The first U.S. federal energy bill in more than a decade, signed into law by President George W. Bush on August 8 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, threatens American Indian communities across the country with nuclear energy-related development.
The bill calls for tax incentives for nuclear energy companies and paves the way for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to dump nuclear waste on Gushute territory and construct a power plant in Galena, Alaska, a predominantly Athabaskan community. The Navajo Nation, site of the largest uranium reserves in the United States, say the new laws make their land more vulnerable than ever to uranium mining development.
Hydro Resources, In. (HRI) has proposed uranium mining at one site on the Navajo reservation and two sites on the reservation border using in-situ leaching, which, according to the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM), will contaminate the drinking water for over 15,000 mostly Navajo residents in Crownpoint and Church Rock, New Mexico.
In an interview with Cultural Survival, Eric Jantz, one of the attorneys representing the Navajo organization ENDAUM (Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining) in its 11-year-old suit against HRI, said that "[what is] at stake is the ability of a sovereign Indian nation to protect its natural resources on behalf of its people and future generations."
In late July, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission judge ruled in favor of allowing HRI to mine uranium on the sites.
But the Navajo Nation plans to appeal the decision, and ENDAUM is hopeful that the decision to mine on the reservation site will be overturned.
Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr., signed the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act (DNRPA) on April 29, banning uranium mining and processing on the reservation.
But Jantz warned that under the new energy bill, "any company adversely affected by the DNRPA could challenge the Act in federal court."
The legacy of Navajo struggles against the nuclear industry dates back to the 1940s when the United States first began mining in and near Navajo communities. The majority of recoverable uranium in the United States can be found in New Mexico, with large amounts on Navajo land.
Since mining began, Navajo communities have suffered due to their consistent exposure to the radioactive materials. According to an article by Winona LaDuke in Nuclear-Free news, over 1,000 defunct uranium mines continue to pose health and environmental threats on the reservation.
"The NRC is not interested in protecting human health or the environment. Based on my experience, the NRC exists to make the permitting process as quick and easy for the nuclear industry as possible," Jantz said.
In August, anti-nuclear activists gathered in Washington, D.C., to protest what they perceive as environmental racism negatively affecting indigenous peoples.
᾿᾿When it comes to nuclear energy and weapons, from the mining to the testing to the disposal of nuclear waste, Native communities have been a sacrificial lamb for our destructive and wasteful policies,᾿᾿ said Amy Ray of Indigo Girls, according to Indian Country Today.
