The Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday it had created a Colorado-based office focused on hardrock mining cleanups in Western US states, a move aimed at streamlining the remediation of thousands of mines abandoned over decades.
The Office of Mountains, Deserts and Plains is based in Lakewood, Colorado, and has oversight of federal hardrock mining cleanup sites west of the Mississippi River.
“The Office of Mountains, Deserts and Plains will ensure we are making progress cleaning up mining sites across the West, promote Good Samaritan projects, identify innovative cleanup technologies, and oversee the cleanup of abandoned uranium mines in the Navajo Nation,” EPA Associate Deputy Administrator Doug Benevento told an event announcing the new office.