Although the catastrophe explained below has been publicized elsewhere and largely ignored, this is the legacy of the Nuclear Industry.....invisible, concealed by the Nuclear Industry.
The Secret Fukushima Poisoning The Bread Basket Of The
World
By Margaret Flowers & Kevin Zeese
Early in the morning of July 16, 1979,
a 20-foot section of the earthen dam blocking the waste pool for the
Church Rock Uranium
Mill caved in and released 95 million gallons of highly acidic fluid
containing 1,100 tons of radioactive material. The fluid and waste flowed into
the nearby Puerco River, traveling 80 miles downstream, leaving toxic puddles
and backing up local sewers along the way.
Although this release of radiation, thought to be the largest in
US history, occurred less than four months after the Three Mile Island partial
nuclear meltdown that sent radioactive gases and iodine into the air, the Church
Rock spill received little media attention. In contrast, the Three Mile Island
accident made the headlines. And when the residents of Church Rock asked their
governor to declare their community a disaster area so they could get recovery
assistance, he refused.
What was the difference between the Church Rock spill and the
Three Mile Island partial meltdown? Church Rock is situated in the Navajo
Nation, one of the areas in the US sacrificed to supply uranium for the Cold War
and for nuclear power plants. That area and many others in the Navajo Nation are
contaminated to this day. Another sacrifice area is the Great Sioux Nation where
thousands of open uranium mine pits continue to release radiation and heavy
metals into the air, land and water.
This poisoning of the people in the Navajo and Great Sioux
Nations has been going on for decades and has had serious effects on their
health. Even today, it is unknown what the full effects are and what the impact
is on the rest of the nation because the contaminated air and water are not
limited by borders. Most Americans are unaware of the story of uranium mining on
tribal lands because it is a difficult story to accept. It is a story that
includes the long history of human rights abuses by the US against native
Indians and recognition of the full costs of nuclear energy – two stories the
government and big energy have suppressed.
Many people think of nuclear power as a clean source of energy.
It has been promoted as part of the transition from fossil fuels. But the
reality is that nuclear power comes at a heavy price to the health of people and
the planet. Like other forms of extractive energy such as coal, oil and gas,
uranium needs to stay in the ground. Radiation and heavy metal poisonings are a
hidden environmental catastrophe that is ongoing and must be addressed. But
rather than studying the health effects and cleaning up the environment, private
corporations are pushing once again to lift the ban on uranium mining.
Is Uranium Mining Poisoning the Bread Basket of America?
Thousands of open uranium mines excavated beginning in the 1950s
continues to release radiation today. There have been inadequate measurements
but the limited measures done show ongoing leaks larger than Fukushima. How did
we get here?
It is estimated that
60 to 80 percent
of uranium in the US is located on tribal land, particularly in the lands of
the Navajo and Great Sioux Nations. After WWII, the United States Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC) was created so that the US could obtain uranium for weapons
production domestically. The AEC guaranteed that it would purchase all uranium
that was mined. A uranium boom ensued. Private corporations jumped in and, in
areas of South Dakota, individuals started mining for uranium on their private
lands unaware of the dangers.
Private corporations set up thousands of underground and open
pit uranium mines on tribal lands and hired
local native Indians
at low wages . Other than jobs, the uranium mines brought little benefit to
these nations because the lands were given to
non-Indian
companies such as
Kerr-McGee, Atlantic Richfield, Exxon and Mobil. Native
Indians had little control over what took place.
Two Acts in the 19 th century took the rights of
self-determination away from the native population. The Indian Appropriations
Act of 1851 allocated money to move Indians onto reservations, ostensibly to
protect them from white settlers, but more likely to give settlers access to
natural resources. The reservations are also known as prisoner of war camps. In
fact, the reservation in Pine Ridge, SD is registered as
POW Camp 344 .
A second Indian Appropriations Act in 1871 changed the legal
status of native Indians to wards of the Federal government, stripping them of
recognition as sovereign nations and the right to make treaties.
In order to
make contracts for uranium mining on tribal lands, the Bureau of Indian Affairs
created Tribal Councils to conduct negotiations. But the resulting contracts
were not made in the best interests of the tribes.
The native Indians who worked in these mines were not protected
from exposure to radiation,
nor were they
adequately warned about the dangers. Though it was clear that radiation
exposure was linked to cancer in the early 1950s, around the same time that the
US Public Health Service also started studying the health of uranium miners, it
was not until 1959 that lung cancer was mentioned as a risk in pamphlets given
to the workers. In an
unpublished
doctoral dissertation, A.B. Hungate writes that the reasons for this are:
“The government had two interests. First, it needed a steady supply of domestic
uranium, and it felt that warning the workers of the hazards would result in the
loss of the workforce. Secondly, it wanted an epidemiological testing program
to study the long term health effects of radiation.”
Don Yellowman, president of the
Forgotten Navajo People , described
the extent of exposure to radiation and toxic metals. Native Indian miners would
drink radioactive water that had contained heavy metals, dripping off of the
walls deep in the mines. Some of the miners had to travel long distances to the
mines, so their families would come with them. Children would play in the area
around the mine and family members would prepare and eat meals there.
Other
reports state that workers, primarily non-whites, were ordered into the
mines shortly after explosions were set off to gather up rocks and bring them
out for processing. Also, miners would go home at night covered in toxic
radioactive dust, exposing their families to health risks.
Uranium mining started in South Dakota on land included in the
original treaties with the Great Sioux Nation in the 1960 and 70s. The
Sioux were not
included in negotiations for the mining and are still refusing to settle
with the US government over land in the Black Hills that was mined. During the
boom, the land was
mined
without regard for contamination as “large mining companies [were literally]
pushing off the tops of bluffs and buttes.”
A few decades after uranium mining began in the Navajo Nation,
increased numbers of cancer cases, lung cancer in particular, began to show up
in the miners. A
2008
literature review in New Mexico found that the “Risk of lung cancer among
male Navajo uranium miners was 28 times higher than in Navajo men who never
mined, and two-thirds of all new lung cancer cases in Navajo men between 1969
and 1993 was attributable to a single exposure — underground uranium mining.
Through 1990, death rates among Navajo uranium miners were 3.3 times greater
than the U.S. average for lung cancer and 2.5 times greater for pneumoconioses
and silicosis.”
Though the health effects of radiation exposure were known, it
took decades before steps were taken to protect workers. The mines were
operated
under lax laws established in the 1872 Mining Act. Health and safety
regulation of the mines, such as requirements for ventilation, was not passed in
Congress until the late 1960s. But even once they were law, the regulations were
not enforced.
Beginning in the 1970s, miners and their families began to
pursue legal
solutions through the courts and Congress so they could be compensated for
the effects of their radiation exposure. Many court cases failed and native
Indians were excluded from hearings in Congress on the miner safety. Finally,
the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) passed Congress in 1990.
RECA is desperately
inadequate
and restrictive . Until 2000, RECA only covered miners, not mill workers,
and it does not cover families and others who lived near the mines. It also
requires a very strict application process which is impossible for some to
complete. A summary of RECA by academics Brugge and Goble states: ” We believe
that it is not possible to simultaneously apologize, set highly stringent
criteria, and place the burden of proof on the victims, as did the 1990 RECA.”
Uranium Mine Pits Continue to Leak Radiation Today
Radiation and heavy metals from uranium mines continue to
pollute the land, air and water today and very little action is being taken to
stop it.
In the upper great plain states of Wyoming, Montana and the
Dakotas, there are 2,885 abandoned uranium mines that are all open pits within
territory that is supposed to be for the absolute use of the Great Sioux Nation
under the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty with the US. These open mines continue to
emit radiation and pollutants that are poisoning the local communities.
According to a report by
Earthworks
, “ Mining not only exposes uranium to the atmosphere, where it becomes
reactive, but releases other radioactive elements such as thorium and radium
and toxic heavy metals including arsenic, selenium, mercury and cadmium.
Exposure to these radioactive elements can cause lung cancer, skin cancer, bone
cancer, leukemia, kidney damage and birth defects.”
There are currently
1200
abandoned uranium mines in the Navajo Nation and 500 of them require
reclamation. The greatest amount of radioactive contamination on Navajo land
comes from solid waste called ‘tailings' which sit in large open piles, some as
tall as 70 feet high, and were incorporated into materials used to build homes.
Dust from these piles of waste blows throughout the land causing widespread
contamination.
A
2008
study found that “ mills and tailings disposal sites caused extensive
groundwater contamination by radium, uranium, various trace metals and dissolved
solids. One estimate is that 1.2 million acre-feet of groundwater (or enough to
fill Elephant Butte Reservoir
more than twice ) have been contaminated
in the Ambrosia Lake-Milan area from historic mine and mill discharges, and less
than two tenths of 1 percent has been treated to reduce contaminant levels.” It
is estimated that
30
percent of people living in the Navajo Nation lack access to uncontaminated
water.
Charmaine White Face of
Defenders of the Black Hills
describes the situation in the Great Sioux Nation as “
America's
Chernobyl .” She says, “A private abandoned, open-pit uranium mine about
200 meters from an elementary school in Ludlow, SD, emits 1170 microRems per
hour, more than 4 times as much as being emitted from the Fukushima nuclear
power plant in Japan. “ In addition, “
Studies by the
USFS show that one mine alone has 1,400 millirems per hour (mR/hr) of
exposed radiation, a level of radiation that is 120,000 times higher than normal
background of 100 millirems per year (mR/yr)!” Cancer rates in Pine Ridge, SD
are the highest in the nation.
This contamination escapes into the air which blows to the East
and South and seeps into the water, reaching the Cheyenne and Missouri Rivers.
It poisons grain grown in these areas that is fed to cattle that provide milk
and beef for the rest of the nation. As
White Face explains
, “In an area of the USA that has been called ‘the Bread Basket of the
World,' more than forty years of mining have released radioactive polluted dust
and water runoff from the hundreds of abandoned open pit uranium mines,
processing sites, underground nuclear power stations, and waste dumps. Our grain
supplies and our livestock production in this area have used the water and have
been exposed to the remainders of this mining. We may be seeing global affects,
not just localized affects, to the years of uranium mining.”
Uranium also contaminates coal that is mined in Wyoming for
power plants in the East. Defenders of the Black Hills
report that
“Radioactive dust and particles are released into the air at the coal fired
power plants and often set off the warning systems at nuclear power plants.”
People in the Navajo and Great Sioux Nations have been fighting
for decades for the US Government to perform studies on the extent of
contamination and to clean up both current contamination and prevent future
contamination. As wards of the federal government, the US is responsible for the
health and safety of native Indians. The Forgotten Navajo People have put forth
a
resolution which states “that all people have the inalienable right to clean
air, clean water, and the preservation of sacred lands and that immediate action
must be taken to Fund the Ongoing need for Remediation of Radioactive
Contamination in our Air, Water, and Homelands to ensure our survival and that
the named parties will Support the People's Uranium Radiation Activity Data
Collection Network.” The resolution also asks that the US uphold the ban on
further uranium mines. They have also sought equipment that would allow them to
measure radiation on their reservations, as simple request that has not been
acted on.
Defenders of the
Black Hills have written legislation, the Uranium Exploration and Mining
Accountability Act, calling for study and remediation, but according to White
Face, no members of Congress are yet willing to sponsor the bill. She explains
that state and federal legislators want to hide the fact that this ongoing
contamination exists because it will hurt the states economically. Just 40 miles
South of Mount Rushmore, there are 169 abandoned open mines. And there are
mines in the areas of National Parks such as Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.
These mines likely contaminate water and air in those areas visited by thousands
of tourists.
The Chain of Environmental Damage from Nuclear Energy
Begins with Excavation
During the energy crisis of the 1970s,
President Nixon called
for the US to become more energy independent and to pursue renewable sources of
energy through Project Independence 1980. This included increasing the use of
nuclear power and resulted in the building of nuclear power plants throughout
the nation. Some of those power plants, 23 currently in use, were built using
the same flawed plan as Reactor One which failed at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear
power plant in Japan. And many of them are reaching their 40 year lifespan and
are applying for renewed permits to continue operation.
In addition, because of the reduced availability of fossil fuels
and the climate crisis, nuclear power is back on the table as part of President
Obama's, who has been
well-funded
throughout his career by
Excelon
Energy , “All of the Above” energy strategy.
Earthworks
reports that “ According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, there are
currently 26 proposals to start, expand or restart
in situ projects in
the states regulated by the commission (Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, New
Mexico). Of these, nine will be new operations.”
In situ uranium mining is being promoted as a safer
method of extracting uranium. In this type of mining process, deep holes are
drilled into the Earth's surface and fluids are injected into them to dissolve
the uranium so that it can be collected. This method of mining is certainly less
destructive to the surface of the Earth than open pit mining, but the report
also states that “Any in situ operation risks spreading uranium and
its hazardous byproducts outside the mine, potentially contaminating nearby
aquifers and drinking water sources. This has been a major problem with almost
all in situ projects in the U.S.”
Current uranium mines have a
history
of noncompliance with regulations. There continue to be spills. Mining
corporations do not clean up areas that they are required to clean up. They do
not pay fines. And they influence local governments to loosen requirements once
they receive a mining permit.
In addition to contamination of land, air and water, uranium
mining, particularly in situ mining requires large amounts of water. In
the current environment with extended droughts and reduced aquifers, in situ
mining places greater strain on the water crisis.
Nuclear power is another form of extractive energy that is not
only extremely unsafe but is also more expensive than safer forms of energy.
Beyond the human and environmental costs, the cost of building new nuclear
reactors has
quadrupled
since 2000 to an average of $13 to 15 billion each. Physicians for Social
Responsibility report that “New reactors are estimated to cost homeowners and
businesses between 12 cents and 20 cents per kilowatt hour on electric
bills—more than cleaner, safer alternatives.”
And the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear
War passed a
resolution in
2010 calling for a ban on all uranium mining worldwide, which states that
“As well as the direct health effects from contamination of the water, the
immense water consumption in mining regions is environmentally and economically
damaging – and in turn detrimental for human health. The extraction of water
leads to a reduction of the groundwater table and thereby to desertification;
plants and animals die, the traditional subsistence of the inhabitants is
eliminated, the existence of whole cultures are threatened.
Expose the Truth and Create a Carbon Free Nuclear Free
Energy Economy
Uranium mining in the US and worldwide is a hidden environmental
catastrophe that must be exposed. It is not acceptable to ignore the ongoing
poisoning of communities, particularly of indigenous communities. Three fourths
of all uranium mining worldwide is on indigenous land.
Yellowman
speaks of the practice of uranium mining as a form of structural violence.
Structural violence occurs when a social structure or institution harms people
by preventing them from meeting their basic needs. There is no doubt that
widespread contamination of the air, land and water from seventy years of
uranium mining has violated the basic rights of indigenous peoples to clean air
and water and to live healthy lives.
It is not known at present to what extent the ongoing
contamination is affecting the health of our nation. Despite the obvious need,
there have not been, to date, any comprehensive studies of radiation and heavy
metal contamination in the US. Uranium that is ingested by cattle and other
livestock through water and feed concentrates in muscle. We do not know how safe
our air, water and food are. And it is likely that the government and the
nuclear industry do not want us to know.
It is becoming clearer that nuclear power is another dirty
extractive source of energy that has high costs to human and environmental
health. We must see through the energy industry propaganda and realize that
there are clean and safer alternatives that are less costly. beginning with
ending the massive energy waste through efficiency and conservation. It is time
to
move quickly to
a carbon and nuclear free energy economy .
The first step is the ending the secret Fukushima, providing
testing equipment to Native Indians, and conducting studies on the effects of
radiation and other toxins on the soil, air and water in the Mid-West. Then, it
is time to
move
quickly to a carbon and nuclear free energy economy beginning with ending
the massive waste of energy through improved efficiency and conservation; then
changing the American way of life by putting in place land use planning, 21 st
Century mass transit and dispersed energy so every home and business can become
an energy producer. The call of Native Indians to restore the Earth, for the
right to clean water and air, should be a rally cry taken on by all of us.
This article was first published on Truthout
and any reprint or reproduction on any other website must acknowledge
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