User:Kt1628/Uranium mining and the Navajo people

Currently on the Navajo Nation, 30% of people do not have access to clean drinking water due to uranium contamination from uranium mining on the Navajo Nation. In the 1950s there was a large boom in the uranium mining industry, and the Navajo Nation was situated directly in the uranium mining belt. The Navajo people went to work in the mines due to there being a lack of jobs at the time. Prior to 1962, the risks of lung cancer due to uranium mining were unknown to the workers, and the lack of a word for radiation in Navajo left the Navajo miners oblivious about the associated health hazards. Because of this mining, the water on the Navajo Nation currently has an average of 90 micrograms per liter with some areas reaching upwards of 700 micrograms per liter. The EPA considers 30 micrograms per liter the safe amount of uranium to have in water sources. People on the Navajo Nation are 67 times more likely to live without running water, and without running water, Navajo people resort to unregulated water sources that are susceptible to bacteria, fecal matter, and uranium. The consumption of uranium results in kidney damage and failure due to the kidneys' inability to filter uranium out of the bloodstream. There is an average rate of End Stage Renal Disease of 0.63% on the Navajo Nation, which significantly differs from the National average of 0.19%. Water is also of cultural significance to the Navajo people and this contamination inhibits their ability to practice their culture and kills the land and livestock that are critical to their survival and culture.

Following the Gold King Mine Spill in 2015, farmers lost 75% of their crops due to the lack of clean water. The EPA provided the Navajo with water, but it was contaminated with oil, poisoning the land and killing the livestock. Duane Yazzie, a Navajo Tribe member, spoke about the spritual and cultural importance that agriculture plays in the Navajo culture and how both the oil and uranium contamination infringed upon their ability to practice their culture. In the case of environmental hazards such as the Gold King mine spill, the EPA offers The Standard Form 95 where claims of economic damages, unemployment, loss of income, or damage to property can be filed as a result of an environmental incident. However, Ethel Branch, the Navajo Nation attorney general said this form contained backhanded, offensive language that would diminish ones ability to get full financial compensation and restrict their ability to file additional, future claims.