Part 2 of the story. It literally makes me ill. And this is still going on.
http://nativeunity.blogspot.com Uranium legacy outrages Congress – Part 2
Congressman Henry Waxman (D – CA): 'The primary responsibility for this tragedy rests with the federal government'
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau, Gallup Independent
WINDOW ROCK - A picture may be worth a thousand words, but the sound of an
instrument used to detect radioactive contamination, clicking away over a
soil sample from Tuba City, set a federal oversight committee on its ear
Wednesday during a hearing in Washington.
Chairman Waxman’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform heard
from a Navajo Nation delegation about the health and environmental impacts
of uranium contamination during a four-hour hearing.
Several congressional leaders expressed outrage at the federal government
for allowing such conditions to remain unchecked on Navajoland for so many
years, saying they were “ashamed” and “embarrassed.” They offered apologies
to the Navajo people.
Their eyes were opened as they listened to George Arthur and Phil Harrison
of the Navajo Resources Committee; Stephen B. Etsitty of Navajo
Environmental Protection Agency; Doug Brugge, associate professor at Tufts
University School of Medicine; Larry King and Edith Hood of Churchrock; and
Ray Manygoats of Tuba City.
Waxman’s committee has held a series of hearings throughout the year,
focusing on programs or agencies that once were effective but are now broken
or dysfunctional. “This morning we are looking at an instance where the
government has never worked effectively. It’s been a bipartisan failure for
over 40 years. It¹s also a modern American tragedy,” he said.
”The primary responsibility for this tragedy rests with the federal
government, which holds the Navajo lands in trust for the tribe. Our
government leased the lands for uranium mining, purchased the uranium
yellowcake produced from the mines to supply our nuclear weapons stockpile,
and then allowed the operators of the mines and mills to walk away without
cleaning up the resulting contamination,” Waxman said.
”Over the years, open-pit mines filled with rain, and Navajos used the
resulting pools for drinking water and to water their herds. Mill tailings
and chunks of uranium ore were used to build foundations, floors, and walls
for some Navajo homes. Families lived in these radioactive structures for
decades,” Waxman added.
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