Show f a WW a U mill I Water w r By House Interior Committee on July 17 will start to mark legislation to determine how to clean up and how many uranium mill tailings should be cleaned up in the It has been industry practice since the second World War to buy up old mill tailings piles and old smelter dumps in the West to reprocess the remaining What about the uranium mill tailings piles that industry would like to Manuel R-N. repeatedly asked The uranium tailings pile located at the edge of being right according to James L. Liverman of the Department of poses a question of getting the residue at an acceptable Liverman told and that would have to be he who WHO pays PAYS Udall pointed out that any legislation reported out of the Interior Committee should have an open-ended authorization and should not set a because costs generally in the nuclear Industry are so difficult to judge and appear to be so it costs billion to a nuclear power other types of energy would appear to be more said who has some reservations generally about GAO noted the legislation u before the Committee concerned 22 mills that generally thru the early 1970 s are now closed leaving about 25 million tors of radioactive waste in unattended piles and These are the uranium mill tagS- There are 16 mills currently in the United according to the Regulatory mills will be needed by the year the GAO report As NRC has the authority to work out stabilization of tailings at and future the question which are GAO noted time they were created did not suspect the hazard that we now believe in these inactive Liverman There is no apparent responsibility In statute law for any agency at state or local government to clean up these inactive mill and no company has any apparent responsibility So the three bills before the Committee fix with the Udall bv request of DOE allocating costs 75 percent to the federal govern- ment and 25 percent to the and bills by Dan of the clean up the federal government The following lists sites of the piles by with top estimate of Arizona-Tuba Monument Grand Rifle Slick Rock New Mexico-Ambrosia Lake Oregon- Pennsylvania- information no available- Texas-Falls City and Ray Point 12 Utah-Green iB S Uke Wyoming-Riverton and spook These estimates were made by the Ford Bacon Davis S Governors' Conference oil shale 27 by a vote or a mil is w by Floyd to authorize the Secretary of Energy to build up to three oil shale demon- plants to test different oil shale including at least one surface report and one on retort The bill provides for percent federal so it is at odds with current Administration policy to build such plants as joint with industry and to limit demonstration plant construction because of high The bill was designed partially to aid oil shale and partially to help Haskell's re-election altho Haskell had two Republican co- sponsors on the bill at the Henry and Milton R. R-N. The legislation now goes to the House where a similar bill Is before the House Armed of the biU that the three demonstration each no more than barrels a day in will be located on a Naval Oil Shale Reserve near IMPACT AREA A much- amended Impact area i aid by Gary was reported out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on June 27 by a A provision in the May 10 version of me bill requiring industry to pick up costs of public services and facilities was drastically and a provision allowing a governor to veto an energy development on federal land was The bi 1 now goes to the Senate Government Committee or Rep Teno D- similar legislation J in the ti where he hopes to get the House Public Works Committee to hold hearings on the measure after if it clears the As reported on June the bill provides federal aid totalling million a year for five years to impacted by new energy North Utah and New Mexico im- pa c ted by new cola and uranium REACTION TO NEW WATER POLICY Washington-The Coalition of Western the Water Resources and State Engineer S. E. Reynolds of New Mexico Resources and State Engineer S. E. Reynolds of New Mexico have pressed concern about the Ad- ministration's new national water supply Senators wrote to the President on June policies and procedures until Congress have had an op- to review the new policy announced by Carter on June Questions are being repeatedly to Charles L. chairman of the board of the Water Resources about the self-implementation of the new water 1 asked A this quest on o U of bert the deputy director of the Domestic Council Policy Staff of the White at the final meeting here on June 23 of the Water Carp municipal and industrial Carp failed to mention that proposals to increase grants to the states for water SS without going thru regular and he promised close co- operation between the Administration and the Water Reynolds did a critique of the new water policy at the request of the New Mexico Governor's He took particular note that the President directed the federal agencies to work with the states and water users to negotiate rather than litigate the in- of and quantification of federal reserved and Indian water may be impossible for the states to negotiate for the owners of rights established under state law or for the federal government to negotiate for the Reynolds He Is widely regarded as one of the West's top water |