ASPECT Deployment to support the Navajo Nation Tronox settlement NAUM assessment and in situ measurements.
Portions of the Navajo Nation are located on geologic formations rich in radioactive uranium ores. Beginning in the 1940s, widespread mining and milling of uranium ore on Navajo Nation tribal lands for national defense and energy purposes led to a legacy of abandoned uranium mine sites. Historic operations at the Cove the Transfer Station TS1 and TS2 sites included stockpiling of uranium-bearing ore from mines located in the nearby Lukachukai Mountains. Previous investigations at the AUMs for gamma radiation have indicated that levels are present in on-site soils exceeding background levels.
As a result of identified radioactive contamination of tribal land, the Navajo Nation has requested that the EPA assist in characterizing the lands and producing a clean-up and decontamination plan for the tribal lands.
The in situ gamma detectors and sample analysis from the deployment will be used to correlate measured radioactivity levels at ground level with radioactivity readings taken by the ASPECT aircraft as part of the characterization process.
