NEW: Uranium, heavy metal contamination report given

| Friday, August 18, 2006

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

Contaminants have gone beyond boundaries, residents told.

By Jomay Steen, Journal Staff Writer

REVA -- Hazardous waste from decades-old uranium mines in northwest South Dakota has escaped its boundaries, residents of the area were told this week.

On Thursday at a two-day summit, state and university officials gave preliminary results of studies taken this summer to track uranium and heavy metal contamination to air, water and land outside of the boundaries of Custer National Forest of the Siouxland Ranger District in Harding County. In 1962, contracts administered by the U.S. Atomic Commission allowed unrestricted uranium mining at the Slim Buttes and Cave Hills areas of Harding County, which required no form of reclamation once mining companies completed their operations.

For 44 years, wind, rain and snow have swept the exposed uranium and heavy metals from abandoned uranium mines into the water, air and eroding soil of the Cave Hills and Slim Buttes area.

As part of a cleanup process through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forest Service officials contracted with South Dakota School of Mines & Technology to determine if hazardous waste had gone beyond its boundaries.

"It has," said Albrecht Schwalm, Lakota Institute for Science and Technology of Oglala Lakota College and one of Tech's science team, which includes professors James Stone and Larry Stetler.

Schwalm cautioned the audience about the information he presented. "Just last week, we got the maps and preliminary data. They're being checked for accuracy," he said.

But from what he has seen, the non-contaminated sediments are settling into the containment and sediment ponds, while contaminants are flowing downstream into the marsh and other pasture land.

Using a geological probe, Schwalm and his crew of six OLC and Tech students took soil core samples in June and July to examine sediment around the outlying ranches and state land bordering the Forest Service area. "There is a problem here. Those ponds are not working close to the ranches. They are failing," he said.

They also collected 50 well water samples, with relatively good results. Of the eight properties that surround the Forest Service area, five families own ranches. Only one of the wells was contaminated, he said. "One well had five times the background amount of uranium," he said. Schwalm would not release the name of the family whose well was affected. "The family was immediately informed of the hazard," he said. He said that another study has been assigned, but he assured the group that as the researchers moved further away from the mining sites to test sediment, radiation and hazardous contamination levels diminished. "Contamination is not seen five miles from the site," he said. Patrick Snyder, environmental senior scientist, and Marc Macy, natural resources engineer of Minerals and Mining Program, both from the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources, gave presentations on water quality samples and the elevated levels of uranium in the White River drainage.

Macy said that elevated uranium levels in the White River can be attributed primarily to beds of rock containing volcanic ash, which naturally harbor uranium and heavy metals. These high levels occur in the natural environments of Shannon, Pennington and Jackson counties. "The sediments have eroded into the White River and resulted in elevated levels of uranium," Macy said.

Snyder said that 41 water samples were taken, three of which resulted in high concentrations of radium contaminants. Those collected were from the Belle Fourche River near Belle Fourche, Rapid Creek below Rapid City and from the White River near Kadoka.

As for uranium, it is everywhere, he said.

"It was found all over western South Dakota, where it would be expected to be found," Snyder said, referring to the ancient volcanic ash sediment that lies beneath the prairie. "The highest concentrations were in the White River, as was expected."

But until he started testing for uranium, Snyder had never thought of it being in his water.

"I was surprised to see that," Snyder said.

These are preliminary tests and more studies could be done, he said.

Yet, Wanda White Eagle of Rock Creek of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation was concerned.

"You may not be the person to ask, but is anyone asking about what you're finding or doing something? Do we have to wait until the cows start dropping dead for someone to act?" she asked.

White Eagle's family has been struck by cancer, and other tribal members have suffered miscarriages and birth defects, and she worries that erosion might be the cause.

"No one here has mentioned how this will affect people," White Eagle said.