CHURCH ROCK, N.M. — On April 22, Navajo uranium and contamination victims voiced concerns to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission over the devastating health and environmental impacts caused by federal uranium mining.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency Executive Director Valinda Shirley were on hand for the meeting along with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Christopher T. Hanson, Commissioner Jeff Baran, and Commissioner David Wright who met at the Redwater Pond Road community, located within the Church Rock Chapter on the Navajo Nation.
In 1979, the largest radioactive spill in U.S. history occurred at the Church Rock Mill releasing tons of uranium and radioactive waste into the nearby Puerco River, which continues to contaminate water and soil in Navajo communities where families reside including the rural Red Water Pond Road Community.
Last October, President Nez met with the Red Water Pond Road Community Association, which was founded in 2006 by Navajo residents residing near the Northeast Church Rock Mines, the Tronox Quivira Mines, and the United Nuclear Corporation Mill Site.
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