skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, June 19, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Israel and Iran trade strikes as Trump weighs US involvement in conflict; Medicaid cuts risk health-care access for MS military families; NJ Advocate: Shore powered cargo ships help ocean, port community health; CT farmers impacted by USDA defunding climate programs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Lawmakers on both sides urge President Trump not to enter the Israel-Iran war. Supreme Court deals the transgender community a major blow by upholding a Tennessee state law.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Hurricane Helene mobilized the North Carolina community of Marshall in unexpected ways, giant data centers powering AI want cheap rural land but can face community pushback, and ceramics made by Cherokee potters honor multiple generations.

Utes Fear Uranium Mill is Becoming Radioactive Waste Dump

play audio
Play

Wednesday, September 30, 2020   

WHITE MESA, Utah -- Native tribes and environmental groups alike are worried that a Utah uranium-processing mill is becoming a dumping ground for foreign industrial polluters -- and that regulators are doing nothing to stop it.

The White Mesa Uranium Mill in San Juan County has begun accepting tons of radioactive waste from other countries. The mill's owner claims the shipments are uranium ore for processing, but Tim Peterson, cultural landscapes program director for the Grand Canyon Trust, said less than 1% of the material from nations such as Estonia and Japan becomes treated uranium. The rest is destined for the waste pits.

"They view it as waste, but when it comes into the U.S., it's regarded as something that the mill can accept and process without any sort of licensing, without any public notice, without any public comment," he said. "We're concerned that the White Mesa mill not become the world's radioactive waste dump."

Peterson said the nearby Ute Mountain Ute tribe fears toxic pollution will spread to their native lands and the nearby Bears Ears National Monument. A Utah Department of Environmental Quality spokesman said the White Mesa mill currently meets all state and federal licensing requirements.

Peterson contended that Utah officials, who regulate the site for the federal government, have become too close to the uranium-mining industry and are turning a blind eye to the mill's operations.

"We're concerned with the concept or the process of 'sham recycling,' which is where something that's considered waste in one location becomes something to recycle for uranium content when it arrives at the White Mesa mill," he said.

Peterson said tribal leaders are especially concerned that the radioactive waste can't be safely contained in White Mesa's 350-acre waste field.

"The Ute Mountain Ute/White Mesa community is down-gradient from the mill," he said, "and while I can't speak for them, I know that they're concerned about the degradation of their water quality, as well as air quality and materials that they have to breathe."

He said the mill opened in the late 1970s to process low-grade uranium ore. He added that federal nuclear regulators ruled in 2010 that an import license is required to process materials from foreign countries for disposal, but said there's no record of the mill obtaining such a permit.

The UDEQ letter is online at grandcanyontrust.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A parklet is an elevated public space, usually converted from a parking space and used to enhance community experience and support local businesses. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Eight Wisconsin cities, including four rural communities, will receive improvements to help make their communities more livable. Eleven grantees …


Social Issues

play sound

A bill prohibiting credit reporting on Oregonians' medical debt has been signed into law by Gov. Tina Kotek. Hailed as a significant victory for …

Environment

play sound

June is World Oceans Month, and advocates are warning that industrial shipping pollution hurts both oceans and port communities. At least 31 …


Flowers and notes are placed outside the Brooklyn Park home of state Rep. Melissa Hortman after the Minnesota lawmaker and her husband were fatally shot in what police say was a politically motivated attack. (Mike Moen/PNS)

Social Issues

play sound

Minnesotans gathered at the state Capitol last night for a candlelight vigil for Rep. Melissa Hortman, D-Brooklyn Park, after she was assassinated …

Social Issues

play sound

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday released an opinion that allows Tennessee to keep in place a ban on gender-affirming care for minors. While seen …

More than 500 Ohio children were reported sleeping in county government offices over a one-year period due to a lack of foster care placements. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Ohio child welfare advocates are urging lawmakers to restore more than $60 million in funding to address the state's ongoing foster care placement cri…

Social Issues

play sound

A Pennsylvania literacy organization is commemorating the Juneteenth holiday by highlighting the history and contributions of Black people in the Unit…

Environment

play sound

Forest fires have broken out in parts of New Mexico that state forecasters had already warned would see an elevated wildfire risk this summer due to h…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021