Uranium-mining concerns seek Navajo Nation projects
The Associated Press
SHIPROCK, N.M. – Uranium-mining companies are showing signs of renewed interest in the Navajo Nation.
The Daily Times of Farmington reported that several companies during the past year have addressed the tribe, seeking permission to once again mine the tribe’s uranium-rich land.
The history of uranium in the area, however, is proving an obstacle.
“As you can guess, there is opposition. There’s no doubt about that,” said Albuquerque’s Mat Leuras, vice president of corporate development for Uranium Resources Inc.
In addition, several environmental studies have suggested that elevated levels of uranium in and around the mines caused health problems for the people working in and living around them.
The Navajo Nation sits on more than 70 million tons of naturally occurring uranium, a radioactive ore.
The tribe still is reeling from the nearly 30 years that the federal government allowed uranium mining on and around the Navajo Nation. Between the late 1940s and the mid-1980s, about four million tons of uranium were extracted from the Navajo Nation.
