The Riley Pass Mine Area has not been completely ignored for the past 40 plus years. Several attempts have been made by the Forest Service to mitigate the effects of tailings. In 1972, Kerr-McGee paid for dams and dikes in two locations to control sediment moving down the draws and also moved a segment of road at Riley Pass. In 1989, the Forest Service built 5 catch basins and the next year they removed 6,700 cubic yards of sediment. In 2002, the Forest Service negotiated with Kerr-McGee to clean out sediment from ponds. The company eventually walked away and sold the site to the Tronox Corporation, which filed a bankruptcy lawsuit in 2014 that led to the Riley Pass Mine receiving $179 million for cleanup.
Reclaiming open-pit uranium mines is no easy task. The reclamation plan developed by the Forest Service involves driving trucks to the base of the tailing piles, loading the tailings onto trucks, hauling the tailings back to the top of the bluffs were the mines are located, replacing the tailings into the open mines, and then covering the mines with non-contaminated soil. This is obviously a very labor-intensive task, which requires all involved to wear special suits to protect from contaminants in the soil. The cost would be too prohibitive for the Forest Service to cover. Therefore, the Defenders of the Black Hills believe that the only solution is the procurement of special legislation that would allocate the necessary funds to properly cleanup the abandoned uranium mines.
The Defenders of the Black Hills have been fighting to raise the public’s and politicians’ awareness of South Dakota’s abandoned uranium mines. Unfortunately, this has been an uphill battle in a state known for its pro-business and anti-government politics. In response to their demands and increasing public interest, the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources agreed to test water quality at 38 sites around South Dakota.
The Forest Service, South Dakota State Historical Society, and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe worked to have the Cave Hills placed on the National Register of Historic Places in accordance with the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act; however, it is still not listed as of June 2020. Being designated a National Historic Landmark would place one more layer of protection on the historical, archeological, and cultural resources of the Cave Hills, especially when considering future commercial modifications of the sacred lands.
