EPA manager talks uranium at Danville meeting

While several agencies play a role in regulating uranium sites, the Environmental Protection Agency sets the exposure standards to protect human health and the environment.

About 35 residents came Monday night to hear Marcos Aquino, radiation program manager for EPA Region III, explain the agency’s role in regulating uranium sites during a Piedmont Residents in Defense of the Environment meeting.

Currently, the EPA is reviewing its regulations, including dose standards for radiation and radon, to ensure they’re working to protect the public, he told attendees. The ongoing review began after two Colorado environmental groups sued the EPA for not updating regulations after the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990.

The agency is reviewing its existing regulations for uranium mill tailings facilities for potential updates. It also plans to look at the potential for uranium and thorium extraction in different geographic areas.

Additionally, the agency is under court order to review operators’ financial responsibility requirements, he said, adding the government spent $2.5 billion on cleaning up mining sites on the National Priorities List.

Attendee Lalor Earle, of Danville, asked why the companies weren’t doing it.

“Who’s going to clean it up in 100 years?” asked Phillip Lovelace, of Pittsylvania County, who also questioned if liners to protect from leaks could last all that long.

Financial surety requirements exist for closure and post-closure of the sites, including for cleanup in the future, Aquino answered.

One man asked for suggestions on avoiding problems from a uranium site.

“I think you’re taking the first step today. You’re taking steps right now, even before today, to make sure that this happens,” Aquino said. “You’re involved. You let us know. You let the NRC know that you’re out there, that you’re watching, that you’re listening.”

Aquino’s presentation was based on what Loren Setlow of the EPA presented to the National Academy of Sciences committee studying uranium mining in Virginia last year.

For more information, email aquino.marcos@epa.gov.

What EPA regulates for uranium facilities

Under Clean Air Act:

Radon emissions from mill tailings sites to limit doses to the public to near background radiation

Specific construction and disposal requirements at new uranium mill tailings impoundments, including evaporation ponds

Under Clean Water Act:

Effluents to limit discharges from mines, mills and in situ recovery facilities, setting limits for metals and radionuclides on stormwater discharges and requiring permits for discharges into navigable U.S. waters

Under Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act:

Sets the standards for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and its agreement states to regulate uranium mills and for cleanup of closed sites overseen by the Department of Energy

Under Resource Conservation and Recovery Act:

Manages hazardous waste, generally non-radioactive material associated with site operations, with enforcement of corrective actions delegated to states

Under Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (Superfund):

Law gives EPA authority to clean up abandoned, hazardous sites but mostly defers to NRC to make decisions on NRC-licensed sites

Source: Marcos Aquino’s presentation