One-size-fits-all plan doesn’t fit Navajo

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — A one-size-fits-all analysis is inappropriate when it comes to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s “Generic Environmental Impact Statement for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities,” according to the Navajo Nation.

“The jurisdictional issue involving the Navajo Nation cannot be looked at in a vacuum. It involves substantial environmental justice implications for a Native Nation uniquely impacted by past activities now under the direct control of the NRC, ” David Taylor, principal attorney with the Natural Resources Unit, stated in comments to the NRC sent Nov. 7.

The NRC “continues in its failure to recognize the devastating impact of past uranium mining and milling operations on Navajo people and Navajo lands. This is not only an environmental issue, but also an issue implicating both the NRC’s trust duty to the Navajo Nation and, more generally, environmental justice,” he said.

The Nation is “working on all fronts” to enforce the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act of 2005 which banned uranium mining and milling activities within Navajo Nation borders, Taylor said last week.

The NRC has scheduled a Dec. 11 meeting in Washington on in-situ mining. “The Nation has been invited to participate in that, which we will do, and we will continue to emphasize our uranium ban in Navajo Indian Country and our position that is set forth in these comments,” he said.

NRC representatives met Sept. 8 with Navajo officials in Window Rock to discuss the July 1 draft document. Taylor said that while the Nation appreciated the effort that went into its preparation and the opportunity to meet, “it is the considered opinion of the Navajo Nation that the NRC still fails to consider the essence of the Navajo Nation’s concerns ...”

As emphasized in prior testimony and discussions with the NRC, the conditions, demographics, hydrologic and legacy-related issues in the Navajo Nation simply do not lend themselves to “generic” treatment, he said.

The July 1 draft devotes fewer than three pages to environmental justice in Navajo Indian Country. “There is no mention of the continuing environmental contamination and suffering endured by the Navajo people as a result of past uranium related activities.

“There is no reference to the actions of United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in shedding public light on this national tragedy.

There is no reference to the Navajo witnesses who appeared before this committee setting forth their individual stories and the collective impact on the Navajo culture and environment,” Taylor said.

There also was no reference to Resources Committee Chairman George Arthur’s testimony proposing an initial federal outlay of $500 million to begin to address those concerns, or any reference to the response of a concerned congressman who questioned aloud whether that sum would even be a good start, he said.

“There is no reference to the five-year plans prepared by federal agencies, including the NRC, which highlight many aspects of this continuing tragedy. And finally, there is only a passing, minimal reference to the uranium mining and processing moratorium passed by the Navajo Nation in April of 2005.”

During September’s face-to-face meeting, NRC was informed that the Navajo Nation Council has codified some of its most fundamental principles and concepts and “those must be taken into consideration by the NRC in making any decision impacting Navajo Indian Country.”

One is that the wise and sustainable use of natural resources in Navajo Indian Country traditionally has been, and remains, “a fundamental exercise of Navajo Tribal sovereignty.”

“There is no other political/geographical area in the United States, and perhaps the world, that has suffered and continues to suffer from the environmental impacts of past uranium mining and processing to the same extent as the Navajo Nation,” he said.

The Nation requested the NRC “expressly exempt Navajo Indian Country, including all lands within any federally recognized chapter of the Navajo Nation,” from the operation of any Generic Environmental Impact Statement and from any application of the alternative that may be selected.

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