Standing Rock: Occupation of Abandoned Uranium Mines

On Mothers Day, Sunday, May 13, Harold One Feather from the newly organized Grand River Environmental Equality Network (GREEN) began the occupation on U.S. Forest Service land at Slim Buttes, South Dakota to call attention to the abandoned uranium mines that have contaminated water and impacted human health on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Mr. One Feather lives in the Rock Creek District on the Reservation, downstream from the mines.While the abandoned mines have been an issue for approximately the last thirty years, renewed interest came about several years ago when members from the Rock Creek District hiked into the abandoned mine sites at Slim Buttes and Cave Hills with radiation detection equipment. Slim Buttes and Cave Hills are locations of numerous Lakota Sacred Sites that are now too dangerous to access because of excessive radiation levels. In the up and coming days, individuals from Standing Rock and other communities will be joining this effort.