Uranium Forum Raises Unanswered Questions

 by Sarana Riggs, Grand Canyon Manager

“Coming from a humble place — Cameron, Arizona — swimming in the open-pit mines across the street and then coming here as the first Native American senator in the state legislature and having met so many folks over the years, you get an eagle-eye view of what we’re talking about.”

–Jamescita Peshlakai, Arizona State Senator, District 7

On May 30, 2018, Arizona Congressman Tom O’Halleran held a community forum on the topic of uranium in Cameron, Arizona. A panel of speakers that included local community residents, Navajo Nation agencies, and elected officials from the tribe, state, and U.S. Congress came together to discuss the problems associated with uranium ore. 

Will it get into our bodies?

Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye addressed concerns associated with cultural preservation and with our livelihood as ranchers, saying:  “Water, for example, if you have sheep that drink contaminated water, if you eat mutton, does it get into your system? What about the grass that our cattle graze on, and if it’s contaminated because of the wind and those radioactive waste[s] being carried in the air landing on the vegetation, our cattle eat them, we butcher them, we have steak, is some of that getting into our system, are we contaminating ourselves? There’re a lot of questions and studies that need to be done. We’re asking the CDC [Centers for Disease Controland prevention] to go and start studying the animals, water, plants, to see if radioactive waste or radioactive material can be transferred from plant life into animals as we eat them, consume them, will that get into the meat, and when we consume it, will it get into our bodies?”

As someone from the local area and part of the Western region of the Navajo Nation, I had my speculations as to where this conversation was headed. Too many times we as Diné have participated in meetings related to uranium, thinking there was a solution and finally a resolve to clean up our land, water, and address our many health concerns. At similar meetings I have heard people talk of loved ones who were miners, materials that were salvaged from mines and mills which were reused to build homes. People were unknowingly living with a dangerous substance. And as Senator Peshalakai mentioned, they were living, playing, and utilizing the land near these abandoned mines through grazing or recreation in the tailing ponds. In my case, it’s the story of my grandfather working at the mill near Tuba City and my family living there in housing provided by the milling company. I feel the frustration and impact uranium has caused to our nation, where we feel that nothing has been done to clean up these mines or take away the pain, hardship, and hopelessness associated with the long-term exposure to this threat. 

Could uranium change our DNA?

Many of these problems have to do with health impacts, not just from the age of mining, but through the generations. With science and research, we understand that uranium can change our DNA structure, causing different forms of cancer. A representative from Tuba City Healthcare Corporation said at the meeting, “We do not have cancer treatments for our patients on Navajo, so we have to send our patients to facilities in Flagstaff, Phoenix, even as far as Tuscon, if it’s a very specialized cancer, and we don’t have the means right now in Tuba [City] to take care of it.”

Cataloging sites of radioactive decay

One aspect of the meeting that piqued my interest was the fact that Navajo Nation EPA and the U.S. EPA are still cataloging sites of radioactive decay and mapping hotspots on the Navajo Nation. David Yogi from U.S. EPA Region 9, based in San Francisco said, “EPA is going to be flying a highly specialized plane that’s going to allow us to scan areas for radioactive material — this flies at a 500-foot elevation — and really give a full sense of the contamination. As part of that we’re going east to west in June.”

Many of the panelists who spoke at the meeting have similar stories. We share a history of our problems and concerns associated with everything from past uranium mining, which was never cleaned up, to the fallout of nuclear tests in Nevada. We are now asking Congressman O’Halleran, the agencies, and our leaders who are supposed to protect us from environmental injustices: “What is the next plan of action?”

Over 500 abandoned uranium mines

Was this just another meeting where we all expressed our deep and personal background with uranium, a substance interwoven into each of our lives through the lives of our loved ones? After the forum, Congressman O’Halleran sponsored an amendment to the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act in the house that allocates an additional one million dollars to expedite the cleanup of abandoned uranium mines. That amendment unanimously passed, but we need more. 

How do we address the transport of highly radioactive materials — which we have no jurisdiction over, because they are transported on federal highways — through our lands?

How do we clean up the over 500 abandoned uranium mines on our lands, but not also create another environmental injustice for another tribe (for example, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, near whose White Mesa reservation community the White Mesa uranium mill, a possible destination for the mine waste, is located)? How do we know our water is safe to drink? Or that our livestock are safe to consume? With all that we know of uranium contamination and its effects, why are we still allowing a mine to be open near the Grand Canyon? And why is the administration considering lifting a ban on uranium mining in the Grand Canyon watershed? Are we not concerned about the pure water that currently sustains all life around the canyon? 

These are all the questions still left on our minds. We hope and pray that some of these questions will be answered by our elected leaders and that we will learn a lesson to not open any more mines until we have addressed these issues.