Utah Congressman Jim Matheson (D) late last week expressed concern over several aspects of the Department of Energy’s new contract for the Moab uranium mill tailings remediation project in his home state. Among Matheson’s concerns is the length and annual value of the contract, which was awarded late last week to Portage over a handful of other teams that included incumbent EnergySolutions. The new contract is valued at approximately $120 million over five years. “Congress passed legislation requiring the cleanup to be completed by 2019. I do not understand why DOE issued a five-year contract instead of contracting for the full eight years,” Matheson said in a release.
He went on to say, “Even more concerning is the fact that the scope of work outlined in the contract does not appear to be even close to the level of cleanup required to finish the job on time. I remain committed to seeing that DOE completes this project on the schedule set out by Congress. The health and safety of Utahns as well as the 25 million downstream users of the Colorado River is at stake. Taxpayers will also realize savings from a more rapid completion.” The Moab cleanup project covers the removal of a total of approximately 16 million tons of uranium mill tailings from a former uranium-ore processing facility near Moab, Utah, on the west bank of the Colorado River to a disposal site approximately 30 miles away. The project got underway in 2007, and to date, approximately 4 million tons of material has been disposed of, thanks in part to Recovery Act funds.