By Andrew Christiansen | The Moab Times-Independent | Photo courtesy of Jessica Thacker

The decades-long federal cleanup of radioactive uranium mill waste north of Moab has surpassed the project’s original 16-million-ton estimate for the main tailings pile, marking a major milestone in one of the nation’s largest environmental remediation efforts.

About 16.2 million tons of tailings and mill debris had been shipped by the end of December to an engineered disposal cell near Crescent Junction, about 42 miles northwest of Moab, according to a Jan. 27 presentation to the Moab Tailings Project Steering Committee.

Moab Mayor Joette Langianese, involved with the project since the early 2000s, called the progress significant.

“There was a time when we didn’t know if we’d be alive to see this finished … so reaching this stage is a really big deal,” she said.

The total exceeds the commonly cited 16-million-ton estimate, though roughly another 1 million tons of sub-pile and off-pile material remains. Groundwater treatment, soil verification and long-term oversight continue, with the Department of Energy aiming to complete cleanup in 2029.

Read more at MoabTimes.com.

This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.