On July 16, 1979, the United Nuclear Corporation’s uranium mill tailings impoundment breached an earthen dam and released over 94 million gallons of acidic, radioactive sludge into the Rio Puerco River.
After 46 years, the Diné (Navajo) communities impacted by the spill and the uranium mine waste are still fighting for justice. The Red Water Pond Road Community Association and the Pipeline Road Community warriors are holding the line for their communities and continue to organize for a safe environment for their families and future generations.
This is one out of the over 525 abandoned uranium mines left behind by the U.S. military-industrial complex. Our sacred lands and waters have been exploited, contaminated, and depleted. This is the U.S. government’s waste, and they must remove it!
Our Havasupai relatives who are fighting the active Pinyon Plain uranium mine located near their sacred landscape of Red Butte, and our Ute Mountain Ute White Mesa relatives who are fighting for the closure of the White Mesa uranium mill, which is the last operating conventional uranium mill in the U.S.
The White Mesa mill sits right on top of the Navajo Aquifer, which supplies water to domestic, stock, and community wells in the region, and it is the only source of drinking water for a growing number of communities. The mill also has an adverse impact on many Ute Mountain Ute cultural landscapes.
We stand in solidarity with all frontline communities who are facing the nuclear fuel chain and permanent radioactive waste and contamination.
