New Mexico: More wells needed to gauge uranium plumes - Times Union: MILAN, N.M. (AP) - More wells are needed to measure uranium plumes in a major aquifer in western New Mexico, state environmental officials said
The state Environment Department is asking federal authorities to collaborate to ensure accurate measurement of a plume of uranium contamination leaving the Bluewater Disposal Site, the Gallup Independent reports .
State officials are concerned the full nature of the plume within the San Andres-Glorieta aquifer has not been defined because of the lack of a comprehensive network of monitoring wells.
Kurt Vollbrecht, manager of the Environment Department's Mining Environmental Compliance Section, said the U.S. Department of Energy maintains control over groundwater resources at the former uranium mill site but does not have authority over impacts to groundwater quality outside the site boundary.
Vollbrecht outlined the state's concerns in an October letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and to Bernadette Tsosie, manager of the Bluewater site for the Energy Department's Office of Legacy Management.
Tsosie said the path of the San Andres-Glorieta aquifer plume is 2 miles (3 kilometers) north of the nearest drinking water su
