Uneva Uranium Mine in Utah
With historic uranium mine sites already polluting communities, members of the Navajo Nation have been fighting for 27 years to stop a new mining initiative from starting in the Crownpoint and Church Rock areas.
On Thursday, the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining took that fight to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, arguing that the United States and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval of Hydro Resources Inc. mines violated the human rights of Navajo Nation residents…
In Thursday’s filing, ENDAUM alleges that this license approval came despite the fact that NRC knew the mining will contaminate water and that the communities already have increased risk of disease and death from historic uranium mining and milling promoted by the United States…
Uncle Sugar treats all its citizens as pawns in the game of profiteering. The nuclear version of the game adds death and destruction, poisoned water and land, to the equation.
“Navajo Nation pushes for radioactive waste remnants to be fully removed : The United Nuclear Corporation is asking to transfer 1 million cubic yards of mine waste to a spot still near the Nation” https://sourcenm.com/2021/10/22/navajo-nation-pushes-for-radioactive-waste-remnants-to-be-fully-removed/
“The Church Rock uranium mill site is owned by United Nuclear Corporation, and in 1979 this site is where 93 million gallons of radioactive tailings were released into the Pipeline Arroyo and Puerco River. This is the biggest radioactive spill in U.S. History.
It’s well-documented how this spill has impacted the Navajo people, poisoning the water and land. But this is not a devastation of the past, because waste remnants still exist. Where to dump those remnants is the issue before the Navajo Environmental Protection Agency and the Red Water Pond Road Community Association today.”
“Toxic legacy : The fight to end environmental racism in Canada.” https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2021/12/8/toxic-legacy-the-fight-to-end-environmental-racism-in-canada
“Money for abandoned uranium mine cleanup spurs questions about design, jobs” (4/5/22) https://nmindepth.com/2022/money-for-abandoned-uranium-mine-cleanup-spurs-questions-about-design-jobs/
“The History of Uranium Mining and the Navajo People” (National Institutes of Health, September 2002) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3222290/#:~:text=Uranium%20production%20in%20the%20northern,to%20zero%20again%20by%201967.
Take uranium contamination off our land, Navajos urge federal nuclear officials https://nmindepth.com/2022/take-uranium-contamination-off-our-land-navajos-urge-federal-nuclear-officials-%EF%BF%BC/ includes video of duststorm
The gale-force winds that swept across New Mexico on Friday, driving fires and evacuations, gave Diné residents in a small western New Mexico community an opportunity to demonstrate first hand the danger they live with every day.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) members were in the Red Water Pond Road community, about 20 minutes northeast of Gallup, to hear local input on a controversial plan to clean up a nearby abandoned uranium mine. It was the first visit anyone could recall by NRC commissioners to the Navajo Nation, where the agency regulates four uranium mills. Chairman Christopher Hanson called the visit historic, and the significance was visible with Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and other Navajo officials in attendance.
After Friday afternoon’s listening session, the federal commissioners conducted a public meeting in Gallup in the evening where they heard from EPA officials. The NRC is expected to decide in June whether or not to permit the EPA to move the mine debris to the mill.
The swirling dust outside was a consistent theme during the Friday afternoon session as residents described a generational struggle with significant health risks from uranium contamination.