(AGENPARL) – Tue 12 August 2025 United Nuclear Corporation and General Electric to Perform $63 Million Cleanup of Uranium Mine Waste at Northeast Church Rock Mine in Navajo Nation 
DALLAS, TEXAS (August 12, 2025) – The United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) and General Electric Company (GE) have agreed to a Consent Decree with the United States, Navajo Nation and the State of New Mexico under the federal Superfund law. This agreement requires a combined cleanup action to remove approximately one million cubic yards of uranium mine waste from the Northeast Church Rock Superfund Site, located on the Navajo Nation, and transfer it to the UNC Mill Site, located adjacent to Navajo Nation in northwestern New Mexico.
“This extraordinary cleanup agreement will improve the lives of the Navajo people, benefiting their children, grandchildren, and future generations,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Region Administrator Josh F.W. Cook. “The Consent Decree will ensure the removal of contaminated mine waste from their community and make their land suitable for future residential use.”
“This agreement represents extensive cooperation between EPA, the Navajo Nation, and the state of New Mexico. Each partner plays a critical role in working toward a safer environment for communities of Western New Mexico,” said EPA South Central Regional Administrator Scott Mason. “With this historic settlement, we are ensuring cleanup progress will continue at the NECR mine site while improving existing protections at the UNC mill site.”
“Today’s settlement will achieve tangible remediation of the Mine and Mill Sites and protect human health from radioactive wastes,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “Consistent with this administration’s enforcement principles and priorities, the settlement follows CERCLA’s text, focuses on the affected locations, and assigns the cost of cleanup to the settling defendants, not taxpayers.”
Under the lodged Consent Decree, UNC and GE will perform and pay for cleanup actions that include the excavation of approximately one million cubic yards of contaminated wastes at the NECR Mine Site and transfer of the wastes to an engineered repository at the UNC Mill Site, a federally licensed uranium mill and tailings disposal facility.  The Navajo Nation and the State of New Mexico are also parties to the agreement as co-plaintiffs with the United States.
The cleanup is expected to cost nearly $63 million and take more than a decade to complete. The U.S. Department of Energy will perform long-term stewardship and maintenance of the UNC Mill Site under their Legacy Management Program.
This agreement is the culmination of two decades of coordination between EPA‘s Pacific Southwest and South Central Regional offices, Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Department of Interior, State and Tribal stakeholders, and UNC and GE.
“This settlement sends a message that federal, sovereign, and state governments can come together to improve the lives of both New Mexican and Navajo Nation residents,” said Secretary for the New Mexico Environment Department James Kenney. “It’s the result of our regulatory partners’ unwavering commitment to addressing the longstanding risks faced by communities impacted by uranium mining waste.”
The Northeast Church Rock Mine operated from 1967 to 1982 and served as the principal source of uranium ore for the UNC Mill. These mining operations left behind uranium mine waste piles, several former ponds and former mill tailings storage areas. Although EPA has required several shorter-term cleanup actions to be completed at the NECR Mine site, conditions at the site continue to present a risk of releases of hazardous substances to the air, surrounding soils, sediments, surface water and groundwater.
The UNC Mill Site is a former uranium mill which operated from 1977 to 1982, generating mill tailings containing radionuclides and other hazardous substances. Disposal of about 3.5 million tons of tailings took place in on-site impoundments. Studies performed under EPA oversight have demonstrated that the transfer of Northeast Church Rock mine waste to the UNC Mill site, and placement of the waste over the tailings disposal area, would improve the cover and enhance erosion controls at the Mill site.
EPA continues to work closely with federal partner agencies, Navajo Nation, and adjacent states to address impacts from uranium contamination at 523 abandoned uranium mines on or near Navajo land. This EPA work includes the assessment and cleanup of abandoned uranium mines, engagement of Navajo elected officials in government-to-government consultation on EPA decisions, and efforts to involve the affected communities throughout the cleanup process to receive input.
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Environmental Protection Agency, 1201 Elm Street, Suite 500, Dallas, TX 75270 United States