills or anything that actually flowed out over the ground. The
ground is hard to monitor totally, but the site was fixed and built, it’s got a clay layer underneath the
plastic lining. You know I think you could look at it…you could probably build it better today, for
one thing, they’ve improved the linings, but you can’t do something like that going backwards. The
other thing, there’s been a lot said about health and that’s something I’d like to bring up. We get a
lot of comments from Native American people. Over those 40 years, some of the best people I
worked with, and some of the best friends were members of the Navajo Nation. There’s been a lot
of talk. If you’ve been listening to the President he’s been talking about this apprentice program.
We had an apprentice program when we came here in 1984. Uranium, as you all know, has been up
and down. I had kind of a rambunctious Navajo man that worked for me. This is getting off it, but I
got a call, we had a very extensive trainee program. I got a call late one Saturday night and I
wondered what he’s done, he might be in jail or something. He said, ‘I called you.’ He said, “You
know I’ve been looking for job.” He said, ‘I’m in Farmington. I just tested with 300 applicants.’
And he said, ‘Thanks to you and the people I worked with and the training you gave us,’ He said, ‘I
scored number one.” He said, ‘Five years ago when I went to work at the White Mesa Mill I didn’t
know anything,’ he said, ‘Today I beat everybody there that was applying for a job with the
Farmington Power Plant.’ And something else that a lot of these people want to push is the
oversight. The DEQ never had direct oversight over the White Mesa Mill during my time. I worked
very close with the Utah DEQ at the Monticello Project. I know you still work under the direction of
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the NRC was the toughest…I’ve been an inspected by a lot
of different Feds, the NRC, back when they came to see us, they had you shaking in your boots
because they went through every piece of paper to make sure you complied. Now, you’re talking
about, so-called hazardous material. In my worktime, 4 times they put me in coffin type thing and
done a total radiation count on my body to see if there was anything present. That doesn’t account
for all of the urine samples, stool samples, and everything else we submitted to make damn sure the
body was not exposed to and retaining any yellow cake. It’s very easy to measure, some of this stuff
is hard to measure. Radiation you can detect and you can detect it at a very slight level. When my
son got old enough I did not hesitate for him to go to work at the White Mesa Mill because I have no
health concerns what-so-ever. The White Mesa Mill has been a good neighbor. It’s a good employer
and it can be again and it will hopefully bring jobs back. When things went kind of bust in the 70s,
Union Carbide alone had 2500 people working in this general area, from Uravan up to Dove Creek
Bean Flats. It was a tremendous, hard to measure economic benefit to this area. So, if any of your
neighbors are doubting, I live out here on the north of town. The gentleman sitting next to me
basically, we took this trip together. He moved, an our dads were hired in 1954 to go to work in the
Uravan Mill, we walked away from the White Mesa Mill July 1, 1994 after 36 years employment for
each of us. I think it’s a good thing to have and don’t ever doubt the integrity of these regulatory
people, rather in be the Utah DEQ, NRC, they are going to give you a going over when they come to
town to make sure you are in compliance with the law. Thank you.”

Ron Nielson, Associate Superintendent for the San Juan School District
“Thank you. May name is Ron Nielson. I am the Associate Superintendent for the San Juan School
District. While I can’t say I am versed enough to speak to all the pros and cons of the issue here
with the White Mesa Mill. I realize you’ll study all of those. I do want to make sure that publicly
we are looking at the benefit to the students of this district and of this county, of which, I am
speaking on behalf of 3,011 of those. This year alone, according to recent numbers by the business
office, 211,000 dollars came into the San Juan School District this year to benefit our students and to
help us run our schools. We look back at that over time as recently as 2014 when the mill was
running at a little higher capacity that number was well over 400 thousand dollars that came to the
San Juan School District. So, you put a pen to that and you start to look since the ’79 year and into
the ‘80s and current until today and there is a tremendous benefit that our students have had. With
all tax dollars we are very careful to try to be responsible and very highly effective in how we spend
those dollars. We have 12 schools of which we are very rural and spread out. We have small
schools, but if look into our small schools we have quite a strong menu of opportunities for our
students. This comes at being able to support our schools and finance our schools. We are able to
work very diligently to attract and retain quality teachers, which are a great challenge for the San
Juan School District, and again the tax dollars and the efforts that we are able to bring in are very
helpful in this area. One of the things that we really work very diligently in recent years is to try to
be very specific in most needy areas and to look at those areas that need help and a great example of
that happens to be down in White Mesa where we have been able to provide open enrollment
preschool for 4 year old’s and been able to finance a teacher in that area, to work in that community
and to open up an opportunity for 4 year old’s to help them be more prepared to enter as
kindergarteners the next year. These type of efforts have been a great help to us, we’ve been able to
try to be very focused in providing these tax dollars in the most needy areas and I think it has been a
great thing. While I say I can’t make the decision and I understand the pros and cons, I do want to
make sure that it is public knowledge the benefit the district has had through this mill and the
opportunity its helped us to provide to run our effective and strong schools. It’s been a great help. I
thank you for your time.”
Sarah Fields, Uranium Watch in Moab Utah
“My name is Sarah Fields. I am with Uranium Watch in Moab Utah. I’m glad to see so many
people here. I have been to hearings on the White Mesa Mill in this very room and I have been the
only one that has come to make comments. I want to just focus on one thing. I believe that the
Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control needs to require the monitoring of the radon
emissions from the new tailings impoundment cells 4Aand 4B and any subsequent tailing
impoundments. They’re not required by the EPA and the EPA finalized that in their Subpart W
Rulemaking earlier this year. I was surprised that the Utah Division of Waste Management and
Radiation Control and the Division of Air Quality were not more forward and did not demand that
the EPA require radon emissions for the new tailings impoundments. The EPA does have a
requirement that the radon emissions be kept as low as reasonably achievable to protect both the
citizens in the community and the workers on site. The State doesn’t really know if there are issues
with radon emissions and if the radon emissions are going up unless they require yearly monitoring
and require the reporting of the results to Division of Air Quality and Division of Waste
Management and Radiation Control. You’ve already made that requirement for Cell 2 and that
resulted in additional clean material being put on Cell 2 to maintain the 20 pico curie per square
meter per second level. Also, with the reclamation plan, I believe that you really need to do an
environmental analysis. The tailings will remain on White Mesa in perpetuity, that means they have
to be under government control forever. The State needs to do a better job evaluating the quality of
the proposed reclamation plan impacts on the community not just for 200 years, or 1000 years, but
5000 years and as long as there will be citizens in San Juan County. Thank you.”
Randy Bayles, Well Monitor at White Mesa Mills
“I’m Randy Bayles. I’ve worked at the mill down there, monitoring well and things of that nature. I
have also been involved in a water well business and really intimately familiar with the White Mesa
Ute Reservation wells. I hear the complaints about all the pollution and all these things that are
going to happen and in my mind, knowing the well business, knowing what they are doing at the
mill, I think these are unfounded and think people are making things up and sending this information
out and their doing it without using facts to put out the right information. From what I have seen at
the mill they’re pretty professional and their really safe and they run us pretty ragged down there
with keeping everything safe, making sure we do everything exactly right. I’ve even voiced my
concern to them that it looks like to me that what the State’s doing with them down there is over-kill.
We got a pile of holes down there, a lot of monitoring. I’m really surprised that they can monitor
that many wells. Everything seems to be fine and they keep wanting more wells and more wells, and
Energy Fuels has never complained about it to me. They just keep on going and they keep on trying
to make everything safe, everything decent. I am very in favor of the mill renewing. They’ve been a
good member of the community and a good source of employment for everybody. They keep
throwing out the natives and this stuff, that’s who we are here. We are all natives and we all work
together. There’s no difference between them and us. I mean we’re all the same, we all enjoy the
mill and the participation they put in the community and how they have just been a good member of
the community and they certainly didn’t come in here with the idea that they’re going to pollute this
place the next 5000 years. I think they have a good plan in place for when they do have to intern
what they have here, I bet it will be better than what they’ve done in other places. We produce
uranium, and a far as I’m concerned, and most of my friends and the people I know are willing to
dispose of it. We’re willing to have it here. My dad was a miner. Maybe it killed him. Hell, he was
87. I did some mining. I’ve drilled my whole life in the uranium business. That’s how I got started
in my own business. I just haven’t seen the problems that I keep hearing that people are having and
I really kind of resent the idea that their making out that there are all these problems. Well, we
haven’t seen them. How can they forecast them down the road. I just don’t see that happening.
Especially in as good an operation as Energy Fuels runs out there. Thanks.”
Taylor Harrison, Blanding City Council
“Taylor Harrison, Blanding City Council. First of all, I want to thank you guys for coming down. I
appreciate it. I appreciate your time. I also appreciate, a little bit about the seat you are sitting in
right now. Being on the council, sometimes you have to make difficult decisions and sit through a
lot of comments and really try to gather the information so I really appreciate what you guys are
doing to gather that information. I am originally not from this area, I am originally from the Salt
Lake area. I chose to move to Blanding because this is where I wanted to raise my family, I wanted
to raise my family in San Juan County. I’m grateful for that opportunity. Having lived here, serving
on the city council and working in the financial industry, I understand some of the in’s and out’s of
our economy and the vital role the mill plays in the county, not Blanding City, but the county and
helping it be as healthy as possible and for that reason as well as many others, I am in favor of the
renewal of their permits. I know a lot of people that work at the mill and consider them friends,
many of them very close friends. I know a lot about them. I know the people that they are and I
know they’re hard workers and they work very, very hard and extremely, diligently to make sure it is
safe and that they are doing all they need to do to stay in compliance and make sure the people that
work there are safe and the people who are in this area are safe from the potential hazards that come
from the mill. They do a good job making sure to keep those to a minimum and the citizens here are
safe from any potential hazards. Again, I want to express my gratitude to you and my opinion that I
think they’re deserving of the renewal and I think it is vital to our community and out economy here.
Thank you.”
Dwayne Lyman
“My name is Dwayne Lyman. My background is in chemistry and I deal a lot with water treatment
systems and reclaiming hazardous waste materials out of water and as I’ve sat here and listened to
some of the discussion, I think we really need to rely on the data to tell us what to do. I am a little
bit familiar with what the mill does, and I know that they are very careful with the data that they
collect. I’ve worked with some of their processes a little bit and I am aware of how critical and how
carefully the watch what’s going on. So one, that’s impressive to me. Through the years I grew up
here in Blanding, moved back just a few years ago. But I’ve heard this argument for a long time
about the problems with the water and potential contamination. But, I have heard that and I have
never seen data that reflects that. I have seen data from the mill and I guess that would be my
background and my recommendation is we need to let the data speak for itself. If there’s
contamination, then we need to fix it and we need to be able to control for it. I think that’s what the
other part of my message would be is that we are getting better all the time and understanding these
problems and being able to control for them and recover from situations. It’s unfortunate we hold up
as a standard events that happened back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s and say that’s the way that industry
is. That’s not fair. And we can be emotional and call everybody racist and that’s not speaking to the
data or what actually needs to be done. We have a very viable service here for Blanding, this
industry, we know it’s uranium’s been an important part for the county and it will probably come
back someday. Thank you. I am in support of the mill and would like to see that progress further.
Thanks.”
Merri Shumway, Vice President, San Juan School District Board of Education
“Thank you for your coming here and listening to the comments. My name is Merri Shumway. I
am originally from Blanding. I have lived away for a few years, but I have lived here over 48 years.
Energy Fuels is an asset to our county. It provides employment and contributes considerable tax
dollars to fund our local schools. The funding provides teachers salaries, text books, computers,
maintenance and operation for our buildings, transportation to and from schools, and all other things
that are required to educate school children. This year the mill will pay 367,000 plus dollars to San
Juan County in the form of property taxes. Over 210,000 of those dollars come to San Juan School
District. That’s at the mill not running at full capacity. As mentioned by our superintendent, when
he spoke earlier, I want to correct his numbers, as recently as 2014 San Juan School District received
over half a million dollars from the mill in tax dollars. That is equivalent with funding, with some
variables there, up to 12 teachers, or with no mill, losing 12 teachers. That’s lost opportunity for our
children in the form of classes being offered and as far as either remedial or in the form of
accelerated type of classes. Also, the 60 jobs that are provided from the mill right now also fund our
education in the form of income tax. Income tax in the State of Utah, as you know, goes directly to
funding public education. So, it would be a double whammy if we were to lose any of these jobs in
San Juan County. I would directly affect education. If we lose that many teachers, it’s a dominoes
affect and we lose more teachers and more opportunity for children. Also, White Mesa Mill
provides scholarships for our local students. 12 years ago, one of my daughters received an
academic scholarship for college from Energy Fuels and just this past year I attended San Juan
High’s Academic Awards Assembly where three graduating seniors were awarded scholarships.
Energy Fuels encourages and helps to fund students who may pursue science or math degrees. As
was mentioned also by our associate superintendent, we do offer a preschool currently at White
Mesa. These very tax dollars are what allows us to do this. If the mill were to cease to operate,
those very types of programs would be gone from San Juan School District. We rely heavily upon
those funds that we collect from White Mesa Mill. We are currently the fifth lowest in assessed
valuation per student in the State of Utah, the 41 school districts. We are one of the highest taxing
entities in the State of Utah. We are the 12th highest, but yet our students, we receive the 5th lowest.
So, we are a poor county. We struggle to fund our schools. It is very difficult and any little bit of
money provides a lot for San Juan School District.
My father was in the uranium industry. I have kids who have been employed in the uranium
industry. I’m not afraid of uranium. We appreciate it here as part of our economy. It is absolutely
vital to San Juan School District and San Juan County for our very livelihoods and our well-being
here and it trickles down to all other jobs in the county. If we were to lose any of these we would
lose, like I mentioned, we would lose school teachers, we would lose their children, we would lose
more people that worked in the other industries here in San Juan County, which there are not very
many. Anyway, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.”
Alisha Anderson, San Juan County Resident
“Hello. My name is Alisha Anderson, San Juan County Resident. I am happy to be in front of you,
though I will ask, as was said earlier, why there is not a hearing in White Mesa as well? I am stating
my opposition to the renewal. It was mentioned that the only operating uranium mill in the country
is the one in White Mesa and believe there is a reason for that. There is a reason communities do not
want a uranium mill, for their health and for their livelihood of their children. We speak of nuclear
energy, but we have to recognize the other side of that coin, which is nuclear waste. Nuclear waste
being trapped in and stored. When radioactive elements have a half-life that extends beyond our own
lives, I think we should be circumspect and I think that we should really recognize that the legacy
that we will be leaving behind with that waste. Blanding is not downstream from the mill. White
Mesa is. When the trucks from Canyon Mine, if they carry waste, it will go through the Navajo
Nation, it will go through Bluff, it will go through White Mesa. It will not go through Blanding. We
have to recognize that. So, I ask that you listen to those that will be most negatively affected by the
mill and are being negatively affected by the mill. Just because we can do something, doesn’t mean
we should. I understand that it does benefit the economy and the schools, but surely we can have the
imagination and ingenuity to create those jobs, while not harming the health of other beings in a
cleaner, better way. And finally, just one final comment. It was said earlier that we must look at
only the facts and not emotion and I do believe the facts uphold the risks of the mill, the fatal risks.
But I also want to say that think it so important for us to not cut off our emotion. Emotion is the
seedbed of compassion and may we never lose that and may we extend our compassion beyond our
own communities. Thank you.”
Bret Hosler, Community Development Director, Blanding City
“Hi. My name is Bret Hosler, as like Hoss in Bonanza. I’ve had the opportunity to interact with the
mill over several years, several decades. They have been a very good neighbor to all the
communities, north and south of the mill. As far as I can tell, from every aspect they have been
careful in their processes that they do down there. One of the things I would like to stress a little bit
that’s been mentioned here is that San Juan County is 92% public land. So if everybody in the
whole United States has the right to tell us that they want to have Bears Ears National Monument, or
this national park, or this national park, they also need to be responsible to clean up anything that
needs to be cleaned up. There’s a lot of Federal funding that should happen including the school
systems, including our highways, including our communities here and that’s something the Navajos,
the Utes, the Anglos, the Hispanics, everybody here can get behind because we all know that we
could use the assistance. I appreciate the effort that you gentlemen are making to make sure this is
done properly and effectively. We applaud the people of the mill to do their jobs safely and
effectively so the people here of all nationalities and all cultures are protected. That’s what we
want in our community and in our San Juan County. I appreciate this help and I am here to say that
as a community development director and as citizen of Blanding, I support the mill and their safe
operation and please renew their license.”
Shawn Begaye, Navajo Nation
“Hello. My name is Shawn Begaye. I am a member of the Navajo Nation. I am Navajo. I am also
a lifelong resident of San Juan County. I’ve lived in San Juan County for 35 years and most of it
here in Blanding. I want to thank you guys coming down and listening to the local people, the local
community in this area. I just want to give my support to the uranium mill here, to Energy Fuels. I
actually work down there at the mill. This is one of the jobs that many local people work at. There
are not a lot of jobs that take care of you like this one does. I know that Energy Fuels and the mill
down there that everything we do down there is compliant with State and Federal regulations that are
in place. All of us that work down there are safe, we’re healthy. It provides great jobs for many
people, especially living this close to the reservation. You know, the reservations don’t provide
many jobs. There’s people who drive from the reservation up to work at the mill and the mill
employs, I’d say, maybe even half, half the employment down there are Navajos , maybe some Utes
that work down there. These are families. These are people that live here. You know, it’s been
discussed how the money that helps with economics and school districts and stuff. It’s just
something that really helps and improves our county. I know there has been mistakes in the past
with uranium facilities, but I know the one here is compliant and I know we do the best we can to be
safe down there. I am healthy and I have a grandfather is 92 and he is lifelong resident of San Juan
County and he worked in the uranium mines back before the regulations were in place. I know the
risks and I understand that as long as we comply and do the things correctly that everything will be
fine. So, I am thankful that you guys are here and I just wanted you to know that you should permit
the licensing down there. Thanks!”
Scott Clow, Environmental Programs Director, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
“I am Scott Clow, the Environmental Programs Director for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Good
evening. In general, the State of Utah and Energy Fuels have not provided credible insurances and
adequate protective measures to instill confidence in the White Mesa and surrounding communities
that the members of these communities and their environments are safe from the documented
impacts of the White Mesa Mill. More needs to be done to ensure the public health and environment
are and will be adequately protected.
In regards to the reclamation plan and surety, the tribe is concerned that radioactive toxic waste in
the tailing cells will be stored next to the White Mesa Community forever. It is imperative that
reclamation be implemented in a technically sound and timely manner. The current surety as
calculated and revised annually is insufficient to fully reclaim the facility when Energy Fuels decides
to close the mill. We estimate the actual reclamation cost to be 30 to 130 million dollars more than
the current surety based on most cost calculation methods. So, it’s underfunded.
Regarding the groundwater permit renewal application, the groundwater in the Beryl Canyon
Formation on the mill property has been impacted by facility operations. There are two contaminant
plumes currently being remediated and there are statistically significant trends in monitoring
network of continuing groundwater quality derogation. There’s also clear documentation of offsite
impact entrance seep, due to airborne deposition and storm water transport of uranium from the
facility. The tribe is concerned that the signature of toxic waste from the tailing cells for mill
operations is not being recognized in the monitoring well network installed to detect such leakage. It
is not appropriate to reset compliance limits for monitoring wells based on the University of Utah
Isotopic Study, which is outdated and does not reflect current conditions or the Pyrite Theory, which
is not scientifically reported. The groundwater discharge permit must require an updated isotopic
study and an investigation into hydro-geologic conditions including identification of preferential
flow paths to the southeast of the facility similar in scope to the southwest hydro-geologic
investigation, which the State required recently, and inclusion, a new point of compliance wells
between cells 4A and 4B and monitoring well NW22. Furthermore, NW22 must also be designated
as a point of compliance well. That’s the nearest well to the Ute Mountain Ute boundary. A more
sophisticated approach to data assessment in identification of the facility it impacts in the monitoring
well network must be adopted in line with current Federal guidance for uranium facilities as
described in the 2017 EPA document, Health and Environmental Protection Standards for Uranium
Mill Tailings, where an approach to identifying impact by a single characteristic analyte is sufficient
in contrast to the Utah Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control current, much
narrower approach. The current approach is limiting to the point where a facility or tailing signature
may never be recognized and is not protective of human health and environment.
Regarding compliance with Air Quality regulations, as a phase disposal facility under 40CFR, Part
61 or the NESHAP, Subpart W, the mill should be required to continue filling Cell 3 with tailing
sands and bring it closer to drawing and final closure as soon as possible.
Regarding alternative feeds and in-situ leach waste disposal, the practice of designating Cell 3 as a
disposal location for in-situ leach waste because it is the only location with structural stability for
truck transport and gravity flow disposal demonstrates that no cell was designed or built for such
disposal activities including the most recently build cell 4B. A trucking ramp could be built to the
modern cells, 4A or 4B, for disposal of these wastes instead of prolonging the life of Cell 3.
Regarding the Sequoyah Fuels Proposal, no other radioactive waste disposal in the United States will
accept the Sequoyah Fuels material because of the concentrations of uranium or thorium-230
isotopes in the waste and White Mesa should also not accept it for that reason.
The State of Utah contracts with URS as a consultant to review documents pertaining to mill
operations and proposals. The URS Safety Evaluation Report for the Sequoyah Fuels Material
Proposal is flawed and relies on Energy Fuel Resources statements and representation verbatim.
URS is supposed to take an independent review on behalf of the State of Utah, not a reproduction of
the proposal by Energy Fuels to accept the waste.
I added this comment after hearing a few other people speak this evening. Three leaking shipment
of in-situ leach waste arrived at the mill in the last 2 years. That’s a fact. We were informed last
week by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality that the San Juan County Emergency
Response was notified to respond. So that’s either a fact, or it’s not a fact. But we were informed
that that was the fact. Thank you for your time.”
Ryan Banally
“Good evening. I am Ryan Banally from Montezuma Creek Utah, living here in San Juan County. I
would simple say that as Navajo we understand that there are certain histories we have with uranium
mining. However, we do see on the reservation certain uranium mining tailing are being cleaned up.
For instance, over at Oljato Mesa, the uranium pilings were placed on top. Some of the residents,
they went ahead and…I wouldn’t say endorsed it, but they agreed with the types of cleanups that are
happening. I do want to say I acknowledge that.
With the White Mesa Mill, as to my understanding, a large portion of their employee are Native
American, so I have to say that I do agree with the renewal and that as a citizen here in San Juan
County with it being the poorest county, I think having the benefit of the largest private entity
employing that many Native Americans I have to take that in huge consideration and huge strides for
members of my community since we are part of the Navajo Nation, which is nearly 50 percent
unemployed or within poverty level So, as a Native American who understands both sides of the
issue, I’d have to say the White Mesa Uranium Mine Mill is more of a pro than a con for the county.
Thank you.”
Cal Black (No Response)
Cheryl Bower
“Hello. I am Cheryl Bower. Thank you also for being here today, allowing us the opportunity to
comment. I live in Blanding Utah. I was raised in Blanding Utah and I have been a resident in
Blanding for more than 35 years. My husband worked the mill from 1986-1989, his father worked
at the mill at the same time, for more than 15 years, and I say that because it is about 8 miles up the
road, down the road and so the fact that you shouldn’t take Blanding into consideration, or list our
comments, or has not impact on us is absolutely false. That’s been said. I just want to first say that I
am in support granting the renewal license and permits for Energy Fuels and White Mesa Mill I am
also a member of the Blanding City Council and like the commissioners, everybody that has talked
to me and that I have talked about this subject is in support of the mill operations and I do represent
the people.
I worked at the Monticello Mill Site Remediation Cleanup Project for about 2 years in the safety and
training departments. Most recently I worked for an environmental engineering firm in Utah and we
performed air quality and groundwater quality testing and all the necessary permits, documentation
and paperwork that went along with that for the facilities that were under the strict regulations
required by the DEQ and DAQ, like the mill site. So, I do have an understanding of the regulations
and requirements that facilities such as this are under in order to operate and be compliance. I also
believe that the State and Federal Government has put into place many regulations and requirements,
including looking at the future of the people here and their safety. I say all of this because I, like Mr.
Turk am not afraid of the mill along with all the economical, positive economic impact on our
community that you’ve heard from many residents today. It is something that needs to stay here and
be in place and I support it. Again thank you for your time. Thank you very much.”
Sarah Burak, Resident of Bluff
“Hi. My name is Sarah Burak and I am a resident of Bluff. I would like to say that I am opposed to
the renewal of the license citing potential hazards with the storage of these hazardous materials as
well as the transportation that would be brought through Bluff and the surrounding communities’. As
I don’t think we are currently, as a county equipped for any kind of hazardous spill. Thank you.
Britt Hornsby, Resident of Bluff
“Hey. How’s it going? My name is Britt Hornsby. I am a resident of Bluff. I have been in the
county 10 years. I want to tell a quick story about being from somewhere else. I know a lot of times
that doesn’t get a lot of street credit around here, but I think my experience might help to see where I
am coming from when I say that I am against the mill.
I was originally born in a military base called Camp Lejeune in North Carolina where the military
had been knowingly poisoning the drinking water of the base where I was born. My 19 year old
mother had been drinking that water for 2 years by the time I was born. The system there,
everything was in place, all the tests, they saw the tests and they lied. We moved from there, down
to Alabama, where I spent most of my life up to moving out here. When we were in Alabama we
would vacation along the coast. When you go down, I don’t know if anybody’s ever been down
there, it’s beautiful. When you’re down there you are met by these beautiful, white beaches,
beautiful, blue ocean, and then huge oil derricks just popped into the water. As a little kid, of course,
that just didn’t make a lot of sense to me. I remember asking my parents about it and they talked
about jobs. I remember they said they were pretty hard core Reaganauts growing up, so they went
right to that. Its jobs. And then, man...look at all the jobs that got affected once the spill happened
down there in the Gulf. Wasn’t ever going to happen, and then it happened all the sudden. The little
town we grew up in was called Tallassee and it was a mill town. We had a textile mill that had no
opposition from anybody, it was a textile mill. Everybody in town liked it, tons of people worked
there, it was Betsy White blogger town. It sounds like what is going on here. A, all our eggs in one
basket, kind of thing. The mill eventually shut down. You know, live by the free market, die by the
free market. It crashed. Tons! Tons of unemployment in our home town. Medium income dropped
18-16,000 dollars. All those good paying jobs, gone. People that mad the money, bailed. Although,
none of them lived around us. Then now to move out here and see a similar thing, I see a
combination of those things. I see all those eggs in one basket from this industry. I don’t want
anybody in this community without a job. It’s hard to find work in San Juan County. But at the
same time, you are sitting on top of a potential problem. When it happens, it happens. It hasn’t
happened yet. That’s like chain smoking cigarettes and saying I won’t get cancer because I don’t
have it yet. So, that’s my spill. I also will say that I would have liked to have other people other
than say the Grand Canyon Trust or somebody come and speak to us about these problems. As far
as I know, we didn’t have anybody from local leadership come down and speak to us, they were the
only ones that filled that vacuum. Thank you very much.”
Dallin Rett (No Response)
Kirsten Ewing, Resident of Bluff
“I want to thank you for being here tonight to hear our comments as a community, as San Juan County. I am a Bluff resident. I live downstream from the mill, which is primarily my main concern. I care about the people of this county. I care about the jobs that they have. I hate the idea
that people might be out of jobs if this wasn’t renewed. But I also know that books are great, jobs
are great, but if we can’t drink the water, we have bigger problems. When I first moved down here I
lived in Halchita. We couldn’t drink the water there. You can’t drink the water in Montezuma Creek. People drive to Bluff and the drive to St. Christopher’s to get water that they can drink. We know that the containment ponds, the liners have expired. We know that the mill has been operating
on an expired license. We want to trust that things are being done in an ethical and good manner,
but with these facts before us it’s really hard to trust.
My husband is a first responder. He’s a firefighter. We’re very proud of that. A lot of my friends in
Bluff are firefighters. If anything were to happen, they would be there. White Mesa is 15 minutes from our community, Blanding is another 15 minutes, so, it’s a good midpoint. These people care.
But when you look at what they may potentially have to face with hazmats, they are not equipped.
It’s not ready. I appreciate what the gentleman said about listening to the facts and following the
facts and the data. But what I didn’t agree with when he stated that was that once it’s contaminated,
then we do something. No. I’m sorry. Once it’s contaminated, it is too late and I want to know that I’m going to have water to drink. I love being able to tell people that you can empty your bottles and
fill it with the water we have in town. I want us to continue to reserve that. I do not trust that the
mill is currently doing that and I want to ask you to please, do not renew the license. Thank you.”
Bruce Lyman
“My name’s Bruce Lyman. When the mill was built, I was the closest resident to the mill. I’m also the downwind resident to the mill. Since the mill has been built there are probably a half a dozen
other homes have been built between me and the mill. When they built the mill they put one of their
testers right next to our well. Over the years I have dealt with the mill. I’ve never had a better
neighbor. I’ve never met more honest people. They’ve given up the data that comes off our tester to
me freely. I’ve had other people look at it. They say it’s just fine. I’ve had my well tested, it’s as pure as can be. I can’t see any reason why you wouldn’t want to renew their license. It’s an asset to
the community. It’s safe. I would hope that you would renew their license. Thanks.”
End of presenters that had signed up to speak – Ryan Johnson
“OK. That is all that have indicated that they would like to give a comment. Is there anyone else
that didn’t sign the paper?
Please.
Please state your name when you come up here.
Kelly Davis (Introduced herself in Native tongue)
“My name is Kelly Davis. I was born in Monument Valley Utah. I’m from Bluff Utah and I am
opposed to renewing the mill. So, for the locals in the room, I would like us to position ourselves in our shared landscape. Locate the mill in your mind and critically ask yourself, consider the
intersections of race and space, the position of the mill in relation to the Ute Reservation, who’s
water gets contaminated. I would like you to consider your neighbors downstream, the
communities of Bluff, Montezuma Creek, White Rock, etc. If the mill was upstream, above, in
Monticello or Blanding, would you be as vehement for renewal? I am afraid of uranium. Thank you.”
Ephraim Dutchie
Good evening gentlemen. My name is Ephraim Dutchie. I signed that paper and I didn’t get called.
But I’m from White Mesa. I can’t see how hard it is to go out and get a job. I pay taxes in two
states, in Colorado and in Utah. Because I work in Colorado and I live in Utah. I‘ve been going back and forth every day for about 10 years. I’m against this renewal. You know, a lot of folks here
was talking about the school. What’s going to happen if, you know…I’m a truck driver. I get tired
when I’m driving when I’m out there. I get tired, but I got to put my 8 hours in, in order for me to
have my shipment in on time. I get tired. What’s going to happen if one of these trucks wreck going
through the community? The kids on the bus, who are our future generation. How long is it going to take for the response? Who is going to respond to the spill? What of one of these semis wreck in
White Mesa or Bluff or on the other reservations? What’s going to happen? That person that works
at the mill, he’s from White Mesa, but he lives in Blanding, where are his parents going to go if that
wrecks in White Mesa? We might be quarantined out of there. We don’t know what we are going
to do. When I went to Salt Lake to the hearing I asked, ‘Is White Mesa in that safe zone?’ The
serious scenario about that mill, certain chemicals going to get mixed up, man, this things going to blow. We need to get out of here. Is White Mesa in that safety zone or is White Mesa in that danger
zone? I have seen that fencing around that place. It’s only barbwire fence and it’s poorly done. The
deer can jump over it. It’s only four and a half feet high. Come on you guys. Open your eyes, man.
Us White Mesa people, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe…all we try to do is fit in with Blanding. Our tribe
built this hospital, Blue Mountain Hospital, along with the Navajo Nation. Ute Mountain Tribe built the rec center that all your kids go to, your grandkids go to. We try to fit in. I went to school at San
Juan High. Those books were so poorly done. Old names, my uncle’s names were written in those
books and they say they have new things. The only thing that came up new was when those two
individual burnt the high school and the high school rebuilt off of insurance. That’s it. Come on
you guys, open your eyes. Would the man upstairs forgive you for what you are doing to us people? Not only Natives, it’s all of us that are on that road, every day. Every day. So, as a White Mesa
resident, who lives downwind…The water cells are south of the mill. The White Mesa water
resources is north of White Mesa and it’s only 2 miles away from the last cell there. With that, thank
you guys for coming down from Salt Lake. You guys listen to all these comments people are
making. Blanding is supposed to be the number one place for spiritual and their being greedy. Come on guys, open your eyes. When you guys die you are not going to take this money with you.
Come on. Please. Open your eyes people. You all know me. I went to school with some of the
workers back there in high school. Some of us, we played football together. That individual that
works there at the mill, he’s my relation. Shame on him. But I understand. We all need money.
We need jobs to support our family. Again, I’m against this mill. It’s Mother Earth and when you guys dig in all this oil and uranium, you are hurting Mother Earth. I am pretty sure no one would
want no harm to our Mother. With that, thank you guys.”
Eva Workman
“Thank you. My name is Eva Workman. I am a resident of Blanding Utah, currently. But I will
say, that I was actually born in the Montezuma Creek area. I attended Anna’s Boarding School as a young student. I attended Bluff Elementary School as a junior high age student and then I completed
the rest of my schooling here. My family has taught, and lived, and worked and spent several years
both south and north of this location that we are talking about. I have drank a lot of water in the
course of my 40 years. I’m all right. We’re all alright. Everybody is alright. So I am grateful for
that.
I am concerned about a lot of the thing I’ve been hearing, especially in our community lately where
there is a lot of speculation and fear tactics and accusation, I think, about one man wanting to
provide for his family, wanting to have a strong, viable career, to be able to put food on the table in
a location that is close to his home and another person who does not live in this area or is not from
this area coming in to tell him that it is not OK. I guarantee you, as personally as I know many of the workers at the mill and their families and their children and their wives, they’re not all from
Blanding. They’re not all from south of Blanding, but they are all men and women who want an
honest, well-paying career to be able to continue to live in this community. They work hard and
they want to be safe. They’re certainly not running around the mill, not caring what happens to the
air, not caring what happens to the water. That is their air. That is their water, just as much as it is
anyone else’s. They feel safe. They take care of it. They have a stronger obligation to do so than
any of us who are filling water bottles for travelers or that kind of thing because they have ownership
of that. The food that goes on their table is dependent on that. Their family’s livelihood is dependent on that and they are very proud of that. Further, in my time as an adult and several
different careers both in business marketing, medical, education, and the again, in education, I have
seen college age education, I have worked in the college arena for about 8 years, the medical arena
for about 7 years, and back in the elementary and secondary age arena for the last 3 years. The
plight is real, of employment for not just the local community, but for Native Americans, and honestly, it’s hard to watch tribal governments who have yet to provide viable incomes on the
reservations, try to frighten political entities into taking nearby jobs from some of their own and
that’s what I see will happen. I am so proud of the mill workers that have appeared here to represent
either quietly, or with their voice their careers and their jobs and the hard work that they do. Thank
you for your time.
Yolanda
“Hello. My name is Yolanda. I am here. I am a local resident from White Mesa. I would like to
say I am not for the renewal of the mill because we’re downwind and we are only 5 miles south of
the mill. Apparently, what this Lyman guy says that he is downwind, he ain’t downwind. He’s
north of the mill. Yeah, he is downwind of Blanding. But I don’t see anyone else from Blanding that lives any farther down than the mill. We are the ones that live downwind of the mill, the Ute
Reservation; us tribal members live downwind. You know, I don’t know what these people are
talking about saying that they live downwind. They live north of the mill. Yeah, they probably talk
really nice on Sunday, when it comes to church day. They talk real nice and they give into people.
But yet, once they walk out the door, they turn their backs towards the Native American. You know, I am LDS too, but I have to speak what I have to say and how I feel deep down inside my heart. I
speak for my people. Because all these years I have been fighting against this mill and I will never
give up until I close this mill down. Yeah, they’re talking about Bears Ears, Bears Ears has nothing
to do with this. We’re talking about the mill here. Bears Ears is a separate thing besides the mill.
You don’t consider Bears Ears as the mill town here. By the way, the only thing White Mesa has got from this mill is the scoreboard, an old scoreboard that they donated to White Mesa. They never
donated nothing. They don’t provide nothing for White Mesa. If they provided for White Mesa an
education, our students would probably be educated, like how this Shumway lady stated that the mill
donates money to the school. Our kids would be well educated and they would probably be sitting
here. Only one tribal employee that works at the mill. For how many years? He just barely started recently. He hasn’t been working there. They said when the mill had barely opened up that tribal
member were going to be first preference to be working in that mill. How many tribal members to
this date? Only one. Then they start working and then they a couple months later they quit or they
get fired because they did something wrong. All these brand new people, I hate to say, they are
really greedy money. They don’t have the heart, even though they talk in churches and say, ‘Oh, you guys are our people. We are one people. We come from one person.’ But our color of our skin
is different. But you know what? To tell you guys. You are too damn (explicit) greedy for money.
Yeah, jobs are there for you guys. But realize, who you guys are (explicit) hurting. Tribal members
that are just 5 miles south of the mill. You probably can sit there and laugh and grin, and do
whatever, but you guys ain’t going to be taking me down. I’m going to still be fighting for this mill
until they close it.
Peter Ortego, General Counsel for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe
“Hi. My name is Peter Ortego. I’m the General Counsel for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Thank you for having this meeting today, I appreciate that. I appreciate that you listen to what people have
to say. I think that is very important that you do that.
When the Nuclear Regulatory Commission delegated authority to the State, I’m afraid the State
doesn’t understand what that full authority is. There’s a consultation requirement for the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, any Executive Branch Agency of the United States has to consult with tribes when they do anything that might affect that tribe. And clearly issuing this permit has an
effect on two tribes, on a lot of people, but especially two tribes. You shouldn’t just have hearings in
White Mesa; you shouldn’t just have hearings in Montezuma Creek; you should have consultation in
Tselakai, and you should have consultation in Window Rock. You need to go talk to those
Governments and hear from those Governments about what they think is going on and what they’re seeing and what they’re hearing. I think what you’re going to hear is that they also understand the
importance of money, they understand the importance of jobs, but they know it’s not the most
important thing. It really breaks my heart when I see companies come to Ute Mountain and they
say, ‘We’re going to do this operation for you, we’re going to do this wonderful thing, and it’s going
to give you lots of money.’, and the tribe unwittingly says, ‘OK. We’ll take your money. That’s good. We’ll work together. Hopefully, there will be some jobs; there’ll be good things for the
community, good things for the people. You’re producing energy; you’re producing oil; you’re
producing gas; that’s great.’ But then once the revenue stops and then once they start receiving
enough income to keep their operations going, they leave it alone. They abandon it. It’s not
employing so many people anymore. It’s not doing such an excellent job anymore. It’s not maintaining safety the way it did when they first came out to talk to the tribe about how great this
operation was going to be. So, what we see now is companies declaring bankruptcy now that oil
prices are dropping. They’re declaring bankruptcy right and left. And that’s what’s going to happen
here. That’s exactly what’s going to happen here. The day Energy Fuels can no longer pay to keep
this place clean. The day they get sued and a massive judgement against them, they’re going to walk away and we’re going to be stuck with this thing, the same way Ute Mountain is stuck with stuff, the
same way I am sure Navajo is stuck with stuff, the same way this community today I am sure is
stuck with things, that were supposed to happen in the past that didn’t happen. I don’t like the fact
that money is the supreme thing to everybody, to me, health and environment is the most important
thing. To me, social justice is the most important thing. Not money. How many jobs are we going to employ when we clean this thing up? Who’s going to pay those people? When that company
goes into bankruptcy, who’s going to pay people to clean it up? Will those people be willing to
clean it up without pay? Are we all going to have to march down there ourselves and clean that up,
because there’s no more money to pay to clean it up? Is it going to be the disaster I’m seeing at Ute
Mountain? Is some company going to come to us and offer the mill to us for a dollar? Is that how it’s going to work out? That’s the future. It is inevitable. It is absolutely inevitable. These things
do not last forever. We are acting as if we can deal with something that will last in perpetuity. I
promise you, we cannot. You cannot even imagine in your mind what that means. Can any human
being imagine infinity? I don’t think so. So how can we imagine perpetuity? How can we talking
about that today as if it is OK? As if we can prepare for that. I think we have to prepare for the
worse. I think we need to prepare for absolute disaster. That’s when we will know that we can
handle having something like this in our area. When we can deal with the absolute worse that it
does, that’s when we can handle it. I don’t think that any community can deal with the worse of what a mill like this can provide.
So, I’m really disappointed that money is the most important thing. It breaks my heart. It breaks my
heart as the general counsel for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and as a citizen of this country. I hear
all the time how important money is. We ignore endangered species for money. We ignore
environment for money. We ignore a lot of things for money and later on it kicks us in the butt and we say, oh well.
There is data and I encourage everyone to look at it, understand it, and analyze it. I appreciate that
there are speakers here today who are talking about facts, they’re talking about data. However, just
because someone tells you there is data, and it’s bad data, don’t just assume they are making it up.
The Indians are used to being lied to for generations and generations, and generations and one of the things I really appreciate what they do, is they don’t lie. They tell the truth, because they understand
the importance of the truth, and they are telling you today, the truth. So, again, I thank you for
having this meeting. I hope that we see you in Towaoc as well.
Jenaveve Banally
Hello and thank you for allowing me the time here. This is personal for me. I am a member of the Navajo Nation. I work for the Ute Tribe. I really understand what both sides are saying because I
am product of uranium mining. I have no thyroid because of it. I have to deal with it. And that guy
that stood up and mentioned Carbon, that Union Carbon at Uravan, my dad worked there. How is it
he’s still alive and my dad isn’t here? That’s not right. That’s not fair. That’s how I see it and
that’s why I say, it’s personal. I have lost a lot of relatives to uranium, without them being educated, being informed that uranium is harmful. That it will affect you. They’re all gone and then there is
down there. We got the Ute Mountains. They’re going to be impacted by it. Once this is all said
and done, money made, they’re going to be impacted. Consider those guys. They’re just right there.
And that’s all I have to say. Thank you.
Wendy Black
Hi, my name is Wendy Black. I am a resident of Blanding Utah. I have lived here about 11-12
years. I am here to speak about cancer. I have had cancer, hence the short hair. I had very long hair
two years ago. I am not afraid of the mill. My husband worked there for years. He lived in the
tailing ponds in Monticello, literally in the ponds. None of his family has cancer. I want to address
the lady that left. She was one of the first people to speak. If she has cancer in her family that is so prevalent, it is probably a gene and has nothing to do with the uranium. Somebody that knows her
really needs to tell her to go get tested, because I got my cancer from my mother, she got it from her
mother, who got it from her mother. So, I just wanted to say that cancer is not always going to come
from uranium; it may be enhanced by it. But I am not afraid of it. Cancer is not a bad thing. It is
completely different than it used to be. I guess that’s all I am going to say or I’m going to cry. OK.
Bull??
Hello there guys. On your uranium down there, as the years went on from when it first started. I
have noticed a lot of things that happen. The tailings, the ponds in the back, never covered. I’ve
seen a lot of animals die when they hit that water. I see a lot of ducks float around back there. All they do is come by with trash bags and pick them up. Our rabbits have disappeared from there, most of them. The sage brush aren’t healthy back there. When it is burning and the stacks go, during
winter time, White Mesa, we smell it. These guys don’t smell it. I have fought for all my life, since
I have been in school here. I’ve fought with these people here and I’m still fighting today. And they
mention about schools, the money that they get? Why was Montezuma Creek one of the lowest performing schools in one year? Yet they say they get all this money. There test scores were the lowest. And what were their teachers? And they say White Mesa. None of these guys come down
to White Mesa. How do they know what’s going on? And the trucks that used to run, they used to
wash, a lot of them weren’t cleaned good cause I had people work there. I’ve had friends that were
burned there. To this day they are still hurting because the mill never paid for what they were supposed to pay for.
And you guys sit up here? And you want to know if you guys want to renew their license. If you do
you are crazy. We are the ones that have to smell it. We are the ones that have to deal with it. None
of these guys do. Their nearest house from the mill is about ½ mile maybe less north of there, not
south of there. And when your trucks run through White Mesa when they weren’t being cleaned good, I bet you anything the sides of the roads are hot. .If you took a test down that way, they would
read, because they used to come through there and they would never do the speed limit. All I’m
going to say is remember the Battle of Big Horn. That’s all I’m going to say.
Jeremy Jones , Navajo Nation, Mill Worker
“Hello my name is Jeremy Jones, (Native tongue), Navajo Nation. I have been a resident of San Juan County for 29 years. I work at the mill and I can say without a doubt that I am not scared.
Uranium does not scare me. I am educated about it. I researched about it. I love that the people
here and the residents of the Ute…White Mesa are compassionate about it, and that’s great. So are
we. The people I work with, radiation and safety. We are compassionate about our work. We’re
compassionate about what we do every day, to protect our environment, protect our personnel from any dangers. I’ve been working there for 10 years and like I said, I’m not scared of uranium, just the
comments about Ute workers. They said there is only one Ute worker there now. A lot of good
people have been let go since we have been downsizing, they are probably just one of the few that
got let go as well. Everyone there does our best to make sure that we are in accordance with
regulations.
About money, all this talk about money…I’m kind of ashamed to say it, but our tribal officials are
greedy. Our officials are greedy. They are talking about Blanding residents being greedy, but so are
the tribal officials. So we can’t really say what about there. As Mrs. Workman mentioned, a lot of
the offense they’re talking about is scare tactics. A lot of the residence, the general public, they
don’t know much about uranium and they are playing to their fears. They are playing to the fears, oh uranium is bad, it’s going to give you cancer. Yeah, that’s a possibility, but if we’re within
regulations, everything’s fine. There’s no need to be scared. Thank you.”
Thelma Whiskers, White Mesa Resident
Hello, good to see you guys here in Blanding. My name is Thelma Whiskers and I’m from White
Mesa and I have been living there for 67 years now. I know the White Mesa Mill is close to our
White Mesa and it kind of hurt me that our ancestors are buried there before. Because my mom used to tell me that when we were moving from Allen Canyon to White Mesa there were some tribal members that were buried there, even little babies. I know it is hard for my people, White Mesa
people. Especially our children, our grand kids. I love my people, because we’re not that many, the
Utes . We’re not that many people, probably only about 300 people live in White Mesa. Because I
care for them. When the mill was going, the wind would go down south and we could smell that smoke, or that dust, then our kids, our grandkids when they played outside they can inhale that. . I know you young ones say they’re not scared of cancer, just because they are young, just because
they’re strong. Now I am getting old. It is when you have pain and if you are sick, I know how it is.
I care for my kids. They go to school; they get on that bus all the way up here to Blanding. I want
to see my kids, my grandkid to graduate, to finish their school before I get old. And I talk to my kids, ‘Hey! Stand up, say something. Don’t just let what’s going on close to our reservation. You kids have to really watch what you’re saying, maybe that way they will listen to us.’ Because us Ute
Tribal Members, we’re not that many people. I care for my people, I love them, I love my kids and I
love my grandchildren. There are a lot of elderly tribal members, they passed. And I tell my people,
‘Come on! If you people don’t like the White Mesa Mill to be close of our reservation, Stand up and talk. Say something about it.’ I’ve been fighting this against me and my daughter because I care for
my people. I don’t want it close to our reservation. I don’t want to see the trucks going back and
forth on the highway. Our kids ride the bus every morning, every evening. What if something
happens to our kids? Some of our kids don’t have insurance. Who’s going to pay for it? Who’s
going to have all that money to pay for it if something happens to my grandkids, to the school kids? Who’s going to pay for it? They say, ‘Oh, we don’t have money to pay for your kids.’ I hope you
guys understand what I’m saying. I do care for my people. I do care for my kids. If it wasn’t close
to our reservation I wouldn’t be standing right here. If they have that mill somewhere else, it’d be
good. But us people here, when it’s smoking, it winds towards our reservation. It really hurts me
our ancestors were buried there. Look what they did to them. I hope you guys understand that. It really hurts me when they build all that there. It hurts. I know the young ones, they’re strong now.
I understand they do need money. They do need to buy food for they’re families. I do understand
that. But I wish they would just move it somewhere else. Not close to our reservation. So I want
the license not to be renewed. Thank you.
Ryan Johnson asked Kelly Davis if she had a chance to speak. She said she had.
“Just one thing, concerning the Monticello project, which is related to this because it has all been
dug up and moved and cleaned below the tailings. I was surprised of how little penetration when we
started moving that… the tailings have been sitting there for 40 years. We bought off, normally to
clean soil; it was sampled to radiation and chemical both. I don’t know if any of you gentlemen
were involved in the buyoff of the Monticello site or not. I know the Utah DEQ was one of the partners. Less than that deep, there were no signs of radiation or chemical and you gentlemen would
be welcome to go back and look at it. We all hear these terrible things and we envision this veer of
going through and going plum off the country. It didn’t penetrate hardly anything. If you go over
and look at the Moab site today, being I’m one of the ones that has been around as long as they’ve
been building that pile, when they get down to the native soil, they follow it. It’s going to clean up
because there’s no penetration, radiation nor chemical, because you have to buy off on both to get
clearance. There was not penetration of any depth at the Monticello site. A lot of people here have
worked on the excavation there from both sides. It does not penetrate like everybody envisions. If it’s a matter of topic records you can go look at what was excavated, bought off. But if you want to
look at where we come right up to the town of Monticello, if you look at that. That was KK40. A
naturally recurring radioactive material has nothing what-so-ever to do with uranium and it’s all
around the Monticello site. So study what is actually happening. The Moab site is going to be a
great place because that is the biggest pile that’s ever been moved. There’s over 10 million tons there and it sits right on the river on that reinforced material. And it’s going to be a pretty good case
study when you get to the bottom to how the material is moved.
Ryan Johnson, DWMRC
“Thank you. We will be accepting written comment through July 31, so please, if you didn’t have a
chance to comment and would like to please write us and let us know your opinions and thank you for coming here and spending some time.”