#NavajoNation is 'Back Peddling' by Allowing #Uranium Transport through #Dine' Communities and More Dumping on #Utes

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Feb. 8, 2025

TUBA CITY -- "#LeonaMorgan, Dine' co-founder of #HaulNo!, said the Navajo Nation is now "back peddling" by allowing radioactive uranium waste to be transported through Dine' communities. This radioactive transport from the #GrandCanyon means even more deadly waste for another Native community -- the #WhiteMesaUte community in #Utah.

"Now, with little or no information along the haul route, the Navajo government expects the Dine' Chapters on the route to each have an emergency preparedness plan. Leona asked if the Dine' communities are aware of this and whether the Navajo Chapters are certified to deal with radioactive emergencies.

"'Who are their First Responders?' Ultimately, Dine' will have to confront the Navajo President and the Navajo Department of Justice, she said.
'We were not included in that agreement,' Leona said of the agreement between the Navajo Nation and #Energy Fuels.

"'There was no free, prior and informed consent,' Leona said, quoting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [#UNDRIP]. 'The people in the communities were not consulted.'

"'How can they start transporting on February 12th, when there aren't even any checkpoints? We don't even have an #AirMonitoring system,' Leona said of the lack of preparation for radioactive
transport on the Navajo Nation.
Energy Fuels plans to pass through Navajo communities with six to ten trucks of radioactive waste,
beginning on Feb. 12, 2025.

"Leona urged communities to organize, and pointed out that Navajo Chapters can have their own checkpoints. With the new push for '#DrillBabyDrill,' by the U.S. President, the Navajo Nation faces an uncertain future, she said. The U.S. is investing money into the development of #CriticalEarthMinerals and investing in Energy Fuels mill at White Mesa Ute.

"'We need to push our government to do what we want -- not what the federal government wants.'

"'It's going to get worse because they think nuclear is clean energy,' Leona said of the push for alternative energy.

"The Navajo Nation's agreement with Energy Fuels means more dangerous radioactive dumping in the #WhiteMesaUte community. In the agreement, Energy Fuels states it will transport 10,000 tons of uranium-bearing cleanup materials from abandoned #UraniumMines within the Navajo Nation.

"Leona was recently voted by the Navajo Nation Council to serve on the Diné #UraniumRemediation Advisory Commission, in an advisory position to the Navajo President and Council.

"Speaking in #TubaCity on Saturday, Leona said Haul No! began in 2016 when it became known that the Pinyon Plain uranium mine would begin mining in the Grand Canyon. Now, there is the new battle as the Navajo Nation government has approved uranium transport through Navajo communities to the White Mesa Ute community.

"Energy Fuels #PinyonPlain Mine, and the mill in southern Utah, threaten Native communities throughout the region."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/02/tuba-city-community-forum-and-walk-shut.html
#BuuNygren #IndigenousAction #IndigenousResistance #NuclearColonialism #ReaderSupportedNews #Dine #RestInPowerKleeBenally #NoUraniumTransport #DefendTheSacred #ProtectTheSacred #UraniumMine #NoNukes #NuclearFreeWorld #NoNuclear #NoWar #NuclearWaste #NoMoreMining
#NoMoreTransportationOfUranium
#NoNuclearWeapons
#NoNuclearPowerPlants #NoMining #NoUraniumMining #UteNation #NoUraniumMining #Navajo #Havasupai #GrandCanyon #NuclearWeapons #InformedConsent
#EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife

Some good news! Though potential contamination from long-term storage needs to be addressed (what else is new).

#EPA to Relocate Toxic #UraniumMine Waste from #NavajoNation

By Neely Bardwell, January 08, 2025

"The Environmental Protection Agency will move #uranium mine waste from #ChurchrockNewMexico to the #RedRock regional landfill where it can be safely stored forever.

"The federal agency signed an action memo to transport radioactive waste at the Quivira Mining Co. Churchrock Mine to a disposal site at the Red Rock regional landfill about six miles east of the Village of Thoreau. The cleanup will begin in early 2025 and continue for 6-8 years.

"For the Red Water Pond Road Community Association (#RWPRCA), which has advocated for waste removal since 2006, the decision marks a significant shift in addressing #UraniumContamination on Navajo land.

"'Removing the mine waste from our community will protect our health and finally put us back on a positive track to #Hózhǫ (balance),' said Teracita Keyanna, RPWPRCA executive committee member. 'I think this decision empowers #grassroots organizations like ours and our allies to continue to advocate and educate to clean up hundreds of abandoned uranium mines that threaten our #Diné communities every day.'

"RWPRCA President Edith Hood said the community has dealt with the impact of uranium mining since the late 1960s. Commercial mining began at the site under #KerrMcGee Corporation, which later became the #QuiviraMiningCompany. The operation extracted an estimated 1.3 million tons of uranium ore before closing in 1986. The Navajo Nation currently has more than 520 documented #AbandonedMines, with no disposal facilities for uranium waste within 350 miles of #TribalLands.

"'Many of us suffer chronic health problems and a degraded homeland as a result,' Hood said. 'We advocate for a regional approach to addressing remediation of nearly 100 abandoned uranium mines in the Eastern Navajo Agency. We are committed to making sure the removal of mine waste from our community does not threaten the health and safety of our Diné neighbors.'

"Previous attempts to address the waste proved unsuccessful. In 2011 and 2013, the EPA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a plan to place 1 million cubic yards of waste from NECRM on top of the existing tailings pile located half a mile from RWPRC village. Effectively, neither of those wastes were removed from the communities.

"The #RedRockLandfill currently handles municipal waste from McKinley and Cibola counties and Navajo Nation communities as far away as Tuba City. The planned #UraniumDisposalCell will occupy a separate area of the 640-acre site adjacent to the shuttered #Escalante power plant.

"The Northwest New Mexico Regional Solid Waste Authority (#NNMRSWA), which owns the landfill, must show that its operations can protect #GroundWater, air and soil, while safeguarding public health for decades to come. The New Mexico Environment Department will oversee long-term monitoring of the site.

"Chris Shuey, who has documented mining and #milling impacts in the #Churchrock area for 40 years as an environmental health specialist at Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque, said relocating uranium waste is essential for tribal communities.

"'Removing mine wastes from Navajo communities to engineered, regional disposal sites is a #PublicHealth imperative,' Shuey said, noting that more than half of all Navajo chapters have at least one source of unhealthy uranium exposure. 'The federal government must continue looking for suitable sites for long-term disposal of mine wastes to protect current and future Navajo populations.'

"'This decision will remove over 1 million cubic yards of waste that has haunted the #RedWaterPondRoad and #PipelineRoad communities for too long,' EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman said in a statement.

"'This solution is a compromise that will get #RadioactiveWaste in this area off of the Navajo Nation as soon as possible,' Navajo Nation President #BuuNygren said in the EPA statement. 'It’s not everything the three affected communities would wish for but it’s action in the right direction now rather than in the future. Most importantly, this will protect our people from harmful exposure.'"

Source:
https://nativenewsonline.net/environment/epa-to-relocate-toxic-mine-waste-from-navajo-nation
#NoNukes #NoWar #NoMiningWithoutConsent #NoUraniumMining #UraniumMills #NukingTheNavajo #Genocide #WaterIsLife #NativeAmericanNews #HaulNo

#KleeBenally, cultural advocate and land defender, dies at 48

By Kianna Joe | Dec 31, 2023

"KINŁÁNÍ-DOOK’O’OOSŁÍÍD

Klee Benally died Dec. 30, 2023. He was 48.

"Benally was the son of Jones and Berta Benally. Klee Benally was from Dziłyíjiin, Arizona. He was Bi’éé’ Łichíi’ii and born for Tódích’íi’nii. His maternal grandfather is Polish and Jewish, and his paternal grandfather is Naakaii Dine’é. He lived in Kinłání, where he proudly stood tall with Dook’o’oosłííd.

"In his last interview with the Navajo Times on Dec. 7, Benally credited his father, a respected and known hataałii, who shared the Diné traditions and culture with him.

"Klee Benally’s teachings growing up laid a foundation for who he was as a Diné and led to him fighting for the sacred Dook’o’oosłííd.

"'For Diné people, it represents a part of our cosmology and being,' Benally said on Dec. 7. 'Each mountain is a part of our creation account set forward for our boundaries, Diné Bikéyah, where we walk around.'

"Benally described the mountains as leaders that hold and share teachings for Diné.

"Countless comments from people who knew and followed Benally shared their sudden sadness but described Benally as a 'one-of-a-kind' wise son, brother, uncle, or grandpa.

"Along with fighting for sacred elements, Benally was an artist in many mediums, writer, musician, and filmmaker.

"On Thursday, Dec. 21, Benally launched his book, '#NoSpiritualSurrender, Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred,' at the Museum of Contemporary Arts in Flagstaff. However, the book was released in November with physical copies only available at Bookmans in Flagstaff or online at #DetritusBooks website.

"The book delves into Benally’s experience fighting for sacred places and why he does it to protect #nahasdzáán.

"Benally recounted the many times he had been arrested, along with tying himself to heavy machinery to send a message that he wasn’t going anywhere for the land’s sake.

"In a post shared on Benally’s Instagram page, he shares his full circle moment having done shows with his band #Blackfire at the #LeftBankBooksCollective bookstore in Seattle, Washington, where he was able to drop a few copies of his book off at.

"His music with Blackfire was fueled with the same messages he shared in his book, justice for Indigenous people and the land.

"Blackfire was created in 1989 with Benally and his siblings, Jeneda and Clayson Benally.

"Benally’s work reflected his dedication and understanding of fighting for land and its Indigenous peoples.

"Benally was a part of many organizations working to support and fight for land like '#HaulNo!' and '#ProtectThePeaks.'

"Benally worked endlessly for the community and land, which are grateful to have been protected by a dedicated #Diné."

https://navajotimes.com/reznews/klee-benally-cultural-advocate-and-land-defender-dies-at-48/
#RestInPowerKleeBenally #RIPKlee #RIPKleeBenally #NoUraniumMining #DefendTheSacred

The Dirty Secrets: #Whales, the #GrandCanyon and #WarCriminals

by #BrendaNorrell, #Censored News
November 22, 2024

"People who travel the world will tell you two things that they really love: Whales and the Grand Canyon.
The majestic Orca whales are now at risk from the massive oil tankers departing the shores of British Columbia with thick crude oil from Alberta tar sands in Canada, bound for distant refineries and ports.

"Meanwhile, in the heart of the Southwest, the Grand Canyon, loved by the people of the world, now has a uranium mine spewing radioactive dust into the air, and endangering Havasupai's aquifer and future generations.

"Neither the Appeals Court in Canada, nor the U.S. EPA and Interior have done anything to stop these assaults on the most beloved natural wonders in the world, whales and the Grand Canyon.

"Rueben George, səlilwətaɬ, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, remembers the long fight to halt the Trans Mountain Pipeline, now carrying crude oil from Alberta tar sands to the Salish Sea, which flows off the shores of British Columbia and Washington State to the Pacific.

"George said they thought they were winning their case in Canada's Appeal Court.

"'They said you're right it's going to kill all the Orca whales, you're right -- but we're going to build it anyway,' George said at the Salish Sea Assembly in Seattle in November.

"The uranium mine in the Grand Canyon is now spraying radioactive dust on Havasupai's medicine plants, and into the air for the world's travelers to breathe. The uranium mine, operated by Energy Fuels of Canada, threatens the aquifer of Havasupai and future generations.

"The mine's radioactive truck transport is a deadly risk for Supai, Paiute, Dine', Hopi and Ute on the haul route. The radioactive ore is transported by truck to the Energy Fuels mill in the White Mesa Ute community in southeastern Utah.

"Interior's Deb Haaland, who is Laguna Pueblo and Norwegian, has not only failed to halt the deadly risks and destruction, but has proclaimed that the atomic bomb industry, Los Alamos National Laboratory, will lead the green 'energy transition.'

"Los Alamos Labs produces nuclear weapons and is already poisoning the Pueblo homelands in northern New Mexico with radiation. A federal judge recently halted the push to produce and store more plutonium at the site, citing a risk to the environment."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/the-dirty-secrets-whales-grand-canyon.html

#AlbertaTarSands #TarSands #LosAlamos #EnvironmentalRacism #Plutonium #Greenwashing #NuclearWeapons #UraniumMining #UraniumMills #DebHaaland #NuclearIndustry #AtomicBombs #Downwinders #Environment #WaterIsLife #Supai #Paiute #Dine' #Hopi #Ute #HaulNo #EnergyFuels #WhiteMesaUte #WhiteMesa #Havasupai #SalishSeaAssembly #Salish #OceansAreLife #RadioactiveDust #RadioactiveContamination #TsleilWaututh #TsleilWaututhNation #CanadasAppealsCourt #TransmountainPipeline #RuebenGeorge #BritishColumbia #WashingtonState #NoUraniumMining #NoTarSands #Oiligarchy #ExtractiveIndustries #CorporateColonialism #ReaderSupportedNews #ProtectHaKamwe #NavajoTransitionalEnergyCompany #DefendTheSacred

The Silent Killers in #IndianCountry: #Copper, #Lithium, #Uranium and #Plutonium

Judge finds plutonium plants in #NewMexico and #SouthCarolina violated environmental laws

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Oct. 10, 2024

"The U.S. government's plan for increased plutonium production at #LosAlamos National Laboratory, in the heart of Pueblo lands in northern New Mexico, has been delayed by a federal judge.

"Continuing the U.S. legacy of poisoning Indian country with #radiation, this comes as the U.S. government is granting leases to foreign #mining companies targeting Native #sacred lands and communities.

"#CopperMining is targeting San CarlosApache's sacred #OakFlat; #Hualapai are suing the US Department of Interior to halt lithium mining at their sacred spring Ha'Kamwe'; and the U.S. government is promoting the ongoing digging into the #Paiute Massacre Site in northern Nevada for #lithium, in violation of all federal laws that protect Native religious and historic sites, the environment and endangered species.
Uranium mining in the Grand Canyon threatens #Havasupai's aquifer, the haul route endangers everyone in the Four Corners region, and the uranium mill at White Mesa Ute in #Utah is poisoning #Utes.

"Interior Sec. #DebHaaland said in Farmington, N.M., that Los Alamos Labs would be the leader in the so-called '#GreenEnergy transition' in the #FourCorners region.

"More than 500 radioactive #UraniumMill sites remain on the #NavajoNation that have not been cleaned up by the U.S. #EPA, which deceives the public by announcing plans and promises to clean up the #ColdWar sites.

"In the current federal lawsuit, a federal judge in South Carolina ruled that U.S. energy officials illegally neglected to study impacts to the #environment in efforts to increase plutonium production for nuclear weapons in New Mexico and South Carolina.

"'South Carolina District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis sided with environmental, #AntiNuclear proliferation and community groups last week who sued the National Nuclear Security Administration (#NNSA), which oversees the nuclear weapons stockpile as part of the U.S. Department of Energy [#DOE],' reports Source New Mexico.

"The U.S. is investing billions into restarting the manufacture of #PlutoniumPits, the grapefruit-sized spheres developed for #nuclear weapons. The plutonium is produced from uranium.

"'The federal government halted its manufacturing program at the #RockyFlatsPlant in #Colorado in 1989 after an FBI raid due to safety concerns and #EnvironmentalCrimes,' Source New Mexico reports.

"The U.S. government's #AtomicBombTesting in #Nevada left a trail of cancer and death for #WesternShoshone. The documentary 'Downwind' reveals the truth.

"'This is a very serious issue and that's why I can't let it go. I can't move on. People say, 'oh, why don't you just let it go?' Because it's killing my family. It's killing my land. It's killing my people. And that will not stand. It's being done in secret. And killing Indians in secret will not stand,' said Ian Zabarte, Principal Man of the Western Bands of the #ShoshoneNation of Indians. Zabarte is featured in '#Downwind' about radiation poisoning from U.S. #NuclearTests.

"Currently, foreign companies -- which receive the profits and find it easy to avoid clean up and responsibility for #environmental crimes and deaths from #cancer -- are receiving the mining leases from the U.S. government. The leases are granted by the U.S. Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and in the case of #UraniumMining in the #GrandCanyon, it is the USDA's Forestry Service. #Biden's attorneys have joined the lawsuit with #RioTinto to devastate #OakFlat.

"Australian and Canadian mining corporations are devastating Native lands and communities, poisoning the water and causing widespread cancer.
Rio Tinto, targeting Apaches #OakFlat, is an Australian company which destroyed 46,000 years of #Aboriginal sacred history in caves in #Australia.

"Another Australian mining company is targeting #Hualapai's sacred site. It is #Hawstone / #ArizonaLithium, in Perth, Australia.

"#EnergyFuels, now uranium mining in the Grand Canyon, and operating the uranium mill at #WhiteMesaUte, is a Canadian company. Another Canadian company is digging into the #Paiute Massacre Site. It is #LithiumAmericas.
#Hopi judge #DianeHumetewa granted a temporary restraining order to halt the lithium mining at #Hualapai's sacred spring."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/10/the-silent-killers-in-indian-country.html