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For decades, uranium mining has contaminated the Navajo Nation, causing higher cancer rates and water pollution. Even though the health risks and environmental harms of uranium mining are well-established, new operations continue to move forward. One local group, the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM) hasn’t found a path to push back on mining through the US legal system. Now, ENDAUM and the New Mexico Environmental Law Center have petitioned the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alleging that licensing uranium mines in Navajo Nation is a human rights violation by the US Government.
Why This Matters: The petition can’t stop new mining operations from moving forward, but could give local advocates additional evidence to help their case. Most of the uranium deposits in the Navajo Nation are located in aquifers, which means mining presents a high risk of contaminating water with the radioactive element. For the 15,000 Navajo people who rely on the Westwater Canyon Aquifer, their drinking water supply and health are on the line.
“We as community members couldn’t just sit back and watch another company come in and just take what is very precious to us. And that is water — our water,” Rita Capitan, who co-founded ENDAUM, told the Guardian.
Stopping New Harm, Addressing the Old
The work to stop this latest uranium mining project could prevent additional harm, but Navajo Nation is still dealing with the scars of mining since the 1940s. Before the end of the Cold War, millions of tons of uranium were mined, then purchased by the federal government. After which, companies abandoned more than 500 mines. And cancer rates in Navajo Nation doubled from the 1970s to the 1990s, according to government data.
“There are four generations of Navajo folks who had to deal with existing contamination and who live essentially in the middle of or next door to radioactive waste dumps,” said Eric Jantz, senior staff attorney at the New Mexico Environmental Law Center. “And the federal government has ignored those communities for the last 70 years.”
By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he would extend the drought emergency statewide and issued an executive order to have residents conserve water. As part of this effort, eight new counties were added to the state of emergency, and authorized the State Water Resources Control Board was authorized to […]
By Elizabeth Love, ODP Contributing Writer Authorities in the Canadian Arctic territory Nunavut, announced a state of emergency this week due to a possible contamination event affecting the City of Iqaluit’s water supply. Tests were performed after residents reported the smell of gasoline coming from their tap water, but they came back clean. However, […]
By Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer For 40 million people living in the Western US, the Colorado River basin is their source of water supply and last month, the federal government declared a water shortage on the river for the first time. Within the basin, Thirty Native tribes have recognized rights to more than one-fifth […]
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