The Bureau of Land Management announced on August 11 the permanent transfer of administrative jurisdiction over the Split Rock Uranium Mill Site to the Department of Energy, Office of Legacy Management.
The site, which consists of approximately 869 acres of public lands and 3,454 acres of federal mineral estate near Jeffrey City in Fremont County, operated as a uranium mill for 25 years, producing 7.7 million tons of uranium ore during its lifetime.
The mill was shuttered in the mid-1980s, but the site hosts historic tailings and contaminated components from the dismantled mill.
Section 106 of the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act, as amended by Section 7916 of the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Amendments Act of 1988, authorized the Secretary of the Interior to permanently transfer jurisdiction of certain lands contaminated by uranium mill tailings to the Secretary of Energy.
The Split Rock site contains a buried uranium mill tailings disposal cell and associated drainage features.
As the future licensee, the Department of Energy will be responsible for the custody, long-term care, and monitoring of the engineered tailings disposal cell, as well as any improvements at the site that protect the public and the environment from residual materials and contaminated groundwater beneath the site.
In addition to the transfer of jurisdiction, the site will be withdrawn from operation of the mining laws, mineral and geothermal leasing laws, and mineral materials disposal laws, subject to valid existing rights.
The Notice of Withdrawal application published in the Federal Register Nov. 23, 2022, and gave affected users, parties of interest, and the public an opportunity to comment on the withdrawal application.
No comments or concerns were identified or received.
For further information about this withdrawal, please contact Keesha Clay at (307) 775-6189.