Programmatic environmental impact statement for the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Ground Water Project

Uranium processing activities at most of the 24 inactive mill sites designated for remediation under the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) resulted in the formation of contaminated ground water beneath and, in some cases, downgradient of the sites. This contaminated ground water often has elevated levels of hazardous constituents such as uranium and nitrate. The purpose of the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Ground Water Project is to protect human health and the environment by meeting EPA proposed standards in areas where ground water has been contaminated with constituents from former processing sites. A major first step in the UMTRA Ground Water Project is the preparation of this Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS). This document analyzes potential impacts of the alternatives, including the proposed action, which is the DOE's preferred alternative. These alternatives are programmatic in that they are plans for conducting the UMTRA Ground Water Project. The alternatives, which are described in Section 2.0, do not address site-specific ground water compliance. This PEIS is a planning document that will provide a framework for conducting the Ground Water Project; assess the potential programmatic impacts of conducting the UMTRA Ground Water Project; provide a method for determining the site-specific ground water compliance strategies; and provide data and information that can be used to prepare site-specific environmental impacts analyses more efficiently