Rogers, Dr. Vernon, Ford, Bacon & Davis....... Statements: Liverman, Hon. James L., Acting Assistant Secretary for Environment, Marriott, Hon. Dan, a U.S. Representative from the State of Utah Jack Dunlop, executive director, Utah Federal Research Committee.. 62, 248 Dr. Don Nielson, Utah State science and technology adviser.... Dr. Harry Gibbons, director, Salt Lake City-County Health Depart- 68, 244 TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 1978 Statements: Canfield, Hon. Monte, Jr., Director, Energy and Minerals Division, U.S. 87, 264 Betty Perkins, consultant, Department of Energy and Minerals 103, 412 111 Linker, Helene, project attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council 132, 456 140, 521 153, 546 1. Letter from Atomic Energy Commission to Vitro Corporation of Amer- Hon. James P. Johnson, a U.S. Representative from the State of Colorado: prepared statement (with an attachment) 1. Resolution from Local Advisory Committee of the Tailings Removal Remedial Action Program, Grand Junction, Colo., dated June 19, U.S. Department of Energy: Answers to staff questions submitted to Hon. James Liverman, Acting Assistant Secretary for Environment..... Dr. William Rom, University of Utah, Salt Lake City: prepared statement 1. "Uranium Mill Tailings Cleanup: Federal Leadership at Last?", a report by the Comptroller General of the United States, June 20, 1978. 2. Contract between U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and Phillips Petro- 1. Letter to Hon. Morris K. Udall from Gov. John V. Evans, chairman, dated June 28, 1978, enclosing a resolution adopted at its annual meeting, June 14-17, dealing with uranium mill tailings..... 2. Testimony presented on behalf of, to the Subcommittee on Energy and 2. Memorandum from former AEC General Counsel presented at hearing before Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, October 28 and 29, 1971, regarding Commission jurisdiction of waste production from uranium 3. Letter from Utah State Attorney General's office to Scott M. Matheson, Governor, dated March 22, 1978, concerning State's position on radio- Southwest Regional energy Council: Communication to Hon. Morris K. Udall, dated July 19, 1978, transmitting a resolution regarding stabilization of uranium_tailings piles, adopted by the New Mexico Legislature's Joint Interim Committee on Natural Resources Exxon Minerals Co., U.S.A.: Letter to Hon. Abraham Kazen, Jr., member, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, dated June 7, 1978, concerning uranium mill site at Ray Point, Tex.. Harold W. Tso, executive director, Navajo Environmental Protect Commission: 3. Remarks of Hon. Victor Gilinsky, Commissioner, at Pacific Southwest Minerals and Energy Conference, Anaheim, Calif., May 2, 1978............ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Letter to Hon. Morris K. Udall from Hon. Douglas M. Costle, Administrator, dated July 13, 1978, transmitting URANIUM MILL TAILINGS CONTROL MONDAY, JUNE 26, 1978 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:50 a.m., in room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Morris K. Udall (chairman of the subcommittee), presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The Subcommittee on Energy and Environment will be in session. We have scheduled hearings today on H.R. 12535, H.R. 13049, and H.R. 12938. The legislation before the subcommittee this morning mandates the Department of Energy to go to the Western States and Pennsylvania and move, shift, cover up, or otherwise stow away more than 25 million tons of radioactive materials covering more than 1,000 acres of now unusable territory. The hazards represented by these tailings from the uranium ore milling process are great when considered over the hundreds of thousands of years they will continue to exist. But the hazards of such a mammoth Federal undertaking-estimated to cost in total up to $200 million-are also great. And so, it is with congratulations to the Department for its responsible and moral action in requesting this job-and with much concern that we put together a tight, effective program-that I welcome you to this hearing. The three bills before us-H.R. 12535, H.R. 13049, and H.R. 12938-have been submitted by myself, for the Department; by Mr. Evans of Colorado, and by Mr. Marriott of Utah, respectively. Each bill offers a slightly different approach for a proposed cleanup of uranium mill tailings. The mill tailings covered by these measures were created in the production of uranium under contract to the Federal Government for our nuclear defense programs. At the time the contracts were in effect, adequate regulatory control over the tailings hazard did not exist, and tons of the sandy material accumulated in ponds and piles without protection from leaching, wind, and erosion. Some of the tailings have been used in construction of homes and buildings. There, the concentrated effect of the radioactive gas emitted by the material has created such a threat to public health that foundations and walls have had to be removed at great expense to the State of Colorado and the Federal Government. In my opinion, and I think this is reflected in the Department of Energy's approach, the Federal Government now has a responsibility to assume the burden of cleaning up these sites. I have several (1) |