Uranium+Mining+and+Native+Americans

__Introduction__ Uranium is an element that has changed the world dramatically over the past 70 years. Since work started on refining this material to use its radioactive properties many lives have been impacted by it. Since the early time of research the uses of Uranium have expanded to include fuel for power generation, weapons, and radioactive isotopes used in medicine. Although many of the people in this country use the power from Uranium, most probably don’t realize what effects this mineral has had on Native Americans. Much of the Uranium that has been mined has been mined on or near Native American land. Over the years the effects on the environment and people that live near these mines has been equally dramatic as the impact of its use.

__History of Uranium Mining on Native American Land__ The first major Uranium mine in the United States was started by Anaconda Copper Mining Corporation in 1951 near Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico. Since that time there have been over 15,000 uranium mines opened with 75% of those being on Native American land. In 1972 President Nixon declared the 4 state region of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico a “National Sacrifice Area”. Since 1970, over 300 uranium mining leases have been granted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. By 2004 the Environmental Protection Agency reported only six major uranium mines in operation. Most of the other mines lay abandoned with radioactive tailings and dust present at almost all of them. Most of the mining has been on the Colorado Platea﻿u, but other areas in Washington state and the Dakotas have been impacted as well.

 __ The Church Rock disaster __ On July 16th, 1979 a dam that contained radioactive waste from a uranium mine burst and released two million pounds of radioactive wastes and over ninety million gallons of radioactive liquid pouring into the Rio Puerco river toward Arizona. The Navajo in the area still can’t use the water. The Church Rock disaster remains the largest accidental release of radioactive waste in United States history. Typical radon gas amounts in the air around this site are over 30 times the normal amount. Radon is a radioactive gas that causes thousands of deaths each year.

__ Health Impacts on the Native Americans __ The negative impact to the health of the Native Americans is well documented. Thousands of Native Americans have had their water sources impacted by the radioactive tailings from the mine operations. Native Americans were also a large part of the workforce for these mines and many have died. In 1990 a law was signed that granted 150,000 to the Native American workers of these mines. The compensation law covers the states of Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico who worked in the mines from 1947 to 1971. One of the main safety concerns is dust in the area. The area where most of the mines are located is typically dry and the dust that comes off of the wasted rock tailings is radioactive, this dust mixes with the air causing lung cancer and other breathing ailments. Elevated Radon levels have also been associated with these abandoned mines. The effect of long term radiation exposure in the levels associated with these mines is largely unknown. Chromosomal damage and mutation related to this exposure has been noted and may end up causing genetically related health problems that get passed on through the generations.

__ Future of Uranium Mining __ In the last 6 years, the reduced production of uranium coupled with increased research into nuclear reactor technology has caused the price of uranium to increase by over 8 times. This has caused a renewed interest in opening once abandoned mines. This could possibly result in increased pollution in an already polluted area. Many legal battles are currently underway fighting to block renewed mining operations on reservations. The water supply to thousands is at risk along with the very air they breathe.

__ Conclusion __  Power plants produce a large percentage of our power supply using nuclear fuel mined from Indian reservations. This mining has helped to deteriorate the environment of the reservations and the health of the inhabitants of those reservations. Increased prices and demand have opened up this area to continued mining which threatens to further endanger the environment and the Native Americans that live there. Continued efforts are needed to ensure that Native Americans and the environment they live in aren't being adversly effected from uranium mining.

__ Annotated Bibliography __ 1.) **Westigaard, Winona L., “Uranium Mines on Native Land”, Pub 05-02-1979, The Harvard Crimson, Accessed online 04-16-11**, [] :This is a college news article written in 1979 during the height of the major legal arguments in the late 70’s concerning mining on native land. The article mentions a conference to discuss permantly halting uranium mining that occurred in 1979.

2.) **“Uranium Mining Wastes”, United States Environmental Protection Agency Radiation Protection, Accessed online 04-14-11**, [] : This is a website that talks about uranium mining, what’s involved, where it takes place, the dangers involved, and the history of uranium mining.

3.) **“Why Act Now”, Accessed online 04-15-11**, [] : This is a website that has a ton of information and links to news articles. This website is calling for mining reform and may not be the most objective, but I did double check some of their numbers and they checked out. They have pictures of mining operations and a lot of data concerning the effects of uranium mining.

4.) **“Uranium and Depleted Uranium”, World Nuclear Association, Accessed online 04-15-11**, [] : This website has info about the history of uranium use and the different uses of uranium. The webite also has information about the different types of power plants and the health effects of uranium exposure.

5.) **“Environmental Assesments”, Southwest Information Research Center, Accessed online 04-15-11**, [] : This is a presentation that was put together by the Southwest Information Research Center. The presentation show some of the data associated with radiation research done on some of the abandoned mine sites. The presentation was very informative and the organizations homepage also has pertinent information to health in the southwest U.S..

6.) **Wasserman, H, and Solomon, N,”Uranium Mining and the Church Rock Disaster”, Accessed online 04-15-11**, [] : This is an article written for Hanksville.org. This article is about the Church Rock disaster. It gives the amount of waste that leaked, dates, and the after effects of the radioactive spill including radon data.

7.) **“A Citizens Guide To Radon”, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Accessed online 04-14-11,** [] : This is a very informative website that talks about radon gas. This site has information about what causes radon, radon’s effects on the environment and how to stop radon from entering one’s home.

8.) **“ Americas Secret Chernobyl”, Eagle Rock Trading Post, Accessed online 04-15-11**, [] : This is an informative webpage that gives information on the history of uranium mining in the southwest of the United States. This website also has information on how people can speak up amount uranium mining.

9.) **Fonseca,F,“ Uranium cleanup on track for Indian reservation”, Associated Press, 06-29-08 Accessed online 04-15-11**, [] : This is a news article that’s talking about a native american rancher that’s been affected by minespoil from a nearby uranium mine. It talks a lot about the contamination on a river going right through the Navajo reservation. This news article is informative and really shows what its like for the Indians who live on contaminated land. 10.) “**Uranium Mining and Its Effects on the Spokane Indian Reservation”, Accessed online 04-15-11,** [] : This webpage is talking about uranium mining on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Spokane, Washington. The page goes into detail about whats happened to the Spokane Indians since mining was done there. There’s also more information about Indian topics on the host website. This website also has quotes and links to Sherman Alexie's books. 11.) **"Uranium Mining and Indigenous People”, World Information Service on Energy: Uranium Project, Accessed online 04-14-11,** [] : This webpage is full of links to news articles regarding uranium mining on Indian reservations. The page also has links to court cases and government links. This is a good starting point for doing research on this subject.   12.) **White Face, C, “Are you Oglala or Wasicu”, Accessed online 04-14-11,** **[]** : This webpage is an article written by a Native American about what it means to have Native ideals and what uranium mining means to those ideals. This article gives good insight into what it means to the native Americans to be mining on their land. The article focuses on the Pine Ridge reservation. 13.) **McElroy, C.A., University of Pennsylvania, pub 06-01-06, “Uranium Mining on the Navajo Indian Reservation: An Environmental Examination of the Process and Impact”, Accessed online 04-15-11**, [] : This webpage is really an abstract for a research project, but even though it’s only an abstract, it has a good amount of information regarding the research including some of the findings. The research really focuses on the Navajo people.  14.) **Gerritsen, J, “Uranium Mining Poisons Native Americans”, 02-25-09, Accessed online 04-15-11**, [] : This webpage talks about the health problems associated with uranium mining on Native American lands. It’s referring to the contamination of the Cheyenne river in South Dakota and the Pine Ridge Indian reservation. 15.) **“ WPSU Discusses Uranium Mining’s Impact on American Indian Reservations”, PSU Live, 04-07-09, Pennsylvania State University, Accessed online 04-14-11**, [] : This is an article about a conference and discussion about the impact that uranium mining has had on the Navajo population. The article mentions the speakers that were there and the sponsors of the discussion.  16.) ** Democracy Now: Public Broadcasting Corporation (creator),medigrrl9 (poster),04-22-09, **** “ **** Radiation Exposure from 50 Years of Uranium Mining Continues to Affect Spokane Indian Reservation” **, [] : This is a program sponsored by PBS that’s called Democracy Now. In this video a member of the Spokane tribe named Twa-le Abrahamson talks about how uranium mining has negatively affected the tribe. This is coming directly from a tribal member so it’s a pretty good source. 17.) ** Klauk, E,“Environmental Impacts on the Navajo Nation from Uranium Mining”, DLESE Community Services Project, Accessed online 04-15-11, ** [] : This webpage is part of research done on the impact of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation. The page has links to further research some of the environmental impacts of mining. This site also has links to further reading on the topic.  18.) ** Uranium Chemical Information, Lenntech Water Solutions, Accessed online 04 ** **-15-11**, [] : This webpage has information about the chemical and physical properties of uranium. The site goes into detail about the chemical and safety information. 19.) **Helms****, K (creator), Gallup Independent, written 04-07-11, gctrust (poster), posted 04-08-11, “Report challenges economic impact of GCNP mining” ** , **Accessed online 04-16-11**, [] : This is a news article that is very recent (9 days ago) that’s talking about plans to open up land to uranium mining that’s acres away from the Grand Canyon. This article is very relevant to this topic and shows that this is still going on.  <span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">20.)<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">**LaDuke, W, Orion Magazine, Jan/Feb 2009 ed., “ Uranium Mining, Native Resistance, and the Greener Path: The impact of uranium mining on indigenous communities”, Accessed online 04-16-11**, [] : This is a magazine article that goes into the history of uranium mining on Native American land. This article also talks about the struggles of aborigines in Australia dealing with uranium mining efforts. This article shows that uranium mining impacts indigenous people abroad as well. **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Pictures Used ** <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">1.) **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> " Caution Radioactive River" sign, Accessed online 04-16-11, []: **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 22.5pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">This picture shows a sign on the Cheyenne river.