Wednesday, May 8, 2024 | 10:19 a.m.
The Utah Division of Water Rights approved a water rights permit for a lithium mine near a former uranium ore facility near the Green River, a major tributary of the Colorado River.
State Engineer Teresa Wilhelmsen early this month approved Blackstone Minerals’ application for 19 cubic feet per second of groundwater from multiple wells spread throughout 140 acres near where the Green River flows under Interstate 70 in Utah.
The wells would serve Blackstone’s planned lithium extraction and production operation. Parent company Anson purchased the land for $2.4 million.
Kyle Roerink, executive director of the nonprofit Great Basin Water Network, raised the issue in a news release alongside conservation nonprofit Living Rivers.
“The decision eludes major questions regarding deep pumping near a radioactive site and fails to address major communication failures between Utah, the federal government and the concerned public,” Roerink said.
The U.S. Department of Energy manages the site under its Long Term Surveillance and Maintenance Program. According to an LTSM fact sheet, the facility operated between 1958 and 1961, producing waste and tailings, a sandy, contaminated, radioactive mixture.
The waste is contained within a 450-by-530-foot cell that takes up 6 acres of the original 21-acre site where the mill operated. It contains “501,000 dry tons of contaminated material with a total activity of 30 curies of radium-226,” the fact sheet states.
According to the LTSM, uranium processing-related contaminants have been found in sand and dirt. Roerink said Blackstone’s wells, which will be more than 9,000 feet deep, will reach a contaminated aquifer at the site.
Great Basin Water Network also raised concerns about the project in March after drilling at the site hit a pocket of concentrated gas underground, causing a blowout.
The state engineer’s water rights approval document doesn’t mention uranium but does mention public concerns about “contamination issues, including water quality issues related to leaks or blowouts.”
The document goes on to state Blackstone’s project will have to go through a National Environmental Policy Act analysis before it can move forward.
“While the public safety concerns regarding well construction and prevention of contamination due to industrial processes are significant, the State Engineer does not have primary jurisdiction over these issues,” the document reads.
