NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Radioactive waste left behind from uranium mines in New Mexico will now be relocated. This is following a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
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According to the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, the EPA’s decision will move more than a million cubic yards of waste at the Quivira Mining Company’s Churchrock mine to the Red Rock Landfill. That is about six miles outside the village of Thoreau. There are currently no disposal sites dedicated to waste within 350 miles of the Navajo Nation. The EPA says more than 250 abandoned mines have been documented on the Navajo Nation.