July 6, 2023

By Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico

Environmental groups said they were surprised by the ruling, but expect the fight to continue over site in Cibola County.

In early June, federal regulators rejected a mining company’s proposal to loosen current cleanup standards at a former uranium mining operation in Western New Mexico.

Beginning in 1958, The Homestake Mining Company operated a mine in Cibola County, just five miles outside the town of Milan. The consequences have carried 65 years into the future. In the early 2000s, one of the world’s largest mining companies, Barrick Gold, bought out Homestake.

The Environmental Protection Agency named it a Superfund site, meaning it’s one of the most toxic places in the U.S. and will take decades to clean up. …

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