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| Edith Hood, Dine' from Red Water Pond Road community (Live screenshot by Censored News) |
Havasupai, Ute, Dine', Arapaho, and Lakota Testify on Uranium Exploitation before Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News
"The government was aware of the risks and the dangers but failed and neglected to inform our people," testified Hood, who lives down the road from Church Rock, New Mexico, the site of the worst radioactive spill in U.S. history.
Dine', Havasupai, Northern Arapaho, Oglala Lakota and White Mesa Ute testified on uranium exploitation by the United States on Wednesday, during the session, "Impacts of Uranium Exploitation on Indigenous Peoples' Rights."
The BIA, EPA and Nuclear Regulatory Commission praised themselves, and attempted to cover-up the legacy of death from uranium mining, strewn radioactive waste, and deadly uranium mills in Indian country.
Eric Jantz, legal director of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, disagreed with the United States assertions.
Jantz pointed out that the U.S. appears to want Native people to sacrifice more for "national security" -- rather than to deal with the devastation. As for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it has not honored public comments. And as for the EPA, it's too late. There are 524 uranium mine sites waiting to be cleaned up on the Navajo Nation. Zero have been fully cleaned up, Jantz told the Commission.
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| Anferny Badback, White Mesa Ute (Live screenshot by Censored News) |
"Our ancestors remains were desecrated to build the mill," Anferny Badback, Ute Mountain Ute at White Mesa, told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights today in Washington. Badback testified that Energy Fuels uranium mill has contaminated the groundwater, plants, birds, wildlife, and air in his community in southeastern Utah.
The young people are getting asthma, and the people can no longer use their spring water for ceremonies. Ute must buy bottled water to drink, and no longer hunt because of the contamination. Now, the mill is bringing in international waste and has become a low-level radioactive waste repository, because of the lax standards of the state of Utah. "We want the mill to be shut down," Badback told the Commission. "Please help us."
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| Carletta Tilousi, Supai, representing the Havasupai Tribe |
Carletta Tilousi, Havasupai, testified that uranium mining contamination at Pinyon Plain mine is now threatening the water supply of Havasupai in their homeland. he uranium min is located above the aquifer, at the south rim of the Grand Canyon.
"This is a serious urgent case," Tilousi told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington.
The Havasupai Tribe asked the Commission to present their case to the Inter-American Court to seek an order requiring the adoption of provisional measures.
"Pinyon Plain mine can not be allowed to continue."
The legacy of uranium mining in the Southwest is death from cancer and unreclaimed uranium mines, and now the contamination threatens the Colorado River. Tilousi urged the Commission to support the tribes efforts and pressure the United States to change the 1872 mining law that allows international companies to seize public land for mining.
After U.S. officials claimed to be adhering to laws and responsibilities regulating uranium mines during their testimony, Tilousi pointed out the facts regarding Energy Fuels Resources' uranium mine, Pinyon Plain, now operating on Kaibab National Forest land at the Grand Canyon, the homeland of Havasupai.
Tilousi said Pinyon Plain mine is operating on an old environmental impact statement from 1986.
"We have been asking them to change and update" the impact statement.
Further, Tilousi said the Forest Service has not properly consulted the Havasupai Tribe. And there is the question of who has jurisdiction at the mine site, whether it is the EPA or the State of Arizona.
"There is no enforcement, and no oversight."
"An accident is waiting to happen."
Tilousi said Havasupai have to spend their own resources for their voices to be heard in opposition to the mine.
"We have been diligently participating in all the process as we could, and we never get a response back."
"They hear our voices, there is no response."
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| Big Wind Carpenter, Northern Arapaho |
"They have re-branded nuclear as green," Big Wind Carpenter, Northern Arapaho, told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington. "The damage that is done to our homeland is far from green. Our communities and land have endured enough."
In Arapaho, Wyoming, uranium mining and processing have poisoned the Arapaho homeland leaving lasting impacts on sacred places, water and future generations.
Nuclear proponents often silence the voices of those who suffer most from its impacts. "We demand environmental justice," Carpenter said, urging the Commission to hold accountable those who exploit the resources.
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| Tonia Stands, Oglala Lakota (Live screenshot by Censored News) |
"People come from all over the world to share the connection we have with the water, the land, and the silent relatives," Tonia Stands, Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge, South Dakota, told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington.
While describing the beauty of Lakota culture, Stands pointed out that uranium mining is resulting in increased heat in healing ceremonies and in radiation contamination for those in ceremony. Now, there is the threat of new uranium mining.
Stands said that while the piped-in water from the Missouri River is supposed to save Lakota from their own contaminated water from uranium mining -- it is actually bringing in contaminated uranium water from Wyoming because of the lack of filters.
Yolanda Badback, Ute Mountain Ute, described living next to the uranium mill at White Mesa Ute in southeastern Utah, before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The U.S. representatives claim the Biden administration is engaging in consultation, and that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is adhering to Indigenous rights -- all meaningless cover-ups of this long legacy of cancer and death from uranium mining, strewn radioactive waste, and nuclear dumping on Native lands.
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| Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland, Ojibwe |
Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland of the Bay Mills Indian Community, Ojibwe, in Michigan, claimed the U.S. is honoring the Treaties and its Trust responsibility to Native Americans.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission told the Commission that it is abiding by the laws that protect the environment, and welcomes engagement from tribes in regards to uranium mining permits. John W. Lubinski, director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and, Safeguards at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, addressed the Commission.
Navajo, Ute, Lakota to Testify on Uranium Exploitation before Inter-American Commission on Human RightsBy Brenda Norrell, Censored News
WASHINGTON -- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will hear testimony from Navajo, Ute, and Oglala Lakota, on the impacts on Indigenous Peoples' human rights from uranium exploitation in Washington on Feb. 28, 2024.
“Nahasdzáán Shimá—Mother Earth—provides everything we need to keep us alive—the four things we Navajos talk about —air, water, soil, and light—and it is our home," said Edith Hood, President, of Red Water Pond Road Community Association.
"We have been living with this silent killer without knowing the dangers. Once the mining started, after the drilling, we didn’t realize we were being contaminated."
"When we were children playing and herding sheep we didn’t understand we were being exposed to dangerous radiation," Hood said.
Hood thanked the commission for the hearing and added, "Our own tribal government doesn’t listen to us."
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights agreed to hold a thematic hearing on how U.S. uranium exploitation policies have resulted in human rights abuses in Indigenous communities across the country. This coincides with an upsurge in uranium mining, said the New Mexico Environmental Law Center.
"As the United States doubles down on the misguided notion that nuclear power is a solution to the climate crisis, the uranium development industry is beginning to benefit from generous taxpayer giveaways to the nuclear industry as a whole."
Newland told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that tribal nations have played an instrumental role in advancing the national security of the United States as well as global safety, which included the mining and processing of heavy metals, like uranium for nuclear energy and testing of uranium on or near tribal lands, during World War II. This is especially true for Navajo, Western Shoshone, Pueblo of New Mexico, and many other tribes, he said.
Newland said today the process of engaging with tribes looks much different than the process the federal government used in the past. President Biden issued a memorandum reaffirming the required consultation and coordination with tribes in 2021. Newland said means have been identified for meaningful consultation with tribes.
"It is our policy that consultation is required," he said. The U.S.is required to give tribes proper notice and details of topics to be discussed. U.S. officials that are in decision-making roles are to personally discuss the issues with tribal leadership. It is critical for the U.S. to respond to comments and concerns of tribal leadership. He said consultation is required by the U.S. when any decision will result in a substantial direct impact on tribes, impact the government-to-government relationship, or effect the power and responsibilities between the US and tribes.
"Just as in World War II, and other times in the past, we know that tribal nations, and American Indian and Alaskan Native People, will continue to play an important role in the United States National Security, as well as our engagement with foreign nations."
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| John W. Lubinski, director, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and, Safeguards at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission |
Watch this session below: It begins at hour 3
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"Why is the government feeling like we are disposable?" Teracita Keyanna, Dine' from Redwater Pond Community in New Mexico, told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington. Keyanna said her family members have suffered from the exposure to uranium, and have endured cancer, autoimmune disease, skin problems, liver and kidney diseases and learning delays in children.
New uranium mining by Laramide Resources now threatens the Redwater Pond area, which is just down the road from Church Rock, the site of the largest nuclear disaster in U.S. history. "More than 500 mines across the Navajo Nation once supplied uranium that helped power the U.S. Department of Defense's nuclear arms development, including the Manhattan Project during World War II, but not a single one has been completely cleaned up in the decades since, according to the Environmental Protection Agency," ABC News reports.
 Edith Hood, President, of Red Water Pond Road Community Association, told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: “Nahasdzáán Shimá—Mother Earth—provides everything we need to keep us alive—the four things we Navajos talk about —air, water, soil, and light—and it is our home. We have been living with this silent killer without knowing the dangers." "Once the mining started, after the drilling, we didn’t realize we were being contaminated. We didn’t understand what we couldn’t see, smell or touch. When we were children playing and herding sheep we didn’t understand we were being exposed to dangerous radiation. I worked for a few years at the Kerr McGee Mine but the officials said we were in no danger." "After the mining, we really started to notice the problem, the health issues and concerns. Cancer and breathing problems especially in children and childhood diseases were becoming prevalent. Multiple family members started having liver issues. We found out our soil was contaminated in 2003." "Twenty-one years later and we are still at it with nothing happening. There have been generational impacts from the uranium industry. We thank the IACHR commissioners for listening to us when our own tribal government doesn’t listen to us. The Tribal government put us at this risk but never came back to check on the people and the land.”  Clifford Villa, deputy assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Land and Emergency Management, described Superfund implementation for cleanup. Villa said the EPA has identified 523 abandoned uranium mine sites on the Navajo Nation and clean up "has begun at dozens of mine sites." This includes the Cove transfer station in northern Arizona. The EPA is working with Navajos and plans to begin cleanup this year at Church Rock and Quivira mine sites near Redwater Pond in New Mexico, he said.  Eric Jantz, legal director of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, disagreed with the United States assertions. Jantz pointed out that Newland, head of the BIA, spoke of the sacrifices that Indigenous communities made during the cold war, and before, for national security, and ways in which they look forward to Indigenous communities protecting national security in the future. "In my view that sounds a lot like the United States government is expecting more from Indigenous communities in terms of uranium mining, rather than addressing the problems that exist currently." Jantz also disagreed with the assertions by the National Regulatory Commission that "public participation is encouraged and honored" by the NRC. Jantz said he had worked on a case for 15 years in New Mexico, costing one of the poorest communities millions of dollars. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is asking Indigenous communities to engage in processes that further marginalized the community. Further, Jantz said there has never been an ISL (In Situ Leach) mine that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission hasn't licensed, which means the NRC has never determined that there has been enough danger for the NRC to deny a permit for a uranium mine. That is not a feeling shared by the local communities who must experience the aftermath. Responding to Villa, Jantz said that while the EPA's recent steps taken are appreciated, it is too late. "Unfortunately, it's too late in a lot of cases." There are 524 abandoned uranium mine sites on the Navajo Nation. Zero have been fully cleaned up. There has been interim cleanup measures at four sites -- but with the pace that the EPA is going, it will be another hundred years before there is full remediation. Further, he said the EPA has been sitting on new ISL mine regulations for the last 15 years. "It is a puzzle to use why those haven't been promulgated yet." “For decades, federal agencies have understood that unmediated and inadequately remediated uranium mines and mills pose a public health danger to those living nearby,” Jantz said. “For even longer federal agencies have known that mine and mill waste have contaminated vast areas of land and huge amounts of water. Federal agencies have ignored or suppressed information about the dangers of uranium development.” Among the questions raised by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was whether the United States has mechanisms in place to ensure accountability of its standards, and whether free, prior and informed consent is being applied. The United States officials reflected the same lackluster response, and failure to take responsibility, as those at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights session in Jamaica. During the session in 2019, Dine', Ponca and Tohono O'odham women testified on the excessive force by law enforcement at Standing Rock, during the resistance to Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota, and on the U.S. militarization of the Tohono O'odham Nation homeland on the Arizona border. Also see: Uranium ore from a mine near the Grand Canyon will hit the road soon, despite opposition Trilce Estrada Olvera Arizona Republic, March 5, 2024 A mining company plans to begin hauling uranium extracted from a mine near the Grand Canyon to a processing mill in Utah within the next three to six months, despite opposition from Indigenous communities, environmental organizations and local authorities. Energy Fuels Inc. says once the process starts, six to eight haul trucks covered with a tarp will carry approximately 200 pounds of uranium daily from the Pinyon Plain Mine to the White Mesa Mill in Blanding. The authorized route will run south on State Route 64 to Williams, then on Interstate 40 through Flagstaff, north on U.S. Highway 89 to Highway 160, crossing the Navajo Nation through Kayenta, finally proceeding on U.S. 191 to the mill. |
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| White Mesa Ute Spiritual Walk Photo by Ofelia Rivas, Tohono O'odham, Censored News |
Navajo, Ute, Lakota to Testify on Uranium Exploitation before Inter-American Commission on Human RightsBy Brenda Norrell, Censored News
WASHINGTON -- The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights will hear testimony from Navajo, Ute, and Oglala Lakota, on the impacts on Indigenous Peoples' human rights from uranium exploitation in Washington on Feb. 28, 2024.
“Nahasdzáán Shimá—Mother Earth—provides everything we need to keep us alive—the four things we Navajos talk about —air, water, soil, and light—and it is our home," said Edith Hood, President, of Red Water Pond Road Community Association.
"We have been living with this silent killer without knowing the dangers. Once the mining started, after the drilling, we didn’t realize we were being contaminated."
"When we were children playing and herding sheep we didn’t understand we were being exposed to dangerous radiation," Hood said.
Hood thanked the commission for the hearing and added, "Our own tribal government doesn’t listen to us."
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights agreed to hold a thematic hearing on how U.S. uranium exploitation policies have resulted in human rights abuses in Indigenous communities across the country. This coincides with an upsurge in uranium mining, said the New Mexico Environmental Law Center.
"As the United States doubles down on the misguided notion that nuclear power is a solution to the climate crisis, the uranium development industry is beginning to benefit from generous taxpayer giveaways to the nuclear industry as a whole."
"Subsidies from the Biden administration have spurred uranium mining production to restart in at least 3 mines in the last few months, in Utah, Wyoming, and in Arizona near the Grand Canyon. As has been the case since the dawn of the Atomic Age, the impacts of uranium mining are largely left out of the debate over nuclear power."
Energy Fuels said it is increasing U.S. uranium production as prices reach a 16-year high. Energy Fuels said in December that it is ramping up uranium production at three mines Pinyon Plain in in the Grand Canyon, and La Sal and Pandora uranium mines in southeastern Utah.
Ore mined from the three mines during 2024 will be stockpiled at the Energy Fuels White Mesa Mill in Utah for processing in 2025. It is also preparing two mines, Whirlwind in southeastern Utah, and Nichols Ranch in central Wyoming, to begin uranium production within one year, Energy Fuels said.
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| Pinyon Plain uranium mine, Grand Canyon. Photo by Grand Canyon Trust |
Pinyon Plain began uranium mining and is now threatening the water of the Havasupai in their homeland in the Grand Canyon. The mine is now endangering Navajo, Hopi, Ute, and southwest residents, on the uranium haul route, from the Grand Canyon to the Energy Fuels mill in southeastern Utah.
(Photo) The White Mesa Mill is poisoning the water, land, and air of White Mesa Utes in southeastern Utah. It is now bringing in radioactive waste from Europe. Nuclear waste at the site was transported here from the Nuclear Test Site in Nevada because it was too deadly to leave there. The Nevada site poisoned the ancestral land of Western Shoshone.
The New Mexico Environmental Law Center said:
The thematic hearing will allow Native communities who have lived for generations with the waste from historic uranium mining and milling to hold U.S. government officials accountable in a public forum for the government’s failure to address waste from uranium development in any meaningful way.
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Historic Hearing to be Held in Washington, D.C. Weds, Feb. 28th at 11am EST/9am MST
The thematic hearing will allow Native communities who have lived for generations with the waste from historic uranium mining and milling to hold U.S. government officials accountable in a public forum for the government’s failure to address waste from uranium development in any meaningful way.
● Red Water Pond Road Community Association members Edith Hood and Teracita Keyanna from the Navajo Nation will testify about how the federal government has for generations ignored the public health, environmental and cultural crises uranium development has caused in their communities.
● Yolanda Badback, White Mesa Concerned Community, a member of a Ute Mountain Ute tribe will testify about how state and federal officials have refused to listen to their concerns about the uranium mill in their community.
● Tonia Stands, Magpie Buffalo Organizing, an Oglala Lakota community member, will testify about the difficulties of living under the threat of new uranium mining, while legacy waste remains unaddressed.
Jonathan Perry, Coordinator, of Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment, said, “"This is a major opportunity for frontline Indigenous communities to come forward to document the injustices they continue to endure. The legacy of the uranium mining industry continues to impact many Indigenous people across the continent without any real solutions from the US government."
"We must acknowledge the negative results of nuclear and uranium development in our communities. We must also shed light on the lack of priority in providing real solutions for the clean-up of uranium mining and milling waste by federal regulatory agencies. This Thematic Hearing would document the consequences of the U.S. government in their continued violations of human rights within their own policies and regulations."
"We must acknowledge the negative results of nuclear and uranium development in our communities. We must also shed light on the lack of priority in providing real solutions for the clean-up of uranium mining and milling waste by federal regulatory agencies. This Thematic Hearing would document the consequences of the U.S. government in their continued violations of human rights within their own policies and regulations."
Edith Hood, President, of Red Water Pond Road Community Association, said, “Nahasdzáán Shimá—Mother Earth—provides everything we need to keep us alive—the four things we Navajos talk about —air, water, soil, and light—and it is our home. We have been living with this silent killer without knowing the dangers."
Once the mining started, after the drilling, we didn’t realize we were being contaminated. We didn’t understand what we couldn’t see, smell or touch. When we were children playing and herding sheep we didn’t understand we were being exposed to dangerous radiation. I worked for a few years at the Kerr McGee Mine but the officials said we were in no danger."
"After the mining, we really started to notice the problem, the health issues and concerns. Cancer and breathing problems especially in children and childhood diseases were becoming prevalent. Multiple family members started having liver issues. We found out our soil was contaminated in 2003."
"Twenty-one years later and we are still at it with nothing happening. There have been generational impacts from the uranium industry. We thank the IACHR commissioners for listening to us when our own tribal government doesn’t listen to us. The Tribal government put us at this risk but never came back to check on the people and the land.”
Once the mining started, after the drilling, we didn’t realize we were being contaminated. We didn’t understand what we couldn’t see, smell or touch. When we were children playing and herding sheep we didn’t understand we were being exposed to dangerous radiation. I worked for a few years at the Kerr McGee Mine but the officials said we were in no danger."
"After the mining, we really started to notice the problem, the health issues and concerns. Cancer and breathing problems especially in children and childhood diseases were becoming prevalent. Multiple family members started having liver issues. We found out our soil was contaminated in 2003."
"Twenty-one years later and we are still at it with nothing happening. There have been generational impacts from the uranium industry. We thank the IACHR commissioners for listening to us when our own tribal government doesn’t listen to us. The Tribal government put us at this risk but never came back to check on the people and the land.”
Larry King, ENDAUM, said, “We only have one Mother Earth, and as stewards, we ALL have a responsibility to protect Mother Earth if we are to leave a healthy environment for our future generations to benefit from.”
Eric Jantz, Legal Director, the New Mexico Environmental Law Center (NMELC), said, “For decades, the U.S. government’s dismal human rights record related to uranium exploitation in indigenous communities has been overlooked, ignored and suppressed. This will be the first time the U.S. government has been called on to explain why U.S. uranium policy continues to destroy native communities.”
In addition to community testimony, the U.S. government will have the opportunity to respond, and the Commission will have the opportunity to ask community members and government officials questions. The thematic hearing will be held on February 28 in Washington, D.C.
The hearing will be live-streamed on IACHR’s website and YouTube channel.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is a principal and autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS) whose mission is to promote and protect human rights in the American hemisphere. It is composed of seven independent members who serve in a personal capacity. Created by the OAS in 1959, the Commission has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Together with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, installed in 1979, the Commission is one of the institutions within the inter-American system for the protection of human rights.
IACHR GRANTS THEMATIC HEARING ON IMPACTS TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ HUMAN RIGHTS FROM URANIUM EXPLOITATION
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
Historic Hearing to be Held in Washington, D.C. Weds, Feb. 28th at 11am EST/9am MST
What: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ Thematic Hearing Where: IACHR/OAS, 1889 F St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006
When: Wednesday, February 28, 2024, at 11am EST/9am MST Who: Members of the Navajo Nation, Ute Nation, and Oglala Lakota Nation will testify
Why: Impacts of Uranium Exploitation on the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the United States How to attend: In-person at IACHR/Organization of American States (OAS) located at 1889 F St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006 or watch online on IACHR’s website https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/sessions/?S=189 or on the IACHR YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@comisionIDH
Contacts Eric Jantz, Legal Director, New Mexico Environmental Law Center, ejantz@nmelc.org -- Jonathan Perry, Executive Director, Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment, jperry@swuraniumimpacts.org -- Susan Schuurman She/her or They/them Communications Manager New Mexico Environmental Law Center 722 Isleta Blvd. SW Albuquerque, NM 87105 sschuurman@nmelc.org
Contacts Eric Jantz, Legal Director, New Mexico Environmental Law Center, ejantz@nmelc.org -- Jonathan Perry, Executive Director, Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment, jperry@swuraniumimpacts.org -- Susan Schuurman She/her or They/them Communications Manager New Mexico Environmental Law Center 722 Isleta Blvd. SW Albuquerque, NM 87105 sschuurman@nmelc.org
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About the author:
Brenda Norrell has been a news reporter in Indian country for 42 years, beginning at the Navajo Times during the 18 years that she lived on the Navajo Nation. She was a stringer for Associated Press and USA Today. After serving as a longtime staff reporter for Indian Country Today, she was censored and terminated in 2006 and began publishing Censored News. She has a master's degree in international health focused on infectious diseases, water and nutrition.
Article copyright Censored News. Content may not be republished without written permission or used in any manner resulting in revenues.
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