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Photos – reminders of Church Rock uranium accident

PHOTOS CENSORED NEWS: Photos: Church Rock Uranium Spill 31st Anniversary CENSORED NEWS: 22 July 2010. New uranium mining targets Church Rock, where the soil and water remain heavily contaminated Photos   by Garrett Brennan Stewart, Navajo……

FROM AN INFORMATION SHEET PROVIDED BY US EPA:

The Northeast Church Rock Mine Site, an abandoned uranium mine(AUM), is located about 16 miles northeast of Gallup, New Mexico. The site is primarily on tribal trust land adjacent to the Navajo Reservation. The site was mined by United Nuclear Corporation (UNC) between 1968 and 1982. UNC holds responsibility for current contamination at the site. Radium and uranium are the contaminants of primary concern at the site. Radiation and heavy metals in site soils from historic mining practices may pose a significant health risk to human health and to the environment . People may be exposed to these contaminants through ambient air, soil, surface water, sediment, and by eating plants or animals that are impacted by the site. The Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency (NNEPA) and the USEPA have independently identified the site as the highest priority AUM among the 520 AUMs identified on the Navajo Nation. This site is the highest priority because it was the largest underground uranium mine in the country and radioactive waste piles continue to spread into the wash and onto the land surrounding several homes located adjacent to the mine.

CENSORED NEWS: Photos: Church Rock Uranium Spill 31st Anniversary

July 23, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Resources -audiovicual | antinuclear, indigenous, nuclear, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium