Westwater Applauds EPA’s Action to Withdraw Rule Change for Reclamation
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Westwater Resources, an energy materials development company, said that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has withdrawn a rule change proposed in 2017 for groundwater restoration that afforded no new protection for the environment, but only promised to raise costs for the uranium industry if enacted.
Westwater Resources is nearing the completion of reclamation at two sites, and this EPA action is an important affirmation that ongoing work to reclaim future operations will not be impacted by poorly conceived rules that offer no positive impact on groundwater quality and only succeed in increasing the costs of restoration. Westwater remains committed to the safety of the environment and the public at our operations, and compliance with sensible and effective rules are key to this promise.
On Friday, October 19, 2018, the EPA said that its existing rules (for groundwater restoration) were sufficient for the protection of public health and safety from radiological and non-radiological hazards associated with uranium and thorium ore processing.
EPA’s acting administrator Andrew Wheeler cast the proposed rule change as “unnecessary and punishing” on uranium producers.
“The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has regulated in-situ uranium recovery for nearly 40 years. The agency has never found an instance of ground water contamination that would be addressed by this rule,” Wheeler said in a statement.
The rule “failed to articulate a risk that justified the rulemaking, ignored the need for a realistic cost-benefit analysis, and underestimated compliance costs and impacts to small businesses,” said National Mining Association President Hal Quinn.
Westwater Resources thanks the National Mining Association for their able leadership in the effort to achieve this action.
About Westwater Resources
Westwater is focused on developing energy-related materials. The company’s battery-materials projects include the Coosa Graphite Project — the most advanced natural flake graphite project in the contiguous United States — and the associated Coosa Graphite Mine located across 41,900 acres (~17,000 hectares) in east-central Alabama. In addition, the company maintains lithium mineral properties in three prospective lithium brine basins in Nevada and Utah. Westwater’s uranium projects are located in Texas and New Mexico. In Texas, the company has two licensed and currently idled uranium processing facilities and approximately 11,000 acres (~4,400 hectares) of prospective in-situ recovery uranium projects. In New Mexico, the company controls mineral rights encompassing approximately 188,700 acres (~76,000 hectares) in the prolific Grants Mineral Belt, which is one of the largest concentrations of sandstone-hosted uranium deposits in the world. Incorporated in 1977 as Uranium Resources, Inc., Westwater also owns an extensive uranium information database of historic drill hole logs, assay certificates, maps and technical reports for the western United States.
To stop by Westwater Resources’ website, CLICK HERE
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