The Lukachukai Mountains Mining District (LMMD) site is located
primarily in the Cove, Round Rock, and Lukachukai Chapters of the Navajo Nation
in northeastern Arizona. The site includes a hundred mine waste piles from
former mines. Past uranium and vanadium mining in the Lukachukai Mountains created
waste piles contaminated with radium-226, uranium, and other heavy metals.
Waste from these piles has migrated downstream in washes and may have impacted
groundwater and continue to impact surface water. Past ore hauling activities
may have spread contamination along miles of mountainous haul roads. The Mesa V
Complex is one of the mine complexes within the LMMD site and is comprised of
several individual mines, specifically the Mesa V Mine – 103, Mesa V Incline,
and Mesa V Adit mines.
On March 23, 2025, US EPA Region 9 Superfund and Emergency Management
Division Director, Michael Montgomery, signed and Action Memorandum to initiate
a Time-Critical Removal Action (TCRA) at the Mesa V Mine Complex (or Mine),
Operable Unit 3 of the LMMD site. The areas of
contamination at the Mesa V Complex to be addressed under the TCRA include surface soil areas, burial cells,
and waste piles from past mining activities. The main source of potential
exposure on the Mesa V Complex is from surface disturbance of the Salt Wash
geological member and waste piles that are experiencing ongoing erosion from
stormwater, snow melt and wind. Contamination originates from the waste piles
at the Mesa V Mine – 103, Mesa V Incline, and Mesa V Adit mines. These waste
piles are continuously eroding into the drainage areas below and potentially
impacting the Navajo community of Cove and the greater Cove watershed.
