The official ribbon cutting for the Moab tailings removal project was held on May 4, although trains began hauling the uranium waste from the Colorado River floodplain a week earlier. The 16 million tons of tailings are being hauled 30 miles away to be buried in a permanent home.
The tailings are remains from the Atlas mill that processed uranium during the Cold War of the 1950-60s. But sitting on the banks of the Colorado River raised concerns about contamination and erosion or even collapse of the pile during flooding.
[top right, view of tailings pile, looking south over the Colorado River and the Moab Valley. Credit, DOE; lower left, excavating tailings to load onto train cars. Credit Energy Solutions]