New Mexico, August 12, 2025 — General Electric Co. (GE) and United Nuclear Corp. (UNC) have reached a historic consent decree with the federal government, the State of New Mexico, and the Navajo Nation to invest $63 million in environmental cleanup efforts at the Northeast Church Rock uranium mine site in New Mexico. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the agreement on Monday.
Under the terms of the consent decree, GE and UNC will remove approximately one million cubic yards of uranium mine waste from the Superfund site located within the Navajo Nation. This cleanup effort, expected to span 10 years, involves transferring the waste to the nearby UNC Mill Site — a federally licensed uranium mill and tailings disposal facility.
The Northeast Church Rock Mine, operated by UNC from 1967 to 1982, left behind substantial uranium waste that continues to pose significant environmental hazards despite previous remediation attempts. This settlement, reached under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), ensures responsible parties bear the cleanup costs rather than taxpayers.
“Today’s settlement marks a critical step in remediating hazardous contamination at the Mine and Mill Sites, protecting human health from radioactive waste,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “This agreement follows CERCLA’s framework and prioritizes the impacted communities.”
Though GE is not named as a defendant in the accompanying federal complaint, the company acquired UNC in the 1990s. The cleanup plan aims to improve environmental conditions by enhancing erosion controls and waste containment at the UNC Mill Site, which currently holds around 3.5 million tons of tailings.
“This agreement holds the responsible companies accountable and ensures the community does not bear the burden of cleanup costs,” stated U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison for the District of New Mexico. “It reflects years of inaction and underscores the urgent need to protect public health and rectify longstanding environmental damage.”
The federal government is represented by Thomas P. Carroll of the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Ruth F. Keegan of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico. New Mexico’s Environment Department is represented by Andrew P. Knight, while the Navajo Nation is represented by Jill Elise Grant of Jill Grant & Associates LLC.
The case is United States of America et al. v. United Nuclear Corp., case number 1:25-cv-00765, filed in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico.
