Dec. 14, 1999
A radioactive river, hundreds of abandoned mine openings, radon gas. Those are the hazards in a huge area of Southeastern Utah.
After decades of neglect, a partnership of government agencies is mobilizing to do something about it.
Environment Specialist John Hollenhorst has the story from San Juan County.
This time of year, Cottonwood Wash is chilly and "HOT" at the same time.
A scintillometer is picking up natural background radiation. But separate lab tests confirm the water in the creek is usually radioactive. Mildly radiocative.
MARK MESCH/UTAH DIV. OF OIL, GAS & MINING: "THIS IS NOT CHERNOBYL."
But even a little radiation is a worry. Because Cottonwood Wash is becoming popular.
MARK MESCH/UTAH DIV. OF OIL, GAS & MINING: "WE SEE THE SCHOOL CHILDREN FROM THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES COMING OUT IN THE SUMMERTIME TO RECREATE IN COTTONWOOD WASH. AS YOU CAN SEE, IT'S A BEAUTIFUL CANYON."
It's a vast drainage, stretching into the Abajo Mountains west of Blanding, covering 800 square miles. It's punctured like a pin-cushion: More than 250 mine openings, countless drillholes, the remains of an old mill.
Mining dates as far back as Madame Curie, who conducted turn-of-the century research on radiation, as far forward as the Cold War. The area is splattered with mine waste, so leftover radiation is certainly a concern.
But an even greater danger is a physical accident inside the old mines.
MARK MESCH/UTAH DIV. OF OIL, GAS & MINING: "ENTERING ABANDONED MINES JUST ON THEIR OWN IS A VERY BAD THING. PEOPLE DIE IN THEM ALL THE TIME. "
Evidently the place wasn't "hot" enough for some people. They built a real nice fireplace here. It looks like a fairly permanent campsite just below a pile of radioactive mining waste.
When he went into this mine tunnel last April, Mark Mesch found high levels of radiation and an orange plastic Easter Egg.
MARK MESCH/UTAH DIV. OF OIL, GAS & MINING: "SOMEONE WAS ACTUALLY CARRYING ON AN EASTER EGG HUNT IN THIS AREA."
HOLLENHORST: "IN THE MINE?"
MARK MESCH: "USING THE MINE AS PART OF THE LOCATION WHERE THEY WERE HIDING THE EASTER EGGS."
No wonder then, that government is getting moving. State and federal agencies have formed a partnership to figure out what needs to be done. It's the first-time in Utah they've teamed up to tackle an entire watershed.
So far, investigators haven't answered a crucial question: whether the creek was NATURALLY contaminated by uranium, even before mining began.
