White Mesa water is better than ever, report says

Re: “Legacy of America’s last uranium mill,” April 24 news story

Something smells funny, and it’s not the drinking water in White Mesa, Utah.

The Denver Post’s article opens with a community member holding a cup of water that smells like sulfur and stains bathtubs and sinks. He refuses to drink the water because he thinks ( without evidence) the mill contaminates his water. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe’s environmental director says the water in White Mesa is “barely” drinkable.

This does not add up. White Mesa’s water originates from wells drilled deep into a clean aquifer. The water is treated at facilities upgraded by the tribe in

2019. Recent copies of Annual Water Quality Reports prepared by the tribe’s governing body states that White Mesa’s water has met stringent EPA drinking water standards since at least 2013.

Their 2020 report boasts, “drinking water in White Mesa is better than it has ever been,” which the data supports. Uranium and radioactive elements are far below limits or undetectable. Traces of pesticides, herbicides and compounds used in agriculture and ranching are detected, but nothing implicates the

Mill.

There is shallow groundwater under much of southeast Utah that can run naturally cloudy, contains iron ( which stains plumbing), and smells like sulphur, just like the water described in Mr. Swanson’s story.

This leads to questions: Is anyone in White Mesa drinking tainted water? If so, why? Is the water barely drinkable or is it better than ever? Regardless, there is no connection between the Mill and this mysterious water.

Mark Chalmers, Editor’s note: Chalmers is the president and CEO of Energy Fuels Resources which owns the mill in White Mesa, Utah.