The Navajo Nation's Ongoing Battle Against Uranium Mining

We are broadcasting from New Mexico - home to the Navajo Nation. For decades they have been fighting an ongoing battle against uranium mining on their land. Last April, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley approved legislation banning uranium mining on Navajo territory. There is currently no mining on the Navajo reservation but Hydro Resources Inc. has been working with the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission for years to try to get approval for mining near the Navajo communities of Crownpoint and Church Rock, New Mexico. The company estimates nearly one-hundred million pounds of uranium exists on those sites making it worth millions of dollars.

Uranium mining occurred on the Navajo Reservation for over fifty years and the impact is still felt. The land has been dotted with contaminated tailings and hundreds of abandoned mines that have not been cleaned up.

There have been few studies on the health effects in reservation communities, but Navajos have suffered from high cancer rates and respiratory problems. One study has found that cancer rates among Navajo teenagers living near mine tailings are 17 times the national average.

The Navajo Reservation is home to more than 180,000 people. Over half the population lives below the U.S. poverty line.

The group Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining, or ENDAUM, and the Southwest Research and Information Center have been fighting mining company HRI for over a decade in court. In a few minutes we will speak with the directors of SRIC and ENDAUM, but first we turn to the documentary "Homeland" that takes a look at the battle against uranium mining in Crownpoint and Chruch Rock.

* "Homeland" - excerpt of documentary produced by the Katahdin Foundation.
* Chris Shuey, director of the Southwest Research and Information Center
* Wynoma Foster, director of Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining.

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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/02/148241