The Mariano Lake Mine Site is an abandoned uranium mine located approximately 25 miles east of Gallup, New Mexico, in the Eastern Agency of the Navajo Nation. Gulf Mineral Resources Company operated an uranium mine from approximately 1977 to 1982. Gulf merged with Chevron in 1985 after the mine closed. The ore body is about 500 feet below the ground surface. The surface features of the mine include the Eastern Mine Area, which covers approximately 12.5 acres and includes the mine shaft and ore loading area and the Western Mine Area, which covers approximately 18.5 acres and includes the former evaporation ponds. Chevron, under direction from USEPA, has fenced the two mine areas, chip sealed the perimeter roads, and completed a Removal Site Evaluation. Next steps include performing interim actions to remove contaminated soils from outside of the fence and evaluate possible permanent solutions for the approximately 300,000 cy of radium impacted soil inside the fences.
