L.A. Times series on Navajos and uranium

It's depressing.

Posted by Sarah K. Burkhalter at 2:54 PM on 22 Nov 2006

The Los Angeles Times today concluded a four-part series (with photos) on uranium mining on 27,000 square miles of Navajo lands in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

It's a depressing, but interesting, read.

Part one (nine pages) gives the background: The huge boom in uranium mining fizzled post-Cold War; when mines and processors shut down, they left piles and pits of radioactivity, seldom labeled with warning signs. Many houses were built with radioactive materials. The cancer death rate on the reservation doubled from the early 1970s to the late 1990s. Most of the Navajos were unaware of the problem; most of the government and industry figures that were aware willfully ignored it.

Part two (seven pages) digs deeper into the effect radioactivity had on the area's water -- and the children and animals who drank from it. The cases of animals born without eyes or with three legs, or children who developed corneal ulcers and liver disease, stymied medical professionals for years.

Part three (six pages) explains how a federal decontamination plan finally got underway -- then was derailed by bureaucratic delays, misunderstandings, and disputes that kept the site from Superfund designation.

Part four (four pages) has the unbelievable headline "Mining firms again eyeing Navajo land." The tribe vows a "knockdown, drag-out legal battle," according to a tribal attorney.

Fingers crossed.

For story: L.A. Times series on Navajos and uranium
4 Comments | Post a Comment

Thanks!

A great pre-Thanksgiving post, and very appropriate.

America needs to stop this now!! What will the Democrats do differently? Or will they ignore the problem?

patrick

by bookerly at 9:31 PM on 23 Nov 2006

Excellent series

Thanks for linking to this excellent series of articles. The southwest is my favorite part of the country, visually, yet I know it is poisoned by mining, much of the land is chewed to bits by ORVs, amongst other problems.

I just heard the Udall cousins discussing energy issues on CSPAN and Tom Udall, when asked about nuclear energy, said that our two areas of concern were what to do with the waste, and nuclear proliferation. I think he forgot something.

by AE at 1:46 PM on 26 Nov 2006

we love navajos!

Thanks for this, Sarah.

Tony Hillerman set one of his Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee mysteries around Mount Taylor, not far north of Grants. The cancers subsequent on working in the uranium mines near there were an important part of the story.

One would think that by now, the Navajos had enough friends to work out some decent decisions on civil suits. But probably one would think wrong. Anyway, when it is a question of life and death, the affected plaintiffs are already over the hill.

God have mercy on them. And thank God for Tony Hillerman, their friend, for putting their story into a popular form.

Ever puzzling to me is the question of the two northern corners of the Navajo/Pueblo universe. Mount Taylor is spectacular enough, in the southeast, and so are the San Francisco Peaks, near Flagstaff, AZ, in the southwest. But I have never been convinced by any candidates NW and NE.

This looks like a case for Super-Willa!

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 2:46 PM on 26 Nov 2006

Indigenous World Uranium Summit

FYI, there's an upcoming gathering on these issues -- the Indigenous World Uranium Summit -- for those who want to know more or get involved.

by Lisa Hymas at 10:06 PM on 26 Nov 2006

ADVERTISING POLICY

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