Moab, Utah
On Thursday, April 9, 2026, the North Wind Portage Moab UMTRA Project celebrated its milestone of permanently removing 16 million tons of residual radioactive material from the Moab site. Members of the project team, senior Department of Energy (DOE) officials, other project stakeholders, and the local community attended the ceremony.
The ceremony culminated in the moving of the tile. This marks the 16 millionth ton, moving from a plaque representing the Moab Tailings pile to one representing the secure repository at Crescent Junction – a tradition that has become the cornerstone of these events. This celebration featured remarks from:
- Matt Udovitsch, DOE-Environmental Management Moab UMTRA Federal Cleanup Director
- Joette Langianese, Moab Mayor
- Mary McCandless, Moab Tailings Project Steering Committee Chair
- Melodie McCandless, Grand County Commission Chair
- Jeff Scott, North Wind Portage President
- Tim Davis, Utah Department of Environmental Quality Executive Director
- Adán Ortega, Jr., Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Board Chair (on behalf of Retired California Congresswoman Grace F. Napolitano)
- Lara Beasley, DOE Office of Legacy Management Deputy Director
- Jack Zimmerman, DOE-Environmental Management Acting Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary
- Larry Ellertson, Office of Utah Senator John Curtis Outreach Advisor
“We are honored and excited to be here celebrating this important milestone,” said Jeff Scott, North Wind Portage President. “We have a number of folks on our team who have been here since the mid-2000s…like all of you, they are committed and eager to finish this project and see the site fully cleaned up.”
The UMTRA pile site is a mile from the Arches National Park entrance and three miles northwest of downtown Moab, Utah. Mill tailings are sand-like waste material that remains from conventional uranium ore processing. Railcar containers transport the Moab tailings to an approved disposal facility near Crescent Junction, which is located 30 miles north of the Moab site. After tailings are placed in the disposal cell, they are capped with multiple layers of locally sourced soils and rock.
North Wind Portage has held this contract since 2011.