Sillamäe Remediation
On the plaque: Sillamäe Jäätmehoidla Saneerimine 1999-2008 (in Estonian) English translation: Sillamäe Waste Containment Remediation 1999-2008.
The area around the plaque was a tailings pond from a Soviet yellowcake (uranium refining) plant. The plant was converted to produce rare earth metals and oxides in the mid-1980s but continued to dump material in the tailings pond. The remediation project took place from 1999 to 2008. The area is now a harbor and rail hub. The plant still produces rare earth metals and oxides, but its wastes are all in manageable form and are no longer dumped to the environment.
Credit: Cheryl Rofer