39°03′17″N 108°33′16″W / 39.054629°N 108.554559°W
Climax Uranium Mill is a decommissioned uranium mill near Grand Junction, CO.
The mill, which processed vanadium as well as uranium, was incorporated May 11, 1950. It was constructed on city-owned property next to the Colorado River which was once the Grand Junction sugar beet mill. Climax Uranium Company gutted the former sugar beet mill, removing any remaining equipment and stabilizing weak walls, and began uranium and vanadium milling operations. The mill soon grew to be 12 buildings large and processed 2 million tons of ore, mostly for the United States Atomic Energy Commission.[1] The mill caused contamination in an aquifer directly beneath the surface of the site. Mill tailings were allowed to be taken for civilian and construction use in the city which led to many vicinity properties with elevated radiation levels.[2] In 1970, the mill was decommissioned and most of the contaminated materials were brought to the Grand Junction Disposal Site.[3] Some of the leftover tailings used in construction led to adverse health effects in civilians around the area, and required major clean-up efforts and remediation by the Environmental Protection Agency and International Atomic Energy Agency.[4]
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