This website's content is fully accessible to all browsers, however it will look much better and your experience will be much more enjoyable if you upgrade your browser to one that is standards-compliant.
NEWS RELEASE
November 01, 2005
Contacts:
Loren Morton, (801) 536-4262
Division of Radiation Control
Donna Kemp Spangler, (801) 536-4480
Public Information Officer
(Salt Lake City, Utah) – Loren Morton, a section manager for the Utah Division of Radiation Control, has been awarded the prestigious Governor’s Science and Technology Medal for his scientific work that led to the Department of Energy’s decision to move 13.5 million tons of uranium mill tailings from the former Atlas mill site on the banks of the Colorado River near Moab.
Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. will honor Morton, along with 10 other recipients recognized for their achievements, at a 7 p.m. ceremony on Thursday at the Leonardo Center at Library Square, 209 East 500 South.
“It’s been a pleasure to work on the Moab tailings project, and be involved in the Department of Environmental Quality’s efforts to protect the Colorado River,” said Morton. “The credit for this endeavor must be shared with many others, including, Dr. Kip Solomon at the University of Utah; Phil Gardner and Terry Kenney of the U.S. Geological Survey in Salt Lake City; Paul Mushovic of the Environmental Protection Agency in Denver; Don Metzler and his staff at the DOE office in Grand Junction, and many local citizens of Moab. Together, we have had the privilege of protecting the environment for future generations.”
Bill Sinclair, deputy director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, nominated Morton to the State Advisory Council on Science and Technology for his efforts in providing key scientific information that supported the state’s position to remove the mill tailings that are threatening the Colorado River, a source of drinking water for 25 million people downstream.
“Loren’s vast knowledge and study of the site, in collaboration with partners at the University of Utah and the U.S. Geologic Survey, enabled the state of Utah and other stakeholders to demonstrate the tailings needed to be moved due to the potential of river migration and other events that could undermine the pile,” said Sinclair. “Loren has received kudos from many who have worked on this project for a long period, including the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Grand County Council, and local Moab residents.”
In September, the Department of Energy signed the official decision to move the radioactive mill tailings to Crescent Junction, 30 miles away, culminating a 10-year-long effort that included lobbying efforts from Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and Utah’s congressional delegation. The project is expected to cost $400 million.
Morton has been with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality since 1984. For 10 years he worked as the hydrogeologist in the Utah Division of Water Quality before joining the Utah Division of Radiation Control where he monitors low-level radioactive waste facilities like Envirocare of Utah and uranium mills. Prior to DEQ, he was an engineering geologist for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Utah. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University where he earned both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in geology.
You are here: Home >