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-Uranium began to be mined in massive quantities to fuel the new nuclear power industry, as well as for weapons in the growing arms race with the USSR.
-Until 1971 the US government was the sole purchaser of uranium ore.
-Large uranium deposits were discovered on the Navajo (Dine) Reservation, in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah
-Concentrated uranium ore (yellow cake) was milled from the ore deposits, creating massive amounts of tailings and waste material.
-In 1990 Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RESCA) which acknowledged the historical mistreatment of miners by the US Government as the sole purchaser of uranium ore for decades. The act had to be revised numerous times due to serious gaps in coverage.
-Worker safety requirements were not implemented until 1962, and even then they were not widely enforced
-The uranium industry ceased operations in the region in 1968. However, they did not give any financial compensation for health impacts for workers, or for remediation of former mine sites.
-The majority of miners worked in open air exposure conditions, with direct exposure to ore dust
-There are literally hundreds of EPA superfund sites on the Navajo Nation. Essentially none are "on track"
-Former mines and milling locations were left abandoned.
-When mining first began nearly all miners had no knowledge of what radiation is or its effects, as there is no word for radiation in the Navajo language.
-This public health crisis continues to be a major issue effecting now primarily Navajo youth.
-Water quality and contamination is the most pressing issue towards survival in their native desert environment.
-Navajo activists have called the current situation "A slow genocide of the people." (Klee Benally)
-For many communities surrounding former mine sites residents would use mining tailings as building materials for their homes.
-Large tailings piles blow irradiated radon dust via the windy conditions in the desert environment
-Radon dust from uranium tailings acts as a carcinogen in the lungs.
-Groundwater tests in regions surrounding old mining and milling sites test for over 20 times maximum exposure limits set by the EPA
-The half life of uranium in measured in hundred of millions of years. Won't dissipate any time soon.
-Living in an arid desert environment, many people have no other option than to drink the water they now know is highly irradiated
-Chronic exposure via ingestion
-The primary means of subsistence for many Navajo people is sheep herding. The sheep also drink the water, making the meat contaminated as well.
-Early research into the link between uranium mining and exposure to radiation showed a strong connection to increased levels of lung cancer related deaths.
-The vast majority of mines created massive tailings piles, which were left exposed close to the open air surrounding the mines and communities
-Water contamination works its way into all aspects of the biosphere via ingestion by humans and animals.
-The mutagen qualities of radiated water most devastatingly impact fetuses and children. Rates of birth defects, miscarriages, and early infant mortality skyrocketed in the decades following mining.
-Cases of renal failure, bone and kidney cancer, have became much more prevalent. Radiation via ingestion works its way through the blood steam and deposits in bones long term.