The Oregon Department of Energy monitors the safe storage of uranium mines
and disposal sites in south-central Oregon.
In 1955, uranium was discovered outside of Lakeview, Oregon. Two mines, the
White King and the Lucky Lass, began to produce uranium. The mines are
located about 17 miles northwest of Lakeview and are about a mile apart.
The open-pit mines produced a low grade of ore, which went into the nation's
nuclear weapons program - so Lakeview uranium likely ended up in the
Hanford
reactors to produce plutonium. A uranium processing mill was constructed on
the northern edge of town to process the mined ore. The mill operated from
late 1958 until 1961, and mining at White King and Lucky Lass stopped around
1965.
A uranium tailings pile (residue from ore) sat next to the mill. In 1976,
areas of elevated radioactivity were discovered, and the tailings pile was
covered with about two feet of dirt.
Between 1968-1988, the mill tailings and contaminated soil were excavated
and moved to a disposal cell about seven miles outside of Lakeview. A
compacted soil layer was added to limit radon escape and water percolation
into the tailings, and a rock cover was added to protect the soil from
erosion.
The mines, meanwhile, sat for several decades - the pits filling with acidic
water and containing elevated levels of radioactive materials. Contamination
threatened nearby Augur Creek. In 1995, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency added the two mines to its cleanup priorities list, and cleanup
occurred over the next decade or so, ending in 2005.
ODOE had a resident inspector in Lakeview for nearly a decade to oversee the
cleanup.
Now, our responsibilities are annual inspection visits to ensure that the
cleanup activities remain robust and that the cover over the mill tailings
does not erode. We also monitor the water sampling that occurs at both the
mill and the mine sites.