News & Events
- 04/26/2012
Article on Uncertainty in Water Planning by INTERA’s Director of Hydrologic Services, Dr. Barney Austin, Appears in Austin American Statesman - 03/14/2012
Former Chairman & President of BP America Joins INTERA Incorporated Board of Directors - 01/26/2012
INTERA’s Cody Hudson Works to Provide Safe Drinking Water to Village in Kenya - 01/25/2012
NPR Interview with Dr. Barney Austin, INTERA’s Director of Hydrologic Services - 10/27/2011
INTERA Names Alaa Aly Vice President - 10/25/2011
INTERA's Dr. Abhishek Singh Named New Associate Editor for the Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management - 10/19/2011
INTERA Wins Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Project in Japan - 09/09/2011
INTERA's Larry Coons Receives 2011 Excellence in Reclamation Award - 06/15/2011
INTERA Develops Adjoint Capture Function for MODFLOW - 04/20/2011
ICP Selects INTERA to Permit New Mine - 04/12/2011
INTERA's Tampa Office Moves to a New Location - 12/23/2010
INTERA Divests Ownership in Canadian Affiliate - 12/02/2010
Dr. William (Bill) Linderfelt Joins INTERA's Albuquerque Office - 11/22/2010
INTERA's Dr. Mick Apted Publishes Book on Disposal of Radioactive Wastes in Geological Repositories - 09/04/2010
INTERA's Greg Ruskauff to Speak at the International Groundwater Symposium - 07/02/2010
Larry Coons Joins INTERA's Albuquerque Office - 06/01/2010
INTERA Wins Environmental Services Contract with the City of Austin - 04/28/2010
INTERA's Abhishek Singh Lead Author on Paper Published in Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering - 04/27/2010
Dr. Steve Young Joins INTERA Team - 03/23/2010
INTERA's Dr. Abhishek Singh to Speak at ASCE World Environmental & Water Resources Congress 2010 - 03/16/2010
In Remembrance of Former INTERA Senior Scientist, Dr. Mark Reeves - 01/29/2010
INTERA Continuing to Support EPRI's Oversight of DOE's Nuclear Waste Management and Geological Disposal Programs - 12/31/2009
Dr. Mick Apted Lectures on Various Aspects of the Geological Disposal of Radioactive Wastes - 12/17/2009
Navarro - INTERA Team Wins $60 Million Environmental Characterization and Remediation Contract at DOE's Nevada Test Site - 12/15/2009
INTERA Awarded Contract to Assess Abandoned Uranium Mines - 12/14/2009
INTERA Acquires Monitor Scientific, LLC - 11/19/2009
INTERA Personnel Publish Paper on Model Averaging Techniques for Quantifying Conceptual Model Uncertainty - 10/13/2009
Dr. Robert W. Andrews Rejoins INTERA as a Principal Scientist - 10/02/2009
INTERA's Srikanta Mishra Publishes Review Paper on Global Sensitivity Analysis Techniques - 08/31/2009
INTERA Personnel to Speak at PEST Conference - 07/29/2009
INTERA Hires John Sigda, PhD - 07/15/2009
INTERA's Srikanta Mishra Publishes Article on Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis Techniques - 07/13/2009
Dr. Barney Austin Joins INTERA as Director of Hydrologic Services - 06/01/2009
Dr. Srikanta Mishra to Teach Short Course on Global Sensitivity Analysis Techniques as Part of ModelCARE2009 - 04/17/2009
INTERA Personnel to Speak at the 2009 Devils Hole Workshop - 04/17/2009
INTERA to Exhibit at U2009 in Keystone, Colorado, May 10-13, 2009 - 10/17/2008
Geoscientific Site Characterization - 10/10/2008
INTERA Sponsoring the American Water Resource Association's 2008 Annual Water Resources Conference - 10/01/2008
INTERA Wins $15M Subcontract with CH2M Hill to Support Environmental Restoration at DOE's Hanford Site - 10/01/2008
INTERA Opens Richland, Washington Office - 09/25/2008
INTERA Approved for $900,000 Contract to Provide Environmental Services for Austin Energy - 09/24/2008
INTERA Wins Contract to Revise Groundwater Model for the St. Johns River Water Management District in Florida - 09/15/2008
INTERA Staff Members Publish Article on Texas Groundwater Availability Modeling in the August Issue of The Water Report - 07/15/2008
INTERA Names Marsh Lavenue President & CEO - 06/11/2008
INTERA Employee Receives Special Recognition for Work at NTS - 04/10/2008
Dr. Srikanta Mishra to Speak in Italy on Environmental Issues Related to Geological Storage - 10/30/2007
INTERA Personnel to Speak at American Water Resources Association Annual Conference - 08/16/2007
INTERA Sponsoring Regional Water Symposium - 08/14/2007
INTERA to Provide Key Support on Petroleum Storage - 08/08/2007
INTERA Signs Contract with Southwest Florida Water Management District - 07/27/2007
INTERA to Provide Environmental Commissioning Services for the New City of Austin Water Treatment Plant #4 - 07/27/2007
INTERA to Provide Environmental Investigation and Remediation Services to TXDOT - 07/20/2007
INTERA Employee Published on Using Decision Support - 07/19/2007
INTERA to Provide Services to the City of Albuquerque at the Former Los Angeles Landfill - 07/15/2007
INTERA Awarded Modeling Contract by NAGRA - 07/11/2007
INTERA Awarded Contract with ANDRA to Conduct Hydrogeologic Testing - 06/19/2007
INTERA Employee Published in Hydroline - 06/18/2007
INTERA Hires Peter Castiglia - 06/14/2007
INTERA Selected by South Florida Water Management District to Provide Modeling Support Services - 05/30/2007
INTERA Awarded Contract from the University of Mississippi - 05/22/2007
INTERA Signs Contract with Metropolitan Water District of Southern California - 05/05/2007
INTERA to Provide Sandoval County with Hydrologic Services - 05/01/2007
INTERA Relocates Corporate Office in Austin, Texas - See all News & Events »
INTERA Receives 2010 Excellence in Reclamation Award from the New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division
08/20/2010
INTERA Receives 2010 Excellence in Reclamation Award from the Mining and Minerals Division of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals & Natural Resources Department for Work at JJ No. 1 Mine Site
The JJ No. 1/L-Bar Site consists of a former uranium mill (referred to as L-Bar Mill) and a former underground uranium mine (referred to as JJ No. 1 Mine) located east of Seboyeta in Cibola County, New Mexico. Mining and milling at the site commenced in 1977 and continued until 1981 when the mine closed due to the economics of the uranium industry. The mill processed approximately 2,111,700 tons of uranium ore and the mine produced approximately 898,500 tons of ore. The L-Bar Mill site was reclaimed per U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations and the property was transferred to the U.S. Department of Energy for permanent stewardship in 2003. Surface features of the JJ No. 1 Mine were initially reclaimed soon after the mine was closed. Final reclamation commenced in September 2009 and was completed in August 2010.
INTERA designed and implemented a closure method, termed "hardscaping", that placed natural rock from the mine area over the vent shaft concrete overslabs to simulate natural rock outcrops in the surrounding landscape. Where feasible, the typical vent shaft closure method involved backfilling with at least two feet of cover over the concrete overslabs where landforming could blend the cover into an adjacent hillside. However, a number of the vent shafts in the mine area were not located on terrain that allowed for blending the vent shaft closures into the existing topography without requiring excessive fill or the creation of slopes greater than 3:1.
The hardscaping closure method resulted in vent shaft closures that are more consistent with the landscape, provide permanent closure for the vent shafts, and result in self-sustaining ecosystems that are ideal wildlife habitats for small mammals, reptiles, and avifauna. Hardscaping closure reduced both the amount of additional disturbance required for development of the borrow area and the carbon footprint associated with excavating and transporting fill material. Incorporating the hardscaping methods in the design also resulted in the acceleration of completion of one of the first uranium mine closures in the State of New Mexico. Prior to its implementation, the innovative hardscaping closure method was approved by the Mining and Minerals Division Hard Rock Mining Group.
