Moab, Utah, UMTRA site: the last large uranium mill tailings pile to be cleaned up in the United States.

During its years of operation, the Moab processing facility accumulated around 10 500 000 t tailngs and contaminated soils in an unlined pile about 230 m from the Colorado River. The alternatives preferred by the US Department of Energy are to relocate the tailings on an alternative site away from the river and to remediate the groundwater in the long term; in the interim, a groundwater extraction and injection system is in operation to reduce the contaminant mass in groundwater discharging to the river. A conceptual hydrogeological model is presented, the nature of the groundwater contamination discussed, dewatering of the tailings fluid outlined and the extraction and freshwater injection described, including treatment of the exrtacted water in a solar evaporation pond.
During its years of operation, the Moab processing facility accumulated around 10 500 000 t tailngs and contaminated soils in an unlined pile about 230 m from the Colorado River. The alternatives preferred by the US Department of Energy are to relocate the tailings on an alternative site away from the river and to remediate the groundwater in the long term; in the interim, a groundwater extraction and injection system is in operation to reduce the contaminant mass in groundwater discharging to the river. A conceptual hydrogeological model is presented, the nature of the groundwater contamination discussed, dewatering of the tailings fluid outlined and the extraction and freshwater injection described, including treatment of the exrtacted water in a solar evaporation pond.