Newsgroups: bit.listserv.biosph-l
Date:         Wed, 22 Jul 1992 16:41:17 EDT
Reply-To:     mhart@AMETHYST.BUCKNELL.EDU
From:         mhart@AMETHYST.BUCKNELL.EDU
Subject:      Navajo land and uranium
X-To:         biosph-l@ubvm.cc.buffalo.edu

Thanks to all who wrote to offer suggestions when I gave a call for sources
on this subject.

There was plenty of information on a number of subjects, but the most
recent developments have involved the issue of radioactive leaks and waste.

Uranium mining and milling began on the Navajo reservation back in 1947,
was at its height in the 1950s and 1960s, and was mostly ended by the early
1980s due to the global drop in Uranium prices.  There are no mines or
mills currently operating on the reservation, but the danger from radiation
exposure is immense.  There are estimates of 1000-3000 abandoned mine sites
and radioactive waste dump sites with 10 million tons of uranium on the
reservation with no shielding to protect the population.  During rains,
water from the mines often runs into local rivers which people and
livestock drink from, and which ends up on crop lands.  Birth defects have
doubled in some areas, and child cancer rates on the reservation are five
to fifteen times the national norms.

Back in 1978, the Navajos got two of the earliest Superfund cleanup sites
on their land, at Shiprock, New Mexico and at Tuba City, Utah.  Radioactive
tailings, remains from uranium mining, were covered and contained, but the
river and ground water wasn't treated.

Many rivers in the area were also polluted because of previous dumping.
From 1947 until 1972 there were no regulations on dumping, and many
companies dumped untreated toxic and radioactive wastes directly into the
water supplies.  Regulations have never been strongly enforced, and much of
the limited water supply is hazardous to consume.

The biggest nuclear accident in US history occured at a uranium mill owned
by United Nuclear Corp. (UNC) near Church Rock, New Mexico, 15 miles
northeast of Gallup and near the Navajo reservation.  Although it was many
times worse than the accident at Three Mile Island, it didn't receive
nearly as much attention.  The mill was constructed before it was licensed,
and then the license was quickly pushed through in 1977 three weeks before
new regulation went into effect.  On July 16, 1979, a dam failed, and 94
tons of toxic and radioactive sludge flowed into the Rio Puerco which flows
into the Navajo reservation in Arizona. Radiation readings  at the mill
site were 130,000 picocuries/liter.  Above 15 picocuries/liter is
considered hazardous.  One woman and several sheep who were in the water
got burns on their legs and eventually died.  UNC trucked in water for a
few months, scraped 3 inches of soil from the riverbed, and settled out of
court with some residents for the price of about half of a million dollars.

The EPA cited UNC at the time, but declared that the cleanup was sufficient
and renewed UNC'spermit to discharge radioactive wastes into the river.
Then in 1983, the EPA discovered contaminants leaking into underground
water at the Church Rock mill.  UNC is engaging in a $25 million program
which expected to finish cleaning up the site by 1996. Unfortunately, as in
other projects, nothing is being done to clean the water in the river or
under ground.

Radiation levels in the Rio Puerco and nearby rivers continue to be
sporadically high, sometimes reaching 10 to 100 times the danger level.
UNC claims they've already cleaned their spill, and that the radiation must
come from other sources.  There is a theory that radioactive material from
the spill leaked lower than 3 inches into the river bed and is still
present.  This theory explains the sporadic readings by assuming that when
storms increase the current, some of the material is stirred up, causing
the radiation level of the water to rise.  On the other hand, it is
possible that UNC is correct and that they are not responsible.  Many other
comapanies (not UNC) dumped untreated waste into the same rivers before
regulations were passed, and some dumping continued until 1986.  At this
point, it would be difficult to trace exactly where the contamination
originated.

However, that is exactly what the US Geological Survey is attempting to do.
 In 1989 they began a five-year study of water in the area to determine
whose waste is poisoning the river and what can be done to rectify the
siuation.

There are several other projects also taking place.  In 1991 the US Office
of Surface Mining granted the Navajo Nation $750,000 over three years to
clean up old mines and waste piles.  Navajo officials said it was only
about 1% of what was needed, but then in May 1992, the federal Superfund
program granted an additional $70 million.  If the original estimates were
correct, they would now have about 95% of the required funding (although
the new funding might not be targeted specifically for all the same
projects).

In 1990 the federal governmnent halted work at two sites.  One was Mexican
Hat, Utah, and the other was in Monument Valley, Arizona, where a 17-acre
waste pile peaked at 65 feet.  Work is now scheduled to begin again at
these sites, but again, it is unlikely that water sources will be treated.

While progress is certainly being made in the cleanup, there are also new
dangers.  In 1986, the federal government approved a proposal for a new
uranium mine over the objections of the Havasupai Nation, approximately 60
miles west of the Navajo reservation.  There are also potential new mines
in western New Mexico, on land off the Navajo reservation, but close enough
to do damage if there are more leaks and spills.  Uranium prices are
currently too low to make mining feasible, but as President Bush's 1991
energy policy avoided conservation or alternative fuels, it is possible
that prices will rebound and that mining will resume.

SOURCES:

Ambler, Marjane.  Breaking the Iron Bonds: Indian Control of Energy
Development.  Lawrence, KS:  University Press of Kansas, 1990.

Gault, Ramona.  "A Five-Year Government Study May Spill Some
Answers."  In These Times.  September. 13-19, 1989, p. 6.

Gault, Ramona.  "Navajos Inherit a Legacy of Radiation."  In These
Times.  September. 13-19, 1989, p. 6.

Gilles, Cate.  "Uranium Mining at the Grand Canyon:  What Costs to
Indigenous People."  Workbook.  Spring 1991, pp.2-17.

Lambrecht, Bill.  "Poisoned Land...Cold War Brought Mining Jobs to
the Indians, but Uranium Mines also Paid off in Misery."  St. Louis
Post-Dispatch.  November 19, 1991, p. 1A

Negri, Sam.  "Radioactive Rivers May be Health Risk."  Arizona
Republic.  July 10, 1988, p. A1.

"Tribe Fights Uranium Mine OK."  Chicago Tribune.  October. 16, 1986,
Sec. 1A, p. 33.

Warren, Karen J.  "The Earth Summit and Women."  San Francisco
Examiner.  June 19, 1992, p. A21.
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Mitch Hart                                  ---

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mhart.amethyst.bucknell.edu     ---
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