Ep. 5: Remediation

After Uravan closed and was set for demolition, its residents were forced to scatter elsewhere. Today, its nearby baseball park hosts an annual picnic for former townies who refuse to let the last memories of Uravan die out. In an interview with EPA superfund officials, we learn the philosophy of cleanup that led to the remediation of Uravan and its current status. Close by, a new uranium boom refuses to let the dust settle for long. 
 Find transcripts, references, and photos for the series at ⁠⁠www.aleccowan.com/boomtown 
 In this episode: 
 Jane Thompson, president and historian with the Rimrocker Historical Society in Nucla, CO 
 Frances Costanzi and Angela Zachman, Superfund Remedial Project Managers at the Environmental Protection Agency 
 Don Colcord, pharmacist and former resident of Uravan, CO 
 Emily, Joe, and Cindy Latimer, former residents of Uravan, CO 
 Bette Nickell and Jean Nyland, sisters and former residents of Uravan, CO 
 Dr. John Boice, radiation epidemiologist at Vanderbilt University 
 Michael Amundson, professor of history at Northern Arizona University 
 George Glasier, president and CEO of Western Uranium and Vanadium

Om Podcasten

For 50 years Uravan, Colorado, was a uranium hub of America. Mining “yellowcake” was at the center of everyday life, where kids played on radioactive tailings and residents used mine waste for garden beds. Then residents started getting sick. Through interviews with historians, health experts, environmentalists, and uranium workers past and present, local documentarian Alec Cowan explores how uranium transformed the American West. As nuclear energy revives the controversial industry today, will the scars of uranium’s past influence the future? Or are some things best left underground?