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Safeguarding abandoned defense-related uranium mines on the Colorado Plateau
Abandoned mines, many on public lands, often lack warnings about the hazards they pose

DRUM project manager Mary Young uses a Model 26 Integrated Frisker device to check for possible alpha, beta and gamma particle contamination on Jay Glascock, Uranium Mine Team supervisor for the Department of Energy’s DRUM program. Both sides of hands and bottoms of boots are checked before leaving the field each day — to ensure contamination is not inadvertently tracked offsite. (Sharon Sullivan for Corner Post)
“There’s a lure to go into caves and explore,” Lewis said. “A lot of people just want to go in and find things. Then they post to social media. Years ago, in Silverton (Colorado), I saw a family with young children coming out of a mine,” where water overtopped the 4-year-old’s boots. The family told Lewis they explore the mine every year.
While DRUM is authorized to only address defense-related uranium mines, abandoned mines present hazards across the United States and the world. There are 500,000 abandoned mines nationwide, said Lewis. The Forest Service estimates there are 38,991 abandoned mines on its property, while the BLM estimates it has 52,200. On the Colorado Plateau alone, there are approximately 23,000 in Colorado, 17,000 in Utah, 8,000 in New Mexico, and 100,000 in Arizona.
Representatives from the former Soviet Union plan to visit the Colorado Plateau next summer to tour safeguarded sites and learn how the DRUM program was implemented. “(The Soviet Union) had these large towns right at the mine, the mill — they were living in it; it’s shocking to see,” Lewis said. Next year, when DRUM begins focusing on tribal lands, it will address similar issues, where Native Americans are living in close proximity to abandoned uranium sites.
This article was paid for, developed, and originally published by Corner Post. Corner Post is an independent, nonprofit news organization. See cornerpost.org for more.
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