Panel rips into feds By Kathy Helms WINDOW ROCK The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee plans to hold feet to fire, as Rep. Elijah Cummings succinctly put it, to ensure the Navajo people do not have to wait another 60 years to see something done about the contamination across Navajoland from past uranium mining and milling activities. I think the federal government has a responsibility, but thats not just you, its us too, Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., told representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Authority, Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Indian Health Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs at a hearing this week in Washington. The Congress has a responsibility for oversight
and thats the purpose of the hearing today, Waxman said
Tuesday. But as part of our responsibility, we have to give
your agencies the tools you need to carry out your job. Authority I think we need to have a number of things done simultaneously. I think the federal government needs to conduct a comprehensive health assessment of the risks posed to the health of the Navajo people by the contamination from uranium mining and milling, Waxman said. Secondly, the U.S. EPA should conduct detailed site assessments of the priority mine sites and at least basic assessments at every abandoned mine site. Rigorous sampling of groundwater at these sites is essential. Thirdly, where we have the data, we need to conduct cleanups. Work has to be initiated or accelerated and in consultation with Navajo homeowners, U.S. EPA needs to remove occupied radioactive homes and provide replacement homes. Major surface and groundwater remediation efforts must begin at the Northeast Churchrock Mine site. The Navajo people shouldnt have to wait 60 years for groundwater contamination from uranium mills to be cleaned up. Waxman said that if the Department of Energy needs an extension of statutory authority to clean up the Tuba City landfill, where contamination migrated from the Rare Metals uranium mill, its our job to get you that authorization, and well do it. I really dont want to hear EPA say its
DOE, and DOE say its the Indian Health program, and the Bureau
of Indian management to say its not our job because we dont
have the expertise or the budget. Its the federal governments
responsibility. All of us need to take it seriously. Churchrock levels Even in the back yards of two residences which are farther away from the mine, the radium levels were up to 30 picocuries per gram. Thats nine times the EPA standard. Those radiation levels pose an exceptionally high cancer risk, he said. In response to these exceptionally high levels of radiation, EPA removed the top 6 inches of soil from the few residential yards. Mr. Nastri, that didnt take care of the whole problem at the site, did it? No, it did not, Nastri said, adding that EPA removed about 6,500 cubic yards of contaminated soil. Theres roughly 140 acres, or roughly 1.4 million cubic yards that need to be addressed. Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., asked Nastri about contamination in Red Valley and Cove areas, Because high levels of uranium in drinking water can cause kidney failure, groundwater contamination is a real concern. She said EPA conducted water sampling in 1998 and 1999. You sampled 226 wells and springs and found that one reading taken in the mountains above a school in Cove was over 20 times the EPA standard. Now, the EPA standard, Im going to assume, is the standard for a white healthy male and not for children. Thats what it usually is, am I correct? she asked Nastri, who responded, Ill stipulate to your assertion, sure. I want to know if EPA has been back since 1999 to retest this area, McCollum said. Not to my knowledge, no, Nastri said. Has EPA done any groundwater remediation at any of the mine sites at the Navajo Nation? she asked. Not to my knowledge, Nastri responded. Well, this is troubling, because comprehensive groundwater testing is essential, McCollum said. The Navajo, like anyone else in this country, are entitled to clean drinking water for themselves and for their livestock. And I believe the EPA needs to do more than just one round of spotty sampling. The NRC is in the process of allowing a company,
HRI, to start possibly looking at doing this water slurry type of
(uranium) extraction. This is very concerning and troubling to me.
You dont even know currently what the status of the water
is and yet the NRC is looking at issuing a mining license and even
contaminating possibly more water. And I point out to you, that
the U.S. Geological Survey does not share the same confidence that
the NRC does on this type of mine extraction, she said. Passing time In reference to a five-year study of Navajo homes believed to have potentially harmful radon levels, Cummings told Nastri, Lets assume there are people living there. What happens to them during that time? And Im just curious as to whether you would have your families in that environment for five or six years. Nastri said there are a number of challenges that EPA must consider, including that the Navajo people do not necessarily want to move out from their homes. So even though weve provided homes that doesnt necessarily mean that we can get somebody to move out, he said. What youre telling me is you dont even know if people live in the houses, Cummings said. Thats correct, Nastri responded. And what Im saying is that the diseases that I just stated kidney, birth defects, bone cancer, lung cancer, leukemia these people could be suffering from these ailments, but you dont even know whether theyre in the house. I mean, we do pay you, dont we? Cummings asked. Waxman referred to an EPA inspection of Navajo homes in 1975 near an abandoned uranium processing plant in Cane Valley where at least 17 of the 37 homes tested contained radioactive ore or tailings. They didnt ask for more time, they just said they didnt have enough money so nothing was done, he said. So, I guess Im still a little perplexed
about whether you really need time and thats all you need,
because in 1975, over 30 years ago, EPA knew about the homes and
didnt do anything about it. ...This is really shocking when
I hear you need more time, and this was 32 years ago. 32 years ago DOEs David Geiser said that when the Tuba City mill site was cleaned up, the radioactive material now found at the Tuba City landfill was not exposed, however, due to erosion, it has surfaced. McCollum told him, This site is right across the street from where Ray Manygoats lives. So Mr. Geiser, does the DOE agree that the radioactive material in this vicinity probably came from the Tuba City mill? From the information that we have, yes, it probably did, Geiser said. OK. The DOE hasnt been able to clean up this property because your statutory authorization to conduct surface remediation expired in 1998. So, have you asked Congress to extend this authority? And if you did, could the DOE clean up this site? McCollum asked. The authority was extended several times to get to 1998. We have not asked since then to reauthorize it. We would have the capability to remediate that site, Geiser said, adding that DOE is prepared to work with Congress should it decide to reauthorize them to do the work. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., ranking minority member of the oversight committee, asked Geiser, Who is responsible for the cleanup of uranium mines and mills that were left behind? He said it was the responsibility of DOE to clean up the four inactive uranium mill tailings sites. How about the 1,200 mines? Davis asked, to which Geiser responded, That was not the Department of Energys responsibility. Who is responsible for that? Its not Energy, Davis said. The Navajos didnt cause it, did they? Geiser said the Environmental Protection Agency is working with the Navajo Nation on the abandoned mines. What kinds of health studies have been done
on the Navajo Nation to determine the impact of uranium mines on
the public health in the area? Davis asked. Geiser deferred
to Indian Health Service. This is the U.S. Cummings remarked, Its so easy to have a conspiracy of silence and do-nothingness. Are any of you outraged by what youve heard from the first panel? Anybody? McSwain said, Certainly I wasnt this outraged, before coming to the meeting. The fact is we have a lot of health care providers out there on the ground, who are attempting to provide the best health care possible. The fact is, people keep coming in and theyre sick and theyre ill. And some of them are dying, Cummings said. Yes, and we cant stop the reason. Thats not our role, McSwain said. We work diligently on the water side of it within the scope of our authority, but again, not very successful, accepting the fact that were doing a lot of dancing out there trying to get around these leavings. This is the United States of America. We can do better, Cummings said. These are human beings! They share this land with us. And its just not right. I would suggest that if we cannot get more empathy for our fellow human beings, maybe somebody needs to replace you guys and let us have some other people who are outraged by all of this. I can understand Mr. (Tom) Udalls concern. At some point, somebodys got to holler and say, No, no. Were not going to have it this way. We can say, Lets wait, lets wait, lets wait, lets wait and people will die. But if it were our families, if it were our children, we would go crazy, Cummings said. |
Weekend Pelotte photos spark lawsuit, countersuit Panel rips into feds; Tells them they've had 30 years to cleanup uranium waste and have done nothing |
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