GRANTS, N.M. (KRQE) – The U.S. Forest Service is gearing up to boost vegetation at an old uranium mining site near Grants, New Mexico. The Forest Service remediated the La Jara Mine in 2016, but a recent study shows plant life hasn't fully recovered.
Now, the Forest Service says they will use heavy equipment to boost soil health and then reseed the area. That work will begin on May 6, and the Forest Service expects to complete the soil remediation by the end of the month.
The Forest Service has already addressed 4,460 cubic yards of mining waste at the site. That waste has gone into an on-site consolidation cell to encapsulate the waste material.
The La Jara Mine was once a uranium mining site near Mt. Taylor. New Mexico's uranium mine database shows the mine operated from 1952 to 1960.