The Environmental Protection Agency announced a cleanup plan for a defunct uranium mine on the Spokane Reservation in Washington.

The radioactive waste from the Midnite Mine will be placed in pits and covered. Contaminated water will be treated by a water treatment plant before being discharged into Blue Creek.

The Spokane Tribe supports the cleanup plan. "The selection of a remedy is a long-awaited big step forward," Shannon Work, the tribe's special environmental counsel, told the Associated Press.

The mine was closed in the 1980s. The EPA estimates it will cost $152 million to clean up the site.

Get the Story:
EPA chooses plan for cleaning up Cold War era uranium mine (AP 10/3)

EPA Documents:
Press Release | Record of Decision

Relevant Links:
Spokane Tribe - http://www.spokanetribe.com