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Tribes press government to clean up nuclear waste

Tribes press government to clean up nuclear waste News From Indian Country  By Felicia Fonseca
Flagstaff, Arizona (AP)  2/6/09

Two tribes say their pleas to have the federal government remove medical, uranium and other radioactive waste from their land near Tuba City have been ignored, and they want it cleaned up.

Navajo and Hopi officials say the waste is contaminating the land and threatening water supplies.

The Hopi Tribe has put the federal government on notice that it plans to sue over the cleanup. During late May, the Navajo Nation filed a motion to intervene in a 2007 lawsuit that was brought against the federal government by the operator of a uranium mining mill where some of the waste originated.

“I think everybody is starting to come together to accept the conclusion that there are contaminants affecting the shallow groundwater,” said Stephen Etsitty, director of the Navajo Environmental Protection Agency. “But we still have differences in what the tribes believe and what the U.S. government is willing to accept

News From Indian Country – Tribes press government to clean up nuclear waste

June 5, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized