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Democracy Now! | The Navajo Nation's Ongoing Battle Against Uranium Mining



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March 02, 2006
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The Navajo Nation’s Ongoing Battle Against Uranium Mining

We look at the ongoing battle over uranium mining in the Navajo Nation. Mining has occurred on Navajo territory for over fifty years and the impact is still being felt. We speak with the directors of the Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining and the Southwest Research and Information Center....

We are broadcasting from New Mexico–home to the Navajo Nation. For decades they have been fighting an ongoing battle against uranium mining on their land. Last April, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley approved legislation banning uranium mining on Navajo territory. There is currently no mining on the Navajo reservation but Hydro Resources Inc. has been working with the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission for years to try to get approval for mining near the Navajo communities of Crownpoint and Church Rock, New Mexico. The company estimates nearly one-hundred million pounds of uranium exists on those sites making it worth millions of dollars.

Uranium mining occurred on the Navajo Reservation for over fifty years and the impact is still felt. The land has been dotted with contaminated tailings and hundreds of abandoned mines that have not been cleaned up.
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2 responses // Democracy Now! | The Navajo Nation's Ongoing Battle Against Uranium Mining

  • Thanks for posting this.

    Why are Americans so inflamed over Tibet, when they should be just as inflamed over the government's treatment of the Native American peoples?
    There is plenty of work to be done at home.

    The fact that mainstream news isn't covering this and other ill treatments is ridiculous.
    Perhaps it would get the ball rolling on a national level.

    Whatever the case, this is a huge issue that doesn't get nearly enough exposure.
    Humdrum
  • "This is a huge issue that doesn't get nearly enough exposure."

    You are so right.
    It is so important to raise awareness right now because the energy moguls are determined to renew uranium mining in the Southwest, and up in Canada in Great Bear Lake and other areas close to major water sources for the continent.

    Governor Bill Richardson is closely tied with the ceo of PNM who is a zealot determined to get nuclear energy back on the front burner.

    New Mexico State Legislators in the Farmington area have said that there are billions for his district in uranium mining and it's going to happen.
    Even the green candidate for Udall's congressional seat in New Mexico admitted to me that there is no stopping renewed uranium mining because there is too much money in it.

    That's why it is so important to look at Barack Obama's lie about passing the Senate bill to require nuclear power plants to report radioactive leaks into water and air, and vote against him for the democratic nomination for president.

    Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama should put fear in the hearts of anyone who knows the destruction of life, air, water, earth that uranium mining and nuclear power wreaks on the people and our planet.

    We are all heartened that the Navajos and President Joe Shirley have banned renewed uranium mining in Navajo Nation. But, history shows us that the declarations of Indian Nations have always been disregarded when the US government and powerful cooperations want to steal Indian land and rape the earth for resources to sate their insatiable greed.
    TouchArt

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