Preliminary Findings Indicate No Current Uranium Ore Exposure at Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon, AZ - The National Park Service (NPS) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) are coordinating with federal and state agencies to investigate and address concerns of exposure to uranium rock samples previously stored at Grand Canyon National Park's Museum Collection building. An investigative team of radiation, industrial hygienist, and occupational health experts are reviewing available material and will be in the park in the coming weeks. The NPS expects results of this review within 90 days.

"Visitor and employee safety is our top priority," said Grand Canyon National Park Acting Superintendent Lisa Carrico. "We take this matter very seriously and the National Park Service and Department of the Interior have moved to assemble the appropriate interagency health and safety specialists to determine possible safety concerns, and clarify the relevant facts regarding this issue."

In June 2018, a routine environmental audit flagged three five-gallon buckets containing uranium rock samples at the Museum Collection building at the South Rim. On June 18, 2018, the NPS moved the samples to a restricted area at the Orphan Mine site, which is closed to visitors and most employees. Subsequent inspections of the facility have indicated that the Museum Collection building is safe for visitors and employees.

The Museum Collection building is a storage and research facility dedicated to preserving the physical artifacts that tell the Grand Canyon story. The building is located in an administrative area that is separate from visitor use areas. Tours are by appointment only and visitation averages up to 1,000 visitors and researchers annually. The NPS stores objects and documents as part of research collections and to have representative samples of park resources.

The NPS and DOI investigation will examine the level of exposure and potential risk to park visitors and employees when the rock samples were present in the Museum Collection building. It will include a dose reconstruction that will allow experts to determine exposure levels present when the samples were stored in the Museum Collection building, document the park's storage practices, and review employee work and handling practices. The investigation will also review past assessment reports, provide recommendations regarding how samples are managed in the future, and address the potential need for long-term health monitoring, if applicable.

The NPS will update a recorded phone line +1 928 638-7688 and the park's website as new information becomes available. The public may also email grca_incident_team@nps.gov with questions or concerns.

Grand Canyon, AZ- Preliminary findings of an interagency safety review conducted last week at Grand Canyon National Park indicate no current exposure concerns for park employees and visitors from uranium ore samples previously stored in buckets at the park's Museum Collection building. The Department of the Interior and National Park Service coordinated the review. The final report will be available in approximately 90 days.

Preliminary findings indicate that the previous reported radiation levels that were taken in June 2018 at the museum collection building were significantly overstated. New radiation measurements and instrument comparisons demonstrated that the actual radiation levels were significantly lower than initially believed and that radiation levels are consistent with background and other areas of the park.

Using historical documentation and information gathered from personal interviews, the team is developing radiation dose estimates from exposure that may have been present when the samples were stored in the Museum Collection building. These dose estimates will be presented in the final report.

Grand Canyon National Park Acting Superintendent Lisa Carrico said, "Employee and visitor safety is our top priority and we greatly appreciate the expertise and leadership of the team that conducted the review." The team included radiation, industrial and occupational health specialists from various agencies of the government and an independent organization. The specialists reviewed material, conducted interviews, measured radiation levels and clarified relevant facts regarding the issue.

The team surveyed the locations within the Museum Collection building that stored buckets containing uranium ore and determined the areas to be free of residual contamination. Taxidermy specimens from the natural history collection that were stored in close proximity to the buckets containing uranium ore were surveyed and determined to be free of residual contamination as well. The team provided recommendations regarding the handling of museum mineral specimens, including uranium ore and other specimens that contain naturally occurring radioactive elements.

Please visit the Grand Canyon National Park website at https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/historyculture/muscol.htm for additional information.