[Senate Hearing 116-94]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 116-94
AMERICA'S NUCLEAR PAST: EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF RADIATION IN INDIAN
COUNTRY
=======================================================================
FIELD HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
OCTOBER 7, 2019
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Indian Affairs
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
38-548 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019
COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota, Chairman
TOM UDALL, New Mexico, Vice Chairman
JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska JON TESTER, Montana,
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
STEVE DAINES, Montana CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
MARTHA McSALLY, Arizona TINA SMITH, Minnesota
JERRY MORAN, Kansas
T. Michael Andrews, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Jennifer Romero, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
C O N T E N T S
----------
Page
Hearing held on October 7, 2019.................................. 1
Statement of Senator Udall....................................... 1
Witnesses
Chavarria, Hon. J. Michael, Governor, Santa Clara Pueblo......... 46
Prepared statement........................................... 48
Christensen, Loretta, Chief Medical Officer, Navajo Area Indian
Health Service................................................. 21
Prepared statement........................................... 22
Cordova, Tina, Co-Founder, Tularosa Downwinders Consortium....... 57
Prepared statement........................................... 60
Gray, David, Deputy Regional Administrator, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.............................................. 8
Prepared statement........................................... 10
Haaland, Hon. Deb, U.S. Representative From New Mexico........... 5
Harrison, Phil, Consult/Advocate, Navajo Uranium Radiation
Victims Committee.............................................. 56
Lujan, Hon. Ben Ray, U.S. Representative From New Mexico......... 3
Nez, Hon. Jonathan, President, Navajo Nation..................... 39
Prepared statement........................................... 42
O'Konski, Peter, Deputy Director, Office of Legacy Management,
U.S. Department of Energy...................................... 17
Prepared statement........................................... 18
Riley, Hon. Ryan, Council Representative, Pueblo of Laguna....... 50
Prepared statement........................................... 52
Appendix
Benally, Jerry, President, Navajo Uranium Radiation Victims
Committee, prepared statement.................................. 86
Sanchez, Kathy, Environmental Health and Justice Program Manager,
Tewa Women United, prepared statement.......................... 84
Zuni, Hon. Max A., Governor, Pueblo of lsleta, prepared statement 77
AMERICA'S NUCLEAR PAST: EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF RADIATION IN INDIAN
COUNTRY
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2019
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
Albuquerque, NM.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:45 a.m. at the
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI) Auditorium,
Hon. Tom Udall, Vice Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. TOM UDALL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO
Senator Udall. Good morning. Good morning, everyone. Good
morning. Before we start the formal hearing, I would ask
Governor Zuni to please come up here and give a prayer for us.
Governor Zuni is with Isleta Pueblo.
Mr. Zuni. Good morning.
[Prayer.]
Senator Udall. Governor Zuni, thank you very much for that
prayer. It seems like you're everyplace. I was just with you
two days ago, recognizing veterans down at Isleta Pueblo.
So with that, let me call this hearing to order. Good
morning, and welcome to Indian Country. I'm Tom Udall, and as
the Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs,
it's my pleasure to chair today's hearing in my home state of
New Mexico. I look forward to a good discussion.
But before we begin, let me cover a few housekeeping items.
Today's hearing is an official Senate Committee hearing on the
Senate Indian Affairs. It's a field hearing. The Committee will
hear testimony from two panels of witnesses, and Members of
Congress will ask questions of those witnesses.
As an official Committee business meeting, the format for
today's hearing is the same as the format we use for hearings
in Washington. It's not a town hall, for example, where folks
can speak out from the audience and ask questions. So while we
are here to take testimony from our invited witnesses, anyone
is welcome to submit written testimony that will be made part
of the record for these proceedings. I invite you to e-mail
your written submissions to [email protected]. That's
[email protected]. The official record will remain
open for two weeks, until October 21st.
Also, please feel free to talk to my staff or Chairman
Hoeven's staff after the hearing with any questions. They are
seated behind me and around the auditorium.
And I'd like to thank the witnesses for being here, and for
Congresswoman Deb Haaland and Congressman Ben Ray Lujan for
joining us today. Both members are champions for their
districts, for New Mexico, and for all of Indian Country. Thank
you, Deb and Ben Ray, for being here.
I also want to acknowledge New Mexico State Representative
Harry Garcia, who represents the area where much of today's
discussion takesplace, and is here today on behalf of his
constituents.
Congressman O'Halleran of Arizona, our bordering district
over there, also has sent staff to observe today. Welcome to
Congressman O'Halleran's staff.
And finally, a special thanks to our host, to the Southwest
Indian Polytechnic Institute for hosting us in their wonderful
facilities, and for SIPI staff for working with us to pull
together this hearing. I believe I talked to her a minute ago.
President Allison is here in the audience.
Today's hearing, entitled ``America's Nuclear Past:
Examining the Effects of Radiation in Indian Country,'' is an
opportunity for us to reflect on the unique history and legacy
of the atomic age in Indian Country. Uranium mining played a
key role in our country's development of its nuclear arsenal
during the Cold War. Much of that mining took place in Indian
Country here in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and across the West,
exposing uranium mine workers to toxic levels of radiation in
the process.
My father, Stewart Udall, and I brought the stories of
deceased Navajo uranium miners to light and sued on their
behalf and their widows' forfair compensation from the federal
government. In addition to the Navajo miners, countless others
were unknowingly exposed to radiation, sacrificing their health
and even their lives to the Cold War effort. Many of these
downwinders, miners, and millers have long since passed. Others
are still living with the effects of uranium contamination
decades after the mining ceased. So I am working hard in
Congress for legislation that would provide just treatment to
victims of radiation exposure through amendments to the
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.
Today's hearing is about understanding the past and
remedying past wrongs. It is also a call to action for the
present and future. Native Americans, in particular, have been
disproportionately impacted by nuclear weapons development,
testing, and uranium ore mining. For instance, Eight Northern
Pueblos sit at the foothills of the Los Alamos National
Laboratory. For generations, tribal members have worked at the
Labs during the development of the first atomic bomb and to
this day. Being in close proximity to highly toxic and
radioactive materials has led many to experience serious health
conditions linked to radiation exposure. And during the testing
atTrinity, in southern New Mexico, and the Nevada Test Site,
many tribal nations including the Mescalero Apache, Navajo, and
Hopi were downwind of nuclear fallout, exposing their citizens,
livestock, water, and food supply to dangerous radiation with
little or no warning. Cancer, respiratory illness, and many
other health problems soon followed and continue to this day.
While these stories are tragic and must be told, I should
acknowledge that the federal government has made some progress
to make amends. Federal compensation laws like the Radiation
Exposure Compensation Act and the Energy Employees Occupational
Illness Compensation Program Act were passed and have been
making payments and working with victims. Federal agencies like
the Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management were
established to clean up and maintain abandoned uranium mines
and sites.
However, much work remains. Thousands of abandoned uranium
mines dot the western landscape, hundreds on the Navajo Nation
alone, continuing to expose families to the ill effects of
radiation, including kidney failure and cancer, conditions
linked to uranium contamination. New research fromthe Centers
for Disease Control report uranium in babies born even today.
I vow to continue to fight for the Cold War victims of
radiation exposure. I will continue to push my legislation to
amend RECA to include post 1971 miners and the Trinity
downwinders, and to ensure that the federal government lives up
to its legal and fiduciary obligations to clean up and properly
manage the abandoned mines and sites, to live up to its trust
and treaty obligations to tribes, which is why we are holding
this hearing today.
I want to ensure accountability when it comes to cleanup
and hear directly from the administration on what it is doing
to address the legacy of uranium mining in Indian Country, and
to hear from tribal leaders and stakeholders whose
constituencies have been impacted.
I'll conclude my opening statement by simply acknowledging
how personal this issue is to me. I already mentioned that my
father and I first began working with the widows of Navajo
uranium miners in 1977, to fight for justice and government
accountability. We sued the federal government on behalf of
those widows to get the benefits theydeserved for the
preventible deaths of their husbands working in the mines and
for their years of suffering. The money would never make up for
their loss, but it was the least we could do. We fought against
the federal government's king-can-do-no- wrong ideology of
sovereign immunity under the guise of national security, and
reminded the Courts that the federal government has a trust and
treaty obligation to Native Americans recognized by the Supreme
Court.
Well, we lost in the Supreme Court, but we persevered and
were able to make some progress with respect to RECA. And we
will continue to persevere. I will keep up the Udall family
fight for justice for America's Cold War victims, and I look
forward to today's testimony.
Again, thank you to the witnesses for being here. And now,
we will have opening statements by both Congressman Lujan and
Congresswoman Deb Haaland. And then we will proceed with our
witnesses.
STATEMENT OF HON. BEN RAY LUJAN,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW MEXICO
Mr. Lujan. Mr. Chairman, thank you so very much, Senator
Udall, for the work that you have done, the work that former
Secretary of the Department of Interior Stewart Udall has done,
notjust in fighting to represent victims and families, but
raising awareness to move legislation forward with the adoption
of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The work that we
continue to do, to build on the progress that was made by
Senator Udall and Secretary Udall is critically important,
which has culminated in the introduction of amendments to the
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.
It's also an honor to work side by side with Congresswoman
Deb Haaland, who has been a tireless champion for New Mexicans.
My gratitude to everybody who is here today. I see family
members, I see uranium mine workers, I see many friends that I
have had the honor of getting to know throughout the years, who
have traveled by car to our nation's capital because they're
not able to fly, because of what that pressure would do to
their lungs with the cancers that they're currently fighting.
I look forward to hearing the testimony from any of our
leaders, as well, and President Nez and Governor Chavarria. I
see Council Delegate Amber Crotty with the work that she has
always done in making sure that constituents are always
listenedto.
And finally, I want to thank the witnesses and the audience
members for joining in this critical discussion. We're here to
give voice to Hispanic communities, to Native American people
of the Jemez Plateau, the blue collar workers of the Grants
uranium belt, and the families whose lives were upended by the
Trinity test. We are here, as well, to showcase the importance
of the United States Government taking responsibility for the
anguish it has caused these lands and families that call them
home.
Seventy years ago, rural New Mexico became ground zero for
the detonation of the first nuclear bomb. This marked the
beginning of sickness and suffering for generations of people
in the Tularosa Basin and other communities that sacrificed for
our collective national security. Seventy years, and the
federal government has failed to do enough to recognize, to
fully compensate, even though there's progress that has been
made, or protect those impacted by the Trinity test.
They're not alone. In fact, from 1945 to 1962, the United
States conducted nearly 200 atmospheric nuclear weapon tests
while building the1 arsenal that became the cornerstone of our
nation's Cold War security strategy. The mining and processing
of uranium ore was essential to the development of those
weapons and was conducted by tens of thousands of workers
throughout New Mexico alone.
And it wasn't just the workers. It was the families that
were waiting for them when they got home, where those tailings
were still on their jeans or their jackets. Families that were
taught that even though that yellowcake would be in liquid
form, it would stay on their clothing, but they were told it
was easier to clean when it dried. So wear it home wet, let it
dry, and then it would be shaken. Families would inhale those
tailings.
So we see the legacy of the challenge that many families
continue to be plagued by. In 1990 Congress did pass the
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Again, I thank Senator
Udall and Secretary Udall for their work. However, we have
since learned that there are many more individuals who are
sick, who are dying, because they worked in the uranium
industry, lived near a mining operation, or lived downwind from
a test site.
We also know that tribal communities were particularly
affected. That's why I have joined with Senator Udall and the
other members of the New Mexico delegation to introduce the
amendments to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The
bipartisan legislation is a matter of fairness and justice. I
have heard from Navajo women elders who have made the journey
to our nation's capital only to ask committees and panels,
``Are you waiting for us all to die, so that the problem goes
away?''
Last year President Jonathan Nez testified before the
Senate Judiciary Committee. He said, quote, ``To deliver the
message that the Navajo Nation downwinders and uranium workers
stand with the many others who are here today who deserve fair
compensation and healthcare for the risks and sacrifices that
their families have made,'' and he is right. This includes
Leslie Begay, a veteran who, because he was unable to fly, has
had to drive across our country. Larry King, a uranium worker
who witnessed the radioactive spill at Church Rock mine, and
many other miners and families who continue to suffer.
We'll hear from our leaders today, and we're going to hear
these important stories that have to be told so we can act,
including one from Henry Herrera, who described that it was
morning and the ash began to fall on the laundry his mother had
hung outside their home in Tularosa. He looked up to describe a
large gray ball of smoke moving higher and higher as the wind
blew it toward Capitan, Ruidoso, Hondo, and Roswell.
Henry and his two sisters are cancer survivors, but they
had to bury their brother and their niece and their nephew
because of the disease. This is just one of those stories.
And I'm reminded as I close, Senator, that according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New Mexico
residents were neither warned before the 1944 Trinity blast,
informed of health hazards, or afterwards, nor evacuated
before, during, or after the test.
Church Rock still needs to be cleaned. Abandoned mines
still need to be identified and cleaned. And families that are
dying from cancer need to be helped. And here's what it comes
down to: Exposure rates in public areas from the world's first
nuclear explosion were measured at levels 10,000 times higher
than currently allowed.
I thank you again, Mr. Chairman. I thank the Committee for
making today possible, and the witnesses for providing
testimony.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much, Congressman Lujan.
And I now recognize Congresswoman Haaland for her opening
statement.
STATEMENT OF HON. DEB HAALAND,
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW MEXICO
Ms. Haaland. Thank you very much, Chairman. Thank you to
our witnesses, and thank you to the audience members.
I'd like to acknowledge that we have Laguna and Acoma
Pueblo members here in the audience. I was proud to participate
in the Southwest Uranium Miners Coalition Post 71 Symposium on
Saturday, and I thank you all so much for driving the distance
to be here today. And we appreciate all of you being here.
Thank you, Chairman Udall, for inviting me, for holding
this hearing, and Assistant Speaker, of course, I'm very proud
to serve with you. Thank you for your service to all of our New
Mexicans.
Good morning, and thank you all for your attendance. I also
appreciate SIPI and President Allison for having us today and
their hospitality, for putting on this lovely event. We all
acknowledge our presence of pueblo lands today, and I
respectfully ask you to keep this in mind as we proceed. May
the dialogue be truthful, sincere, genuine, and may we all
convene in good faith with each other.
Everyone in this auditorium probably knows someone who has
been affected by the dangers of working in a uranium mine. I
certainly do. A relative of mine lost his hearing in one ear
due to working in the mines, and I know people who have
experienced worse.
From 1950 to 1980 the Pueblo of Laguna was home to the
world's largest open pit uranium mine in the world. Prolonged
exposure to isotopes of uranium causes kidney failure, lung
cancer, and respiratory problems. Other contaminants associated
with the mining of uranium ore include arsenic, barium,
chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, manganese, vanadium, selenium,
and zinc.
I recently met with downwinders from Tularosa, New Mexico,
in my office who produced a full page of Trinity site victims
who were never given the opportunity to protect themselves. At
the Jackpile Mine, these poisons were dumped in an open pit
without any lining to protect the ground and the groundwater
because that was the standard at the time. I know it's
difficult for us to comprehend this today. In fact, it's been
45 years since cleanup of the uranium tailings began, and it's
still not done. That is a responsibility of the federal
government.
The then-new industry pumped cash into the wallets of
pueblo workers who previously supported their families by
primarily a bartering system. Back then, there were also a
patriotic movement to help the war effort and the push toward
nuclear energy, and the community welcomed the mining, and
members enlisted to serve in the military.
The trade-off was stark. Local work with a steady paycheck
later developed into a high incidence of substance abuse,
broken families, and cancer and other illnesses, a tremendous
cost to Laguna and communities all over New Mexico, each person
affected, their family and their tribes. The health costs alone
are devastating to those with cancer, even those who have
health insurance. 25 percent of cancer-inflicted mine workers
will deplete their savings to pay for their cancer treatments
and associated costs, and some will go bankrupt.
As a member of Congress, I'm standing up by supporting
legislation that helps victims. The Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act was the first step in recognizing some of the
harmful effects of nuclear energy. I'm a proud co-sponsor of
Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Lujan's Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act amendments in 2019, HR-3783, and I know
Senator Udall is an original co-sponsor of the Senate version,
S-947. These bills expand the scope of RECA's reach so we can
ensure that all those who were harmed by exposure receive what
they are duly owed.
In addition to the monetary aspects of the act, it serves
to highlight the ever-pressing problem of radiation exposure.
Our miners, mill workers, and ore transporters are facing
potentially hazardous conditions every single day, and we need
to be proactive about managing the risks. Additionally,
innocent bystanders have also reaped these horrific hazards. It
forces us to own up to the known detriments associated with the
nuclear forward society. The RECA amendments act holds our
government accountable and implores us to not turn our back on
those who are affected by their work environment. Instead, we
applaud their hard labor and take responsibility for the ill
effects of a job that we asked them to do.
Our workers deserve recognition and protections for the
dedication they put into these dangerous jobs. In addition, the
House National Defense Authorization Act includes an amendment
by Assistant Speaker Lujan to secure a congressional apology to
New Mexicans and other downwinders for the actions of our
government.
As a member of the conference committee negotiating the
final NDAA, I am working hard for this provision and for the
downwinders.
Before closing, Chairman, I would just like to say that the
House Democrats and also you are pushing legislation, moving
legislation forward in fighting climate change, protecting our
public lands from gas and oil drilling and fossil fuel
extraction, holding the United States accountable for its trust
responsibilities to Indian tribes, and moving our country
toward 100 percent renewable energy because we have this
gigantic nuclear reactor in the sky. It's called the sun, and
we get over 350 days of sun per year right here in New Mexico,
and we should be moving toward clean energy. We have had enough
of this energy that makes people sick and gives people cancer
and scars our land forever. It's time to move our country
forward with clean energy to make sure that we can protect
every single worker into the future.
Thank you for inviting me, and I should say one last thing,
Chairman. We were told earlier that so far, RECA has paid out
$2.3 billion in compensation to workers and/or their families.
And that sounds like a lot of money; right? But look. $8
billion President Trump was trying to take from the military to
pay for a wall that will do nothing to move our country
forward, a wall on the southern border, and billions to
farmers, billions, more than $2.3 billion, billions to farmers
for his failed tariff policies. And I am here to say that it's
time for us to make sure that our country is putting our
priorities straight and the health and safety of our citizens
should be the top priority, and I promise you that every single
one of us up here on this stage today pledge to do that for our
country, for our state, and for everyone.
Thank you for inviting me, Senator Udall. I'm eager to
learn from you.
Senator Udall. Congresswoman Haaland, thank you very much
for that opening, and I want to thank our witnesses that are
with us here today. I know many of you have traveled long
distances, andwe very much appreciate you being with us today.
We have here today Mr. David Gray, Deputy Regional
Administrator at Region 6 of the Environmental Protection
Agency. Mr. Peter O'Konski, Deputy Director, Office of Legacy
Management of the Department of Energy. Dr. Loretta
Christensen, Chief Medical Officer for the Navajo Area of the
Indian Health Service.
And I want to remind the witnesses that your full written
testimony will be made a part of the official hearing. Please
keep your statements to five minutes, so that we may have some
time for questions, and look forward to hear your testimony.
Why don't we begin with Mr. Gray, and proceed across to
your left there. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF DAVID GRAY, DEPUTY REGIONAL
ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Mr. Gray. Thank you. Good morning, Vice Chairman Udall,
members and distinguished guests. I'm David Gray. I'm the
Deputy Regional Administrator for EPA Region 6, which covers
Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and 66 tribal
nations. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
EPA has a long history of working with tribal partners to
achieve our mission. The 1984 EPA Indian Policy was the first
formal Indian Policy adopted by a federal agency, specifying
how EPA would interact with tribal government and consider
tribal interests. Every single EPA office, region, works with
tribes whether it be through consultation and coordination,
providing technical assistance and compliance assistance,
administrating grants, or providing for direct implementation.
EPA has been working with our tribal partners, particularly in
Region 6, Region 8, and Region 9, to address historical uranium
mining within Indian Country. To accomplish this mission, EPA
has developed both a Navajo Nation five-year plan and a Grants
mineral belt five-year plan. These two five-year plans were the
first coordinated approaches by federal agencies and our tribal
partners to outline a strategy to gain a better understanding
of the scope of the problem and to address the areas with
greatest risk.
While the plans address separate areas, the objectives in
the plans are similar. I'd like to make a few highlights. EPA,
Navajo Nation, and partner agencies have tested over 240
unregulated rural Navajo Nation water sources, which has
greatly exceeded our goal of testing 70 sources. Of the 240
water sources tested, 29 exceeded drinking water standards and
three wells were shut down. IHS, EPA, HUD, have provided
approximately $200 million for water infrastructure processes,
providing for access for piped water to over 3,800 homes.
The groundwater investigation at San Mateo Creek Basin
showed aquifers were impacted by contaminated mine water
discharge; five drinking water wells were found to be
contaminated. In this case, EPA installed filter systems at
four of the wells and provided a new well for the fifth.
EPA is in negotiations with several responsible parties
regarding the remediation of San Mateo site, and EPA recently
added the site to the administrator's emphasis list for
Superfund site cleanups.
EPA, with the support of Laguna Pueblo, added Jackpile Mine
to the national priorities list, and are now overseeing
Atlantic Richfield's investigation at the site. The Pueblo's
work is reimbursed through a management assistant grant
fromEPA.
By the end of 2018, EPA entered into enforcement agreements
and settlements valued at over $1.7 billion covering the
investigation and cleanup of over 200 abandoned uranium mines
on or near Navajo Nation. As part of the Tronox settlement,
$900 million was received to address 54 mines. 34 of these
mines are located on Navajo trust land, 20 mines are located
here in New Mexico. EPA has also received approximately $89
million for the Quivira site on Navajo allotment lands.
Approximately $45 million of the settlement goes directly to
Navajo Nation for the Shiprock uranium mine site.
In June of 2019, EPA completed a prioritization methodology
that relies on both removal site evaluations and risk factors.
In August of 2019, EPA released removal site evaluations that
describe the nature and extent of contamination for all the
Navajo area uranium mines listed in the Tronox settlement. Once
complete, our engineering and evaluation cost analysis reports
will be provided for public comment before the selection of any
remedies.
EPA Region 6 will release its third five-year plan for the
Grants mineral belt by the end of 2020. Similarly, Region 9 and
its partner agencies are working on a ten-year plan for the
Navajo Nation, and we anticipate finalizing that plan early in
2020. These plans focus on the completing of negotiations and
investigations of groundwater and surface water at San Mateo
Creek, the completing and investigation and cleanup of over 200
abandoned uranium mines in Navajo Nation for which EPA has
secured enforcement agreements and settlements, the conducting
of water studies on Navajo Nation to assess if and to what
extent uranium mines have impacted surface and groundwater; the
continuing of time-critical response and actions necessary to
prevent intermittent substantial endangerment; the continuing
to conduct radiological assessments of structures; the
continuing to look for additional sources of funding for
assessments of mines that are not presently part of enforcement
actions or settlement agreements; the continuing to involve
community and tribal leaders in mine assessment, the cleanup
process, and assure that EPA understands community concerns and
considers community goals in its decisionmaking; and the
coordinating closely with tribal partners to ensure that tribal
governments are consulted and that tribal ecological knowledge
is incorporated into our decisionmaking.
EPA remains firmly committed to protecting public health
and the environment in collaboration with our federal partners
and our state agencies and, most importantly, with our tribal
partners. Our collaborative planning process has led to
tangible results on the ground, and we are looking forward to
future progress.
Thank you, and I'm happy to answer your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Gray follows:]
Prepared Statement of David Gray, Deputy Regional Administrator, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Senator Udall. Thank you very much, Mr. Gray.
Please proceed, Mr. O'Konski.
STATEMENT OF PETER O'KONSKI, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF LEGACY
MANAGEMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Mr. O'Konski. Good morning, Vice Chairman Udall, House
members, and distinguished panelists. My name is Peter
O'Konski, and I am Deputy Director of the Office of Legacy
Management at the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of
Legacy Management was established in 2003 to manage DOE's
responsibilities for closed and remediated defense nuclear
sites.
Recently, we hit a milestone. We now have 100 sites
nationwide. From Alaska to Puerto Rico, our sites are as
diverse as they are geographically vast. They are located on
tribal lands, rural areas, and within urban centers. My office
works closely with our state and tribal partners in long-term
surveillance and monitoring of these sites.
Today I'd like to just say a few words about our work with
the Navajo Nation. Our partnership with the Navajo Nation began
more than 20 years ago with the establishment of the Office of
Uranium Mill Tailings. In coordination with this office, we
maintain sites on Navajo lands in Shiprock, Mexican Hat, Tuba
City, and Monument Valley. My office maintains a cooperative
agreement with the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe to ensure
they have a voice in the decisionmaking process related to
these sites.
I am pleased to report we have supported more than a dozen
outreach events with the Navajos this year, to include hosting
public open houses and site tours. We continue to provide STEM
outreach at local schools, and our scientists and engineers
support science education at the Navajo Nation's Dine College.
We are a participant in the Navajo Nation's five-year plan.
Under the plan, we established a community outreach network to
foster agency collaboration on outreach and educational
activities cross-agency. Further, we established the Uranium
101 Working Group, offering seminars providing a clear and
layman's discussion on the nature and hazards of uranium.
I know mines are a very important topic, so I would like to
say a few words about our work on the Defense-Related Uranium
Mines Program. We call that the DRUM Program. The DRUM Program.
LM manages the DRUM Program, a partnership between DOE, the
federal land management agencies, and the state abandoned mine
programs. The DRUM Program is verifying the condition of 2,500
defense-related uranium mines across the nation. Most of these
mines are located out here in the western United States on
public lands. Most are abandoned.
My office is conducting an inventory and assessment of
these mines to validate existing data, document conditions, and
identify risks. Reports are being prepared for each mine,
summarizing the findings of our investigation. The reports are
shared with the respective land management agencies to
determine which mines may require further action.
So in conclusion, the Secretary of Energy has committed to
meeting the department's Cold War post-closure
responsibilities. This includes protection of human health in
the environment, fostering access to records and information,
beneficial reuse of these properties, and of course, community
outreach. For those of us here that are in the long-term
stewardship community, we are committed to fair treatment and
meaningful involvement of all the partners. We recognize our
success is predicated on collaboration and maintaining trust.
I want to thank you for allowing the Department the
opportunity to be here at today's field hearing, and I look
forward to answering your questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. O'Konski follows:]
Prepared Statement of Peter O'Konski, Deputy Director, Office of Legacy
Management, U.S. Department of Energy
Good morning Vice Chairman Udall and distinguished members of this
Committee. My name is Peter O'Konski and I am the Deputy Director of
the Office of Legacy Management (LM) at the U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE). LM was established in 2003 to manage DOE's responsibilities
associated with the closure of World War II and Cold War era sites. LM
takes responsibility for sites after DOE's Office of Environmental
Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other environmental
cleanup work is completed. The federal government used these sites to
research, produce, and test nuclear weapons and conduct other
scientific and engineering research. The operations conducted in this
vast network of industrial facilities left a legacy of radioactive and
chemical waste, environmental contamination, and hazardous facilities
across the country and tribal lands.
Introduction
LM performs long-term surveillance and maintenance activities at
nearly 100 sites nationwide. From Alaska to Puerto Rico, our sites are
as diverse as they are geographically vast, being located on tribal
lands, in rural settings, or within urban centers. LM works closely
with Native American and Alaska Native stakeholders who are partners in
our commitment to long-term surveillance and monitoring of legacy
sites. We routinely collaborate on site inspections and environmental
monitoring, document reviews, natural resource management, and
community outreach, and frequently engage with tribal partners.
Work With The Navajo Nation
There are four LM sites on the Navajo Nation: Shiprock, New Mexico;
Monument Valley, Arizona; Mexican Hat, Utah; and Tuba City, Arizona. LM
monitors the three disposal cells (Shiprock, Mexican Hat, and Tuba
City) constructed to contain the uranium mill tailings; actively treats
or monitors groundwater contamination; and is also responsible for one
former processing site, Monument Valley. DOE established the Office of
Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action on the Navajo Nation more than 20
years ago to oversee long-term stewardship activities and to assist in
managing the sites.
Through a cooperative agreement administered by DOE, LM coordinates
closely with the Navajo Nation Abandoned Mine Lands/Uranium Mill
Tailing Remedial Action Program (AML/UMTRA) Department and the Hopi
Office of Mining and Mineral Resources to inform tribal government
leadership and communities about LM activities and provide
opportunities for ongoing, two-way communication regarding site
inspections, document review, and community outreach initiatives. The
agreement provides financial support for tribal engagement in long-term
stewardship activities and oversight, ensuring that tribal counterparts
have a voice in LM's decision-making process.
LM has supported more than a dozen outreach events on the Navajo
Nation this year, including hosting public open houses and site tours
on a regular basis. LM is also committed to providing STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) outreach at local schools to
introduce students to topics such as radon, radiation, and the legacy
of uranium mining and milling. LM scientists and engineers are actively
engaged in supporting science education at the Navajo Nation's Dine
College and other universities, through teaching and mentoring students
in fieldwork activities.
The Navajo Nation Five-Year Plan
In 2007, Congress issued a directive for six federal agencies and
various Navajo tribal agencies to create a Five-Year Plan to address
uranium contamination within the Navajo Nation. The information gained
during this initial period, would be applied to planning the next steps
in addressing the most significant risks of uranium contamination to
human health and the environment.
In 2014, the Five-Year Plan was updated to build on the work
completed in the first five years and to make changes based on
information gained and lessons learned during this time. One of the
actions from the second Five-Year Plan (2014-2018) was to establish a
``Community Outreach Network'' with the purpose of facilitating
collaboration among the agencies conducting outreach and educational
activities as mandated by the Plan. The hub of this coordinated multi-
agency effort is the Navajo Nation Community Outreach Network Office,
located in Window Rock, Arizona, which is tasked with coordinating and
supporting the multiagency effort through community outreach, joint
agency and tribal planning, and information sharing.
Additionally, the Five-Year Plan identified a need for public
uranium awareness education. The Uranium 101 workgroup continues to
develop informational workshops to address that need.
The federal agencies involved in this effort are DOE, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Indian Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry, and the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention also contributed to health
objectives. The tribal entities include the Office of the Navajo Nation
President and Vice President, Navajo Abandoned Mine Lands/Uranium Mill
Tailings Remedial Action Department, Navajo Nation Department of
Health, Navajo Nation EPA, and Navajo Nation Department of Justice, and
the Hopi Tribe.
Meaningful collaboration is key for implementing long-term
stewardship activities necessary to protect human health and the
environment following cleanup and disposal of radioactive and chemical
wastes on tribal lands and across the country. LM counts on local
communities and tribal partners to present a solid, holistic
examination of challenges so together we can formulate solutions.
Defense-Related Uranium Mines Program
LM manages DOE's Defense-Related Uranium Mines Program (DRUM),
which is a partnership between DOE, federal land management agencies,
and state abandoned mine lands programs to verify and validate the
condition of 2,500 defense-related uranium mine sites across the nation
by 2022. These mines provided uranium ore to private uranium mills that
processed the ore for sale to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
for defense-related activities that occurred between 1947 and 1970.
Most mines are located on public lands and are abandoned. LM conducts
inventory activities, which include exchanging information with other
federal agencies and state governments to improve the quality of mine-
specific data, performing field inventories to document mining-related
facilities at each location, conducting environmental sampling to
evaluate safety and health risks, and producing reports that document
physical safety hazards, as well as potential risks to human health and
the environment.
The Defense-Related Uranium Mines Program under Section 3151 of the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 mandated that
the Secretary of Energy conduct a review of, and prepare a report on,
abandoned uranium mines that provided uranium ore for defense and
energy-related activities of the United States. DOE consulted with
other federal agencies, affected states and tribes, and the public to
develop the report. DOE finalized the report in August 2014, which
documented that many data gaps still exist about these mine sites, most
of which are located in the States of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico,
Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota. DOE determined that further review of
mine sites is needed to fully meet the Act's mandate.
LM has successfully partnered with the Bureau of Land Management,
the U.S. Forest Service, and a number of state abandoned mine lands
programs. LM's initial campaign has been focused on publicly managed
lands, and we plan to complete all the inventory activities by the end
of 2022. Initial planning for Campaign 2 has begun and will focus on
the mines on tribal lands and private property. The inventory activity
for those mines will begin in 2023 or sooner. This will require
collaboration with the U.S. EPA and a number of tribal entities
including the Navajo Abandoned Mine Lands Department and Navajo Nation
EPA.
LM has successfully completed two full field seasons of
inventorying defense-related uranium mines and is currently in the
middle of completing its third field season. In New Mexico,
specifically, we have inventoried more than 50 percent of the mines.
The inventory in New Mexico focused on Bureau of Land Management and
U.S. Forest Service-managed lands around the Grants area, where mines
were most heavily concentrated.
In the next DRUM Campaign 2, LM validation and verification efforts
will focus on mines located on tribal and private lands. The inventory
on the number of DRUM on tribal lands is as follows:
Total Mine Counts on Tribal Lands:
There are approximately 609 mines on the Navajo Reservation
and Navajo trust lands.
Of the 609 mines on tribal lands, there's approximately 419
DRUM (mines) supported by AEC, predecessor to DOE, ore purchase
records.
As the DRUM program reconciles additional historical
information, a required step of the DRUM program, it is highly
likely that a good portion of the remaining 190 mines will be
DRUM. These are not supported by currently available purchase
records but appear to be DRUM mines. We are looking for more
historical records.
The completed, and ongoing, field inventory activities have
identified primarily physical hazards and in relatively few cases the
potential for human health and environmental risks. Physical hazards
are the primary risk driver and include open shafts, open and unstable
adits, and large unstable mine features. Reports are written on every
mine summarizing the findings and potential risks. These reports are
shared with the respective land management agencies.
LM is summarizing the environmental and human health risk data for
each project area so the land management agencies can determine which
mines may require no further action, reclamation, or additional
investigation.
Conclusion
In closing, the Secretary of Energy has committed to diligently and
resourcefully meeting the Department's post-closure responsibilities,
which include the protection of human health and the environment,
access to records and information, meeting commitments to former
contractor workers, optimizing the use of land and assets no longer
needed for Departmental missions, and community education and outreach
efforts. For those of us in the Long-Term Stewardship community, it is
about fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all stakeholders; it
is about allowing people a way to verify the truth of what they are
being told, and it is about establishing and maintaining trust and
collaboration.
Thank you for allowing DOE the opportunity to testify at today's
field hearing, and I look forward to answering your questions.
Senator Udall. Thank you, Mr. O'Konski.
Dr. Christensen, please proceed.
STATEMENT OF LORETTA CHRISTENSEN, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, NAVAJO
AREA INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE
Dr. Christensen. Yatahey. Good morning, Vice Chairman Udall
and Members of Congress, Congressman Lujan and Congresswoman
Haaland. I'm Dr. Loretta Christensen, Chief Medical Officer at
Navajo Area Office of the Indian Health Service. Thank you for
this opportunity to testify at this field hearing on the topic
of ``America's Nuclear Past: Examining the Effects of Radiation
in Indian Country.''
I start by stating the IHS mission, which is to raise the
physical, mental, social, and spiritual health of American
Indians and Alaska Natives to the highest level. The Navajo
Nation has a user population of about 241,000 people and the
Navajo reservation covers an area of over 27,000 square miles,
extending into the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.
Healthcare for the patients of Navajo Area is provided by
five direct IHS service units, one urban Indian Health Center,
two 638 contracted, three 638 compacted tribally authorized
organizations. In addition, Navajo Area IHS has three 638
contracts with Navajo Nation.
The IHS is aware of the legacy and the history of uranium
mining on Navajo Nation and its effect on the Navajo people.
Several years ago, IHS partnered with several agencies and
jointly submitted a five-year multiagency report of
accomplishments to address nonoccupational exposures to
individuals to uranium. This report was sent to Congress in
January of 2013. The IHS accomplishments reported were:
Increased delivery of clean water to homes during this period,
continuation of a medical monitoring program with IHS-
appropriated resources, partnering with the University of New
Mexico in their implementation of a prospective Navajo Birth
Cohort Study funded byCongress through the CDC and the Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry; and continued
service funded through the HRSA Radiation Exposure Screening
and Education Program, RESEP, for individuals with occupation-
related exposures to uranium.
All agencies during the first five years focused on
collecting data, identifying the most imminent risks, and
addressing contaminated structures, water supplies, mills,
dumps, and mines with the highest levels of radiation. The
agencies agreed at the conclusion of the first five-year plan
to develop a second based on the information gained from the
initial plan.
My written testimony contains the objectives and strategies
for the 2014-through-2018 five-year plan that were developed to
address impacts of uranium contamination in the Navajo Nation.
I won't restate due to time constraints, but I'd like to go to
the Navajo Birth Cohort Study.
This cohort study was funded by the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry, and concluded first phase in
August of 2018 with the final developmental assessments
completed. The study will continue in collaboration with
theEnvironmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes, known as
ECHO, with the NIH providing longitudinal surveillance of the
birth cohort and the addition of new pregnancies. The first
phase of the cohort study enrolled 781 women, and the Child
Health Outcomes Program to date has reenrolled 292 of the
original cohort and added 163 new pregnant women.
Early findings from the cohort study potentially related to
radiation exposure include 36 percent of males and 26 percent
of females in Navajo Nation have concentrations of uranium in
the urine that exceed those found in the highest 5 percent of
the U.S. population. Babies are born with concentration of
uranium at those extremes which continues into the first year
of life.
Neurodevelopment screening in the first year of life has
shown that Navajo children's performance suggests a lower
trajectory in many domains, particularly at the tenth-month
landmark.
The cohort study is currently looking at the presence of
anti-fetal-brain antibody production in mothers. We see a
higher-than-expected prevalence of those autoantibodies as well
as significant differences in exposure to heavy metals,
including uranium and arsenic, between those who arepositive
for antibodies and those who are not.
Neurodevelopmental batteries administered to three-to-five-
year-olds in the cohort study and the child health outcomes
initial phase have shown delays in language development,
primarily in boys. In addition, significantly higher rates of
autism spectrum disorder appear in those assessed to date. With
no existing data on developmental trajectories, it is difficult
to assess the importance of these indicators. The longer
follow-up will enable a more informed interpretation of these
results to strengthen intervention recommendation for these
children, our children, our future.
To conclude, please know that the IHS remains firmly
committed to improving quality, safety, and access to
healthcare for American Indians and Alaska Natives in
collaboration with our federal partners, especially HHS, across
Indian Country and Congress.
I thank you, and I am happy to answer any questions you may
have.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Christensen follows:]
Prepared Statement of Loretta Christensen, Chief Medical Officer,
Navajo Area Indian Health Service
Good morning, Chairman Hoeven, Vice-Chairman Udall, and Members of
the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. I am Dr. Loretta Christensen,
Chief Medical Officer, Navajo Area Office (NAO), at the Indian Health
Service (IHS). Thank you for the opportunity to testify at this field
hearing on the topic of ``America's Nuclear Past: Examining the Effects
of Radiation in Indian Country.'' The IHS mission is to raise the
physical, mental, social, and spiritual health of American Indians and
Alaska Natives to the highest level. As an agency within the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS), the IHS provides federal health
services to approximately 2.6 million American Indians and Alaska
Natives from 573 federally recognized tribes in 37 states, through a
network of over 605 hospitals, clinics and health stations.
The Navajo Nation has an IHS user population of 241,010 people and
the Navajo reservation covers an area of 27,000 square miles extending
into the States of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. The Navajo Area IHS
has 5 IHS Direct Care Service Units, 1 Urban Indian Health Center and 2
P.L. 93-638 contracted and 3 compacted tribally-authorized
organizations. In addition, the Navajo Area IHS has 3 P.L. 93-638
contracts with the Navajo Nation.
The IHS is aware of the legacy of historical uranium mining on
Navajo Nation land and its effects on the Navajo Nation people. Several
years ago, the IHS partnered with several agencies and jointly
submitted a 5-year multi-agency report of accomplishments to address
non-occupational exposures of individuals to uranium. This report was
sent to Congress in January 2013. IHS accomplishments that were
reported include:
Increased delivery of clean water to homes during the 5-year
period.
Continuation of a Medical monitoring program using IHS
appropriated resources.
Partnering with the University of New Mexico (UNM) in their
implementation of a prospective Navajo Birth Cohort Study
(NBCS) funded by Congress through the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).
Continued services funded through a Health Resources and
Services Administration, Radiation Exposure Screening and
Education Program (RECA) grant for individuals with occupation-
related exposures to uranium.
All agencies during the first five years focused on collecting
data, identifying the most imminent risks and addressing contaminated
structures, water supplies, mills, dumps and mines with the highest
levels of radiation. The agencies agreed at the conclusion of the first
Five-Year plan to develop a second Five-Year Plan based on the
information from the initial plan. The following objectives and
strategies for the 2014-2018 Five-Year Plan were developed to address
the impacts of uranium contamination in the Navajo Nation.
OBJECTIVE 1: Assessment and Cleanup of Contaminated Structures
Background: Uranium mining or milling waste was occasionally used
as sand for an aggregate in construction so contaminated stone was
incorporated into the walls and floors, including homes. If
contaminated structures are occupied, there is a risk to the
inhabitants from gamma radiation and alpha radiation (radon), which is
a potent carcinogen to the lungs.
Specific Goals:
a. Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency (NNEPA) to
scan 100 homes per year.
b. United States Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to
conduct detailed assessments and remediation as necessary based
on referrals and potential for health risk.
OBJECTIVE 2: Assessment of Contaminated Water Sources, and Provision of
Alternative Water Supplies
Background: Water sources with levels of uranium and other
radionuclides were identified by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, EPA, NNEPA and the Dine' Network for Environmental Health
(DiNEH)
Specific Goals:
a. Complete water infrastructure projects.
b. Increase access to safe drinking water and expand to 55
Navajo Nation Chapters.
c. Continue to implement the water hauling program.
OBJECTIVE 3: Assessment of Abandoned Uranium Mines with Detailed
Assessments of Those Most Likely to Pose Environmental or
Health Problems
Background: Two-hundred and twenty-six mine claims show gamma
radiation levels higher than ten times background levels. The proximity
of mines to homes is an important factor in determining risk to
residents. Thirty-eight of the mine claims are located within a quarter
mile of a potentially inhabited structure.
Specific Goals: EPA, NNEPA and Navajo Nation Abandoned Mine Lands
to conduct assessment and urgent cleanup work at the mines most likely
to pose a risk to human health or the environment:
a. Gamma radiation more than ten times background levels
located within a quarter mile of a potentially inhabited
structure.
b. Gamma radiation more than two times background levels and
located within 200 feet of a potentially inhabited structure.
c. Potential impact to aquatic resources.
d. Mines already identified for action.
OBJECTIVE 4: Cleanup of the Northeast Church Rock, New Mexico Mine Site
and Additional High Priority Abandoned Mine Sites
Background: The Northeast Church Rock mine site was identified as
the highest priority abandoned uranium mine for cleanup
Specific Goals:
a. To complete the design of the cleanup with input from
Navajo Nation, community and other agencies to begin
construction cleanup activities.
b. Identified parties to conduct work.
c. EPA to conduct/oversee assessments at additional high
priority mines.
OBJECTIVE 5: Cleanup of the Tuba City, Arizona Dump Site
Background: The Tuba City Dump was used for over 50 years as an
open, uncontrolled dump. Work is ongoing to identify a long-term
cleanup strategy.
Specific Goals: a. After a remedy is selected, the BIA will begin
the Remedial Design/Remedial Action process.
OBJECTIVE 6: Protection of Human Health and the Environment at Former
Uranium Processing Sites
Background: The Department of Energy (DOE) responsibility for
former mill sites includes ground water remediation and long-term
surveillance and maintenance. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
has oversight responsibility at the former mill sites on the Navajo
Nation that have been transferred to DOE under an NRC general license.
Specific Goals:
a. DOE to revise groundwater compliance strategies for
Shiprock and Tuba City disposal sites.
b. NRC will continue to review and comment on reports
developed by DOE regarding the sites, conduct inspections of
the sites in conjunction with DOE, and review and concur on DOE
revisions to the long-term surveillance plan or groundwater
compliance action plans before they are implemented.
c. DOE will work with NNEPA on a schedule to accept mill-site-
related materials from any further cleanup.
OBJECTIVE 7: Health Studies
Background:
a. UNM performed a study funded by the National Institutes of
Health, on the relationship between uranium in drinking water,
kidney disease, and diabetes. Data from the study informed
policy changes regarding uranium mining and remediation. The
Navajo Area IHS participated in the study.
b. Navajo Area IHS implemented a Community Uranium Exposure
Journey to Healing program consisting of medical screening of
individual health histories and health status, and the
provision of community based education and information
gathering services across the Navajo reservation.
c. Navajo Area IHS Radiation Exposure Screening and Education
Program (RESEP) services were funded by a HHS, Health Resources
and Service Administration (HRSA) grant targeting potentially
compensation eligible individuals as a result of the RECA.
d. Navajo Area IHS staff collaborated with the Navajo Nation
Department of Health Epidemiology Program on a Navajo Nation
cancer report and designation by the Epidemiology Program of a
lead epidemiologist to work on uranium related issues.
e. CDC and ATSDR collaborated with the Navajo Area IHS to
conduct health care provider training on the impact of uranium
and other heavy metals on the health of individuals.
f. CDC and ATSDR funding was provided to the UNM, the Navajo
Nation Division of Health, and the Navajo Area IHS to implement a NBCS
of the health effects of non-occupational exposure on pregnancy
outcomes and infant health.
Specific Goals:
a. Provision of Community Based Services.
Listen to community concerns and provide location specific
health education to community residents.
Provide medical screening evaluations to non-
occupationally exposed individuals.
CDC and ATSDR will provide community education materials
(such as environmental health ``frequently asked questions''),
handouts, and resources.
IHS will transfer health information from medical
screening evaluations to each individual's medical home health
record.
Provision of RESEP services. IHS will provide services as
identified in the HRSA grant's Scope of Work to individuals
with potentially compensable health conditions.
b. Collaboration with the Navajo Nation Division of Health
Epidemiology Program. IHS and ATSDR will work with the Navajo
Nation's Division of Health Epidemiology Program supporting its
efforts to:
Evaluate various cancer case rates by geographic location
of cancer patient's residence and known radiation exposure
sources.
Evaluate the health status of descendants of uranium
miners/mill workers.
Evaluate the potential for a longitudinal human health
impact study (as requested by the Navajo Nation to include
physical, psychological and social parameters).
c. ATSDR funded NBCS.
Continue and complete work on the NBCS in cooperation with
the UNM, the Navajo Nation Community Health Representative
Program, and Navajo Area IHS.
Consider the viability of expanding the laboratory
component of the study.
Conduct outreach education about study results to
participants and Navajo Nation leaders and others at community
gatherings.
Develop a sustainability plan to evaluate the potential
for follow up and/or surveillance of children from the birth
cohort study beyond the research study period (with guidance
and input from the Navajo Nation).
d. Health Care Staff Training. Provide continuing education
sessions to Navajo Nation hospital/clinic healthcare and
community based staff.
Potential Limitations and Challenges:
Achievement of planned goals is dependent on availability of
funding for the following objectives: 1) RESEP services, 2)
work with the Navajo Nation's Epidemiology Center to conduct
two studies and one evaluation, and 3) work on the NBCS.
Navajo Birth Cohort Study
The NBCS, funded by ATSDR, was concluded in August 2018 with the
final developmental assessments completed. The study will continue in
collaboration with the Environmental influences on Child Health
Outcomes (ECHO) with the NIH providing longitudinal surveillance of the
birth cohort and addition of new pregnancies. The data from the initial
phase of the study is currently being analyzed. The first phase of the
NBCS enrolled 781 women, and the early part of the ECHO phase has re-
enrolled 292 of the original cohort with the addition of 163 new
pregnant women. Early findings from the NBCS potentially related to
radiation exposure include:
a. 36 percent of males and 26 percent of women in Navajo
Nation have concentrations of uranium in the urine that exceed
those found in the highest 5 percent of the U.S. population.
b. Some babies are born with concentrations of uranium at
those extremes and exposures continue in the first year of
life.
c. Exposures to multiple metals in the higher exposure
clusters increase the likelihood of preterm birth. This does
not include loss of pregnancy in the early stages.
d. Neurodevelopment screening in the first year of life has
shown that Navajo children's performance on the Ages and Stages
Questionnaire (ASQ), development screen suggests a slower
trajectory in many domains especially at 10 months of age.
There will be examination concerning the use of the screening
to predict performance in later childhood.
e. Higher than expected rates of autoantibody production in
parents in the NBCS. These rates have been associated with
exposures, and are consistent with increased autoantibody
production in studies involving an older population previously.
f. Through the initial phase of NBCS/ECHO, we show that
through age 5, uranium continues to be elevated and increases
in some cases, and that arsenic shows a strong increase until
age 5. The numbers of samples analyzed for metals in children
from ages 2-5 years are very small at this point.
g. The study is currently looking at the presence of anti-
fetal-brain antibody production in moms. These are
autoantibodies that can cross the placental barrier and bind to
developing fetal brain tissue and have been associated with
neurodevelopmental delays as well as autism. We see a higher-
than-expected prevalence of these autoantibodies, as well as
significant differences in exposures to metals including
uranium and arsenic between those who are positive for these
antibodies and those who do not have them.
h. Neurodevelopmental batteries administered to 3-5 year olds
in the NBCS/ECHO Phase I have shown delays in language
development, primarily in boys. In addition, significantly
higher rates of autism spectrum disorder appear in those
assessed to date. The delays observed have really pushed us to
use the ECHO funding to extend follow-up through 8 years (up to
9 years of age) in all children who will reach middle childhood
during the 4+ additional active years of the study to determine
if the observed delays persist, are increased, or recover with
time. With no existing data on developmental trajectories, it
is difficult to assess the importance of these indicators. The
longer follow-up will enable a more-informed interpretation of
these results to benefit the intervention recommendations for
these children.
i. Moving forward the assessment of children's focus of
attention through tracking of eye-movements, which has been
shown to predict performance on some of the more detailed
developmental assessments will be utilized. This language-free
assessment that can be rapidly administered may provide a good
way to do interim assessments that can be used to both validate
the use of the standard tools, and to fill in gaps in the
developmental trajectory to allow for finer grained
assessments.
The IHS remains firmly committed to improving quality, safety, and
access to health care for American Indians and Alaska Natives, in
collaboration with our federal partners, especially in HHS, across
Indian country, and Congress. Thank you, and I am happy to answer any
questions you may have.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much, Dr. Christensen, and we
look forward to that study proceeding and getting us as solid
information as possible.
Just listening to the witnesses, there's no doubt that
we've made some progress, but I can tell you, in traveling in
Indian Country and being in communities and talking to people,
that there's so much more to do. There's no doubt about it. And
all our witnesses are nodding today, so I see they know the
magnitude of the task that we're dealing with.
I want to take this opportunity to remind you that the
Senate Indian Affairs Committee has broad jurisdiction when it
comes to all oversight matters with respect to Native
Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska Natives. And the issues
we are discussing today directly impact Indian Country. There's
no doubt about that. So I would like to get commitments from
each one of you that you will work with me and my staff and
Chairman Hoeven's staff on frequent updates on your progress on
cleanup and efforts to improve public health. Can you answer
that question with a yes or no, Mr. Gray?
Mr. Gray. Yes.
Senator Udall. Okay.
Mr. O'Konski. Yes, sir.
Dr. Christensen. Yes.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much for that commitment.
Dr. Christensen, I understand that the IHS is part of the
five-year planning process, along with other agencies, such as
the DOE and the EPA, sitting next to you. But some folks in the
community have reported to me that your agency has not been
very visible when it comes to addressing the public health
concerns of the community, especially when it comes to
analyzing cancer clusters or other health issues that may be
attributed to radiation poisoning. How do you respond to those
concerns?
Dr. Christensen. Thank you for your question. The IHS does
acknowledge that there is work to be done, particularly in
public health and community health. We have committed this year
our top priorities, the number one being improving cancer care
in Navajo Country. This would entail increasing education to
the patients in a culturally appropriate and sensitive manner
to explain cancer and the need for treatment and surveillance.
The second goal would be to improve our screening across
Navajo Nation. Although we do meet our measures for GPRA in
screening, I don't feel it's enough and that we need to get out
into the communities and increase our screening across the
whole area.
And thirdly, we acknowledge that we need to track real time
a central database of cancer occurrence and surveillance
through the longitudinal time period of people's bouts with
cancer. We are doing some retooling to our electronic health
system at this moment to increase the reporting for uranium
exposure, either working or in the vicinity of any uranium
mines tailings or any of those areas, and therefore, this will
be placed in the patient's records and will always be able to
be identified as having had exposure, which did not exist
before.
We will also try to create a central database with
attention to where the cancers are occurring and general health
status of our patients throughout the area. This will require a
unified effort between IHS and Navajo Nation. Some of the first
work that's been done by the epicenter there has been quite
helpful, and we look forward to partnering with them with their
health education department and with their community health
representatives to thoroughly evaluate the health status of all
occupants of Navajo area.
Senator Udall. Please, did you finish there? Dr.
Christensen, is the lack of cancer treatment centers a
contributing factor? I know most of the cancer treatment
centers are off reservation. Do you think that's a factor?
Dr. Christensen. Well, I think it's just a challenge,
Senator, that we don't get all the information back, because we
do refer all of our cancer patients to appropriate cancer
centers, most of which are a distance from the reservation. We
do have two cancer centers in the border towns that we use, but
we go to Flagstaff, we go to Banner in Phoenix, we go to
Albuquerque, and some to Denver, which does not create the best
flow of information. But I believe that's something we can
overcome and create a system to where we can gather that
information accurately.
Senator Udall. I think that would be very helpful to you
and us from the policy perspective, and obviously, be very
helpful to the patients to have full records and further
doctors to be able to deal with these issues, the health issues
that they're facing.
Mr. O'Konski, the Shiprock site is a uranium tailings site
in the heart of Shiprock on the Navajo Nation. It's my
understanding that this site has an evaporant pool liner to
protect from groundwater contamination, but that the liner is
at the end of its life. Residents are rightfully concerned
about their groundwater and are worried about DOE's proposed
options. What is the timeline to replace the liner, and is DOE
working directly with the Navajo Nation and Shiprock on their
concerns?
Mr. O'Konski. Thank you for the question, Senator. And I
have got a couple of experts behind me, if I need to get a
lifeline. That project is in the development phase as far as
solutions and to address it. We are, I believe, two years out,
approximately from addressing the permanent solution there. We
are working closely with our Navajo partners, with our
regulators to come up with a solution to that that answers all
of the questions. We're trying to be very, very transparent,
also.
Senator Udall. And please commit to me you'll put the
public health first.
Mr. O'Konski. Absolutely, sir. Public health and the
environment is our first priority.
Senator Udall. And the thing that worries me--I have been
looking and reading about your options that you have talked
about that you're considering, and one of the options that
doesn't seem to be on the table is just removal of the
tailings. I don't know if you have already come to a
conclusion, but in many communities where tailings piles are
close to the community, one of the things that the agencies
that review everything, they say, ``Well, let's do complete
removal.''
So have you come to a judgment on that, or is that still
something that's on the table in terms of your review?
Mr. O'Konski. Sir, all options are on the table. And we are
going to continue to work with the community to come up and
look at which are the best solutions, prioritized, and we will
work with our partners and with the Congress to implement that
solution.
Senator Udall. Thank you. It's my understanding that your
office is monitoring an underground plume from the Tuba City
site moving towards the Hopi Tribe. Residents there are worried
about their groundwater. What is DOE doing to prevent a
groundwater contamination from occurring there?
Mr. O'Konski. Sir, we're doing additional monitoring. We
are actively watching the plume. We are working with the Hopi
to establish alternative sources of water. Our highest priority
is tomaintain a safe and healthy area for the residents.
Senator Udall. Thank you. Thank you.
Mr. Gray, my office has been approached by representatives
of the Red Water Pond community, a settlement on the Navajo
Nation. It's my understanding that the EPA and the Army Corps
of Engineers has agreed to relocate the members of the
community due to contamination, but the members of the
community have some real, legitimate concerns about this
proposed relocation plan, specifically that the new location is
not culturally appropriate.
First off, which agency is taking the lead on this
relocation effort? It sounds like EPA is supposed to be the
lead agency and should be working with the Navajo Nation or the
community directly on what their cultural needs are. Is that
what is happening?
Mr. Gray. So we are working with the community on
relocation. The relocation is set to be completed by 2023 in
order to allow further remedy to be put in place. The goal of
the relocation is to move the residents out of direct contact
during the high industrial work andconstruction work that's
going to be required at the site, and to move them away. We are
working aggressively with the community to look to an
appropriate relocation. I understand today that half of the
community has relocated and so we've been successful at
achieving a shared common objective there.
We do understand--and thank you for your most recent
letter; I know that we have a letter from you with community
concerns that have been brought to our attention. We are
working through those and will certainly be prepared to respond
to all of those concerns raised by the community so that we can
move forward in a way that addresses the concerns that looks to
their needs and accomplishes both of our goals, which is to
have them out of harm's way during that construction work.
Senator Udall. Thank you.
Mr. O'Konski, it's been brought to my attention that there
are some 6,000 boxes of Rocky Flats documents stored at LANL.
You all remember Rocky Flats was the pit production facility
until it closed. And so it's completely closed now, and they
have moved those 6,000 boxes down to the Los Alamos National
Laboratory, and that some potential Energy Employees
Occupational Illness Compensation Program--the short for that
is EEOICPA; I think most of us call it by that, so that we
don't have to say all those words there--but those claimants
have been denied access to those records because they are
working through an advocacy group. And it's my understanding
that these records could affect whether a claimant from Rocky
Flats could be eligible for compensation under the program I
just mentioned.
Will you work with my staff to sort out the details of this
so that folks who may be eligible for compensation have the
records they need to file a claim?
Mr. O'Konski. Yes, sir. We will work with your staff on
that.
Senator Udall. Great. Thank you very much.
Mr. Gray, I applaud the EPA for working diligently to
complete the goals set out in the two prior five-year plans,
and I'm also pleased that the next ten-year plan is building
off of those successes. However, as the vice-chairman of the
Indian Affairs Committee and a staunch supporter of tribal
self-determination, I believe that the best2 decisions for
tribes are made by tribes. So I want to make sure your agency
is not setting a low bar for itself by simply saying you're
making progress on these goals without consulting with the
Nation. Was the Navajo Nation consulted and made an active
participant in the underlying development of the prior five-
year plans and the forthcoming ten-year plan? And I don't mean,
were they asked to comment. I mean, was the Navajo Nation
actively involved in setting the goals on a government-to-
government basis?
Mr. Gray. So I wasn't personally involved in the
development of the five-year plan with Navajo Nation, being
from Region 6, being from the Dallas office. But it is my
understanding from speaking with the leadership in the San
Francisco office, which is Region 9, that the Navajo Nation has
been engaged and a cooperative partner in the development of
priorities throughout the development of the two previous five-
year plans, and is certainly at the table and engaged
substantively in the upcoming ten-year plan that will be coming
out shortly. And so we will continue to maintain that
relationship. We remain committed to that relationship. We
understand the incredible opportunity of working directly with
tribes and having our tribal nations be, as you mentioned, part
of the exact decisionmaking process for their communities and
for their lands, and we strive to make that happen also.
Senator Udall. Great. Thank you.
Mr. O'Konski, you testified that the Office of Legacy
Management manages DOE's Defense-Related Uranium Mines Program,
known as the DRUM Program. This program is charged with
verifying and validating the condition of thousands of
abandoned uranium mines across the West by 2022. You further
testified that many data gaps exist about these mine sites,
most of which are located in New Mexico, and that further
review is required to meet your office's obligations set forth
in authorizing legislation. Do you mean to tell me that your
office is currently unable to determine the exact location of
abandoned uranium mines and the potential health and safety
risks that they pose to adjacent communities?
Mr. O'Konski. Thank you for the question, Senator. As I
mentioned, there's 2,500 of these mines. There are not great
historic records. That is the reason we are taking the time to
gophysically find them, touch them, visit them, and investigate
them. We are planning to do 400 mines next year. We have
reached--we have been to 1,000 of them. And we have found a lot
of the records are good, but the mines are in very different
conditions, depending on where they are. So that's the reason
that we are physically going and finding them and writing a
report that is specific to each one as to their condition and
their risk.
Senator Udall. So you're basically telling me your office
is currently unable to determine the exact location of
abandoned uranium mines and the potential health and safety
risks that they pose to adjacent communities? You're doing
some, but there's still many, many more to be found and then
determined what the health risks are.
Mr. O'Konski. Yes, sir. There's hundreds more that we still
have to get to and look at.
Senator Udall. When will this work be completed, and how
can we expedite progress? The people living near these sites
should not be made to wait any longer for this important
information about potential impacts to their health and safety.
What's your timeline there?
Mr. O'Konski. We have multiple teams working on this. We
are looking to do 400 to 500 of them next year and wrap this up
by 2022.
Senator Udall. Great. Thank you for your testimony.
And I think all of you can see, we've made some progress,
but there's still an awful lot of work to do. And so at this
point, I'm going to turn to Congressman Lujan for his
questions.
Mr. Lujan. To the panels that are assembled today, I want
to say thank you, as well as to the panel in front of us, thank
you for your work.
Mr. Gray, according to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
report, Native Americans are at a higher risk for health issues
due to water contamination. This report notes that in the past
decade, tribal water systems experienced 57 percent more water
quality violations than nontribal water systems and received 44
percent fewer inspections under the Clean Water Act from 2010
to 2015. As we know, water is life, and access to clean water
is a human right. Lack of oversight and investment in
infrastructure has harmed communities and damaged our economy,
as water resources are essential to agriculture, economic
development, and health.
Mr. Gray, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water
Act authorizes the EPA to ensure that these communities have
access to safe and clean water and to work with federal, state,
and tribal partners to implement water standards and ensure
compliance. Yet when it comes to water quality, we see
unacceptable conditions for tribes across the country. Why is
the EPA unable to address this disparity?
Mr. Gray. Thank you very much for that question. I can say
that we are taking some very proactive actions, particularly
from Region 6. We now have added two water inspectors here in
New Mexico to solely work with our tribes, to work with our
tribes both for increasing training and knowledge and education
of their tribal operations of their own systems as well as to
aid them with technical assistance in the need for compliance.
We're doing this through a circuit-rider program, which is what
we're calling it. We are piloting it in Region 6 and hoping to
take it to our other regions, demonstrating the success of it.
Today it is showing some great results in lifting the
compliance that we have with tribally owned systems in New
Mexico, and we believe, in Region 6, that that can be modeled
in other places and that it's a way of significantly increasing
the compliance and the ability of our tribal partners to have
safe water.
Likewise, we initiated this past year a tribal program to
test day-cares in schools at all of our tribes for lead in
drinking water. It's been a highly successful program where
we've been able to identify very quickly tribally owned and
operated day-cares in schools that have elevated levels of lead
in drinking water so that we can bring about very rapid
abatement.
That program is providing us with some very interesting and
positive results. We're seeing many schools and day-cares that
may have one drinking water fountain that has elevated lead
levels in it, so we're able to very quickly identify that, take
that system out of service, and then provide for replacements.
And so we've been doing that throughout New Mexico as well
as Oklahoma. Again, it's another pilot that we're using here in
Region 6 that we believe are pilots that can be taken
nationally and that can really change, as you mentioned, the
statistics that we see across the country of needing to improve
compliance and availability of safe drinking water in Indian
Country.
Mr. Lujan. And as we all know, Mr. Gray, this is a trust
responsibility, a treaty responsibility, sovereignty that is
recognized by the United States Constitution through those
treaties. And when we see the worst conditions, more violations
than in other parts of the country with tribal water systems or
with Native American communities and non, I hope that this
helps us understand the urgency of the response; and while
there's inspectors that have been made available, that there
are recommendations coming from the EPA associated with
infrastructure investments with the replacement of these
systems. The testimony of Dr. Christensen to the elevated
levels of uranium and arsenic--is it safe to assume, Dr.
Christensen, that comes from probably drinking water?
Dr. Christensen. That can be one of the sources of that,
yes.
Mr. Lujan. So if that's the case, then this is one of the
areas we can correct that goes back to, Mr. O'Konski, the
question that Vice Chairman Udall posed associated with, you
know, replacing the liner with another liner, getting to the
end of its life--well, get rid of the stuff that's
contaminating the water. If we remove it, then I think that
that would be the answer to address these concerns.
So I appreciate that, Mr. Gray. There's more that we have
to do in this particular area to be able to fix the problem.
Dr. Christensen, the Navajo Area Indian Health Service
serves a patient population of over 240,000, I believe that you
shared, across three states and 11 service providers. Nearly
7.3 percent of deaths reported in this patient population
between 1999 and 2001 were due to cancer alone, a rate not seen
in medical reports prior to World War II and the uranium boom
in the region. We also know from the Navajo Birth Cohort Study
that the uranium concentration in over a quarter of Navajo men
and women measured exceed those found in the highest 5 percent
of the U.S. population. That was part of your testimony.
Dr. Christensen. Yes.
Mr. Lujan. Exceeded those found in the highest 5 percent of
the U.S. population. Dr. Christensen, what trends have you seen
in cancer diagnosis in your patient population that point to
geographic, occupational, or generational spikes that we need
to be paying more attention to in Congress?
Dr. Christensen. Well, what is most significant in the
cancer incidence and prevalence is that it's cancers you would
not expect to be high. Generally speaking, American Indians and
Alaska Natives don't have exceedingly high cancer rates. So the
fact that these prostate, breast cancer, thyroid disease,
kidney cancer, stomach and colorectal cancer are at the very
high end of the prevalence and incident rate tells me that
there's a reason for that.
I do believe there's environmental influence on those
rates, certainly that large spike we saw in the early 2000s,
and we continue to see these cancers occurring more frequently
than they would in a normal population that you are surveilling
across the United States.
So it is quite concerning. And you add lung cancer, which
isn't reaching the levels that we would think it would, but
it's still very prevalent and prominent in this population,
particularly those that worked directly in the mines, the
millings, inthose areas, got severe cases of lung cancer that
would not normally happen in this area. So it is quite
concerning.
The other thing that is very concerning is: Some of these
cancers weren't picked up until later in the course of the
cancer. So that treatment options were less viable than if it
had been detected much sooner. And that's why we are focused on
increasing screening across the whole area so that we can
intervene sooner and give quality of life and longevity to
these patients.
Mr. Lujan. And Dr. Christensen, generational?
Dr. Christensen. Yes, we do see generational. We see a lot
of families suffering cancer in clusters that, again, are not
in the normal variation of cancer recurrences, which is very
concerning. But you made an excellent point when you said we
haven't actually removed the provoking agent. So it's like
keeping your hand over a flame and you keep it there, it will
continue burning. If we continue having this contamination, we
will continue to get these diseases. And that's why it is
vitally important to work, as these gentlemen are, to really
mitigate this as quickly aspossible so we can remove this
exposure and return the health status of our patients and our
people.
Mr. Lujan. That was profound, Dr. Christensen, and I hope
that you and IHS will commit to the Committee and to the
Congress that we can work together to make sure that we're
using every available tool to collect data, making sure that
when patients are coming in, that we work to understand if they
worked in a mine, where they live, what the exposure rate is,
did someone in the family work in those areas, so we can
complement that so we can show what you just shared. Is that
something you could commit to?
Dr. Christensen. Absolutely commit to any needs of our
patients in Navajo. And as I briefly mentioned, we have changed
our electronic health record. We now do ask multiple questions
about uranium, possible uranium exposure, which will then be in
the permanent record. It also has been linked to the ICD-10
code to be in their history, as well. Therefore, anyone who
receives their records will now have documentation of that
exposure, whether it be direct exposure or exposure through
family or exposure through their environment.
Mr. Lujan. So these families whoare living downwind from
test areas, these families are living downwind from open
uranium pits, these families are living downwind from berms
like in Church Rock that burst open in 1978, at a time that the
Navajo Nation received little attention. A year, later we saw
the meltdown at Three Mile Island. There was a lot of federal
response there. But we still have not done what needs to be
done here in New Mexico on the Navajo Nation. It was the first
place of the Trinity test site, that little story that I shared
of that experience where the ash that was falling on clothing
that was recently put up on a clothing line. You saw this ball
off into the distance. These families lived downwind.
Does it surprise you--and I'd ask this question, whether
it's yes or no, or you want to give a little bit more of an
answer--does it surprise you that New Mexico is not included in
downwind protections? The three states that have counties that
were included with downwind protections were Nevada, Utah, and
Arizona.
Should New Mexico be included with downwind protection, Mr.
Gray?
Mr. Gray. Thank you for that question. I'm a little less
familiar with that particular partof this, but it sounds to me
that it's important for us to understand the risks to all of
our communities, whether or not they are on a location,
adjacent to a location or downwind to a location where
contamination has occurred.
Mr. Lujan. I appreciate that.
Mr. O'Konski?
Mr. O'Konski. I'm not sure about the exact details of the
downwind, but I do absolutely agree that our people in our
communities need to be protected.
Mr. Lujan. I appreciate that.
Dr. Christensen?
Dr. Christensen. Absolutely.
Mr. Lujan. I appreciate that very much.
The last question I have, Senator Udall, is: Mr. O'Konski,
you shared that of the 2,500 related mines that you are
currently looking at and trying to measure, the follow-up
question from Senator Udall of trying to identify more mines
that are still unidentified, it's my understanding that in the
1950s and 1960s, the United States Government was complicit in
actually contributing to this problem. The United States of
America gave what I would describe as a finders fee to anyone
that could go find a uranium mine. You had people driving
around in their pickups with the little Geiger counter, I was
told and I read, and they'd go find a site and then they'd
report it, and then the United States would pay them $10,000.
That's probably about $100,000 in today's money.
Is there a similar approach that we can take to help find
the abandoned mines? Because the United States created the
problem.
Mr. O'Konski. We can certainly look at the option of doing
something like that. But there is absolutely no question that
part of what we do, as part of identifying these, is working
with the communities. Because more often than not, it's the
community memory that helps to fill in the holes.
Mr. Lujan. I appreciate that. The last question is: You
stated that there are documents that are being made available
to the offices where those mines are. Are those documents able
to be put in a database where they're in searchable format so
that anyone who needs to see them can find them? Can we get
that agreement?
Mr. O'Konski. Yes, sir. We will make sure that they are
available.
Mr. Lujan. I appreciate that. Thank you very much.
Senator Udall. Thank you, Congressman Lujan.
Just one question of clarification, Dr. Christensen. You
mentioned that now when patients come in, that you're making it
a permanent part of the record that they have some radiation
exposure if they did; is that correct?
Dr. Christensen. Yes. That's what we've retooled.
Senator Udall. And it would seem to me that supplementing
the screening you're doing to try to find out earlier if people
have cancer, that you could also, with that information, call
patients together and educate them and indicate to them the
kinds of symptoms they might see for these types of cancer you
mentioned or other illnesses that might be out there as a
result of radiation. So it seems to me that that permanent
record would be very important in terms of the education
aspect.
Dr. Christensen. Yes, it would be, and just in addition,
the intention is to--and I'll call it geomapping--is to geomap
the area, looking at both the health status of everyone and
certainly addressing the environmental impact of uranium
exposure and toxicity.
Senator Udall. Thank you. Congresswoman Haaland, please
proceed.
Ms. Haaland. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you so much.
My first question is for Dr. Christensen. And I just want
to follow up on a question that Chairman Udall had, and it has
to do with the database you mentioned, that you're working on
that to be better? Or what are you exactly doing with the
database that will help this situation?
Dr. Christensen. Thank you for your question. Our current
database is based off of our electronic health system, which
until now is run independently at each service facility. So
that information does not flow into a central hub, meaning that
to aggregate requires a lot of manual work, which can be done,
but I'd like to see it to where we can also retool our system
to feed it into a set database where we have real time numbers,
real time geography; although it is understandably challenging
on Navajo land because of addresses and the zip codes being the
same, to actually specify an area or a region. That's why we
look to partnering with Navajo Nation. The community health
representatives are invaluable in helping us know where every
single family is and every single person is so that we can
evaluate them and check on them as needed.
So we'd like to have that database available to say, real
time, we're seeing an increase in this cancer, we're seeing a
decrease hopefully in this cancer, and by doing that central
hub, we hope this would become more facile.
Ms. Haaland. Thank you. And thank you for raising the
importance of the community health representatives. Those are
important all over Indian Country, and we need to always
support them.
Now, you are the chief medical officer for the Navajo Area,
but not every Indian community who suffers from illnesses
caused by uranium and other radiation are in your area. So is
the Indian Health Service as a whole, to your knowledge,
working on making sure or moving this issue forward so that
every single community can reap the benefits of modernization
of the database in the electronic health records?
Dr. Christensen. Thank you for your question. We do have
support from headquarters and we do work with our adjacent
areas of Albuquerque Service Unit and the Phoenix Service Unit,
and we are more than willing to collaborate on any data and any
gathering of information because, we do cross borders quite
often, and we don't actually look at those as a barrier to
helping anyone. We accept everyone at our hospitals, we're
happy to help them, and we're happy to work with our two
partners on either side of us to make sure we're collecting
appropriate information.
Ms. Haaland. Thank you so much. And within this data
collection, do you collect data on the occupation of patients
you treat so you can potentially identify health conditions
arising from workplace conditions?
Dr. Christensen. Yes, we do. We ask a series of questions
upon presentations to our facilities, which we continue to
expand. I'm not sure the patients like answering all those
questions all the time, but it's very vitally important to us
to gather that information. We are also looking to include the
social determinants of health and we now have proper coding for
that, so we'll be able to also see who's suffering the most
from thosechallenges of the determinants of health, and that
also helps us align our resources for the patients and for the
people.
Ms. Haaland. Thank you so much. The Indian Health Service
is the first line of defense when it comes to the healthcare
needs of Indian Country, but it sounds like in some cases that
the needs of patients who are exposed to radiation aren't
necessarily being met in the best way possibility. Are there
changes that need to be made to the law or IHS or to funding
levels to ensure that all patients get the care they need? And
I mean, we'd like to know, because as Members of Congress, we
can likely move some of these things forward. So what's your
opinion on that?
Dr. Christensen. Well, certainly we have a big challenge
ahead of us, because we do also have our tribal organizations
in Navajo Area which we very much collaborate with along with
Navajo Nation. So there are a lot of entities providing care.
Some of the challenges for the victims of uranium exposure come
from the type of examinations they must undergo to be
certified, and that currently wasn't offered anyplace in
Navajo.
We have worked to recruit two pulmonologists into our area,
in Shiprock and Gallup, and we're going to bring some of the
pulmonary function testing into our area, which will negate
them having to travel to Denver and other places. So I think
it's a matter of managing our resources and prioritizing what's
needed. And that's included from the babies that are being born
to our elders, that we have to see what is needed for each of
those generations, because they have different needs. I think
the collaboration between Navajo Nation and our tribal
facilities is actually the most paramount things that needs to
continue and strengthen.
Ms. Haaland. Thank you so much.
I'd just like to let you know that our office is open. If
there are any issues that you feel we need to know about,
you're welcome to give me a call. That goes for all of you.
So I'll move on to Mr. Gray and Mr. O'Konski. And I just
wanted to thank my colleague, Assistant Speaker Lujan, for
bringing up the downwinders in Tularosa and the Trinity Site.
Those people made a tremendous sacrifice for our country.
Right? I mean, World War II was--I mean, there could have been
a different outcome if it weren't for the people here in this
state specifically working to protect democracy around our
world. And so I feel very strongly that the people here in New
Mexico who have made those sacrifices--they deserve to be
compensated. Full stop. So I just hope that you can understand
how we feel about our citizens here in this state.
So I wanted to just talk about the number of uranium mines
on Navajo Nation lands that have not been cleaned up. And I'll
say that on Laguna Pueblo, the Jackpile Mine, they are still
waiting for--they need funds. I'll just say it like that. They
need the money to clean up the Jackpile Mine. The job was not
completed, and the job needs to be completed. And so since
we're talking about commitments here, I would like your
commitment to work with the governor of Laguna Pueblo and the
council and their attorneys to make sure that you are open to
their phone calls and their letters and that you are doing
everything you possibly can to make sure that this gets done.
The mine has been closed for around 40 years now. That is long
enough for us to wait.
And so I'm just going to put it like that. I would like to
have your commitment to work withthem to make sure that this
job gets done.
Mr. Gray. Absolutely. You absolutely have my commitment,
the commitment of my organization. We share a common strategy
for wanting to see that work completed. And it does take too
much time, it is a daunting task, and I know that people become
very frustrated and impatient with that. But we should not be
more frustrated by having lack of conversation, lack of
dialogue, and lack of input. And we'll make sure that happens.
Ms. Haaland. Thank you.
Mr. O'Konski?
Mr. O'Konski. We are part of the team with EPA, and we
stand by to assist.
Ms. Haaland. Thank you very much.
And along those lines, when we look at the number or the
amount of uranium extracted, you know, extraction in Indian
Country, and other minority communities, and they wait years
and years and years and in Laguna's case, decades, four
decades, in fact, where other communities, where they're
essentially nonminority communities, they tend to get it done
in a timely manner. And so why doesn'tthe EPA enforce the
Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability
Act, CERCLA, also known as the Superfund law, equally across
all communities?
Mr. Gray. Thank you for that question. My hope, after being
with the agency for over 30 years, is that we do that, that we
work very diligently to ensure that we are looking at all
communities, that we're evaluating risks, that despite the
economics of any given place, that we are bringing remedies,
that we're bringing protections. We recognize through our
environmental justice program that we have communities of lower
economics that are also at higher risk because of the lack of
air-conditioning, circulation, shelter in place, all those
remedies that many of us that live in other neighborhoods take
for granted.
And so I would hope that if there's ever a concern about a
remedy or about a selection of a remedy at a location, and if
there's ever concern of an unfairness, that you bring that
immediately to our attention. We would be happy to explain that
and to investigate that. Because it is personally important to
me, as a leader in the Region 6 office, as well as to all of my
colleagues, that that not bethe case.
Ms. Haaland. Mr. O'Konski? Do you have anything to add?
Mr. O'Konski. No, ma'am, I don't have anything to add.
Ms. Haaland. Okay. Chairman, those are all my questions.
And I just thank you all so much again for being here, and
thank the audience for being here, as well. We are committed to
fairness in every single thing we do. We're committed to
fairness in our government, because no one should be left out
of--you know, we talk about the American dream everywhere, and
that's something that's a given to all of us, and to Native
Americans in this country, this is. And if anyone ever wonders
why we join the military in numbers higher than any other
community, it's because this is our land and we want to
protectit. So thank you so much.
Mr. Lujan. Mr. Gray, just one thing that I'd ask for you to
consider conveying to the San Francisco office is: You'll later
hear in testimony that's been filed by the president of the
Navajo Nation, President Nez, he does respond to the two five-
year plans that were put together, and I quote from his
testimony, ``that the Navajo Nation feels it was never
adequately consulted on either plan,'' and now that the ten-
year plan is coming forward, the Navajo Nation, I then quote,
``was not an active participant in the underlying development
of this plan and suspects that it too will be devoid of the
same.''
So just so we make sure we convey that to the San Francisco
office and make sure they understand.
Mr. Gray. Absolutely. Thank you.
Mr. Lujan. It's not a question of if. It's a matter of: It
must be done. And as the Senator pointed out, it's not just
asking for comments.
Mr. Gray. Yes, thank you for sharing that thought. I'm
happy to take that back. I'm happy to provide that feedback to
them, and I'm happy also to share any models by which we can
improve that.
Mr. Lujan. Thank you.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much, and thank you,
Congresswoman Haaland. Thank you, Congressman Lujan, Assistant
Speaker Lujan.
Let me just say just one short comment on the testimony
today. And it's really emphasizing that we have made progress,
but there's so much more to do. There is really so much more to
do. And when you get out, like the members of Congress here
have in these communities, they feel an urgency. They feel that
things need to be happening today. And that's just--they are on
the ground, and I think they also feel some frustration with
the pace that we're moving on. So I thought that was important
to let you know a little bit about the kind of input that we
get here.
And I just want to really thank you for your time and
testimony today. I'd like to remind you that the members of the
panel, maybe other members on the Senate Indian Affairs
Committee may submit follow-up questions for the record. Our
Committee expects a response to those questions within 30 days.
You all are nodding. I hope you will help us with that. And we
just want to just thank you again.
And I would excuse this panel and then we're going to take
just a couple of minutes to change name tags and then to ask
panel 2 to then come forward. So thank you very much.
Senator Udall. We'll just be in a slight recess here as we
shuffle.
[Recess from 12:14 p.m. to 12:27 p.m.]
Senator Udall. We're reconvened here, and we have our five
witnesses before us, and they're very cramped around that
table. We apologize for that. But don't worry; there will be a
microphone for you and we'll get it around, and you will be
able to be heard, loud and clear. And we just, once again, want
to thank you for being here. We know many of you have traveled
distances, many of you are very busy folks, you have got things
you're doing, and are taking the time off to share with the
Senate Indian Affairs Committee and Congresswoman Deb Haaland
what your thoughts are on what happened. And feel free, also,
in your openings, to talk about--you may be questioned about
this--what you have heard already, you know, and give us your
frank opinion of what's going on on these very important
issues.
And we'll now hear from our second panel of witnesses. Let
me start from the left here, the Chairman of the Navajo Nation,
the Honorable Jonathan Nez. We also have the Honorable Michael
Chavarria, the Governor of the Santa Clara Pueblo and Chairman
of the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos. We also have Mr. Ryan
Riley, Councilman Riley from the Laguna Pueblo Council of
Government. Mr. Phil Harrison, an advocate for the Navajo
Uranium Radiations Committee. And Ms. Tina Cordova, advocate
for the Trinity downwinders. And she was the cofounder of the
Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium.
Once again, thank you to all of you and why don't we start
with President Nez and work to your left there.
STATEMENT OF HON. JONATHAN NEZ, PRESIDENT, NAVAJO NATION
Mr. Nez. Thank you and good afternoon, yatahey, Vice
Chairman Udall and members of the Committee on Indian Affairs,
Assistant Speaker Lujan and Congresswoman Haaland.
My name is Jonathan Nez. I'm the president of the Navajo
Nation. Thank you for this opportunity to present testimony on
how our participation in supporting America's nuclear path has
impacted the Navajo Nation.
Joining me today is former president, chairman, Peterson
Zah, and also our council delegate Amber Kanazbah Crotty;
Navajo EPA executive director Oliver Whaley; Navajo Department
of Healthexecutive director Dr. Jill Jim; Navajo Nation
Washington Office Executive Director Santee Lewis.
Also, we have here today former uranium miners, impacted
community members, and others who continue to seek justice on
this very topic.
I also wish to express my appreciation to the Committee for
convening this field hearing to examine the unique history and
legacy of the atomic age and discuss whether the federal
government lives up to its obligations related to the adverse
impacts on people and our homelands. This hearing is long
overdue, and we appreciate Chairman Grijalva also holding
another meeting on the Navajo Nation last week. And a lot of
the same folks that are here today were there, really heartfelt
testimonies from our post '71 mine workers.
It has been 75 years since the United States opened up the
Navajo Nation for uranium mining and 40 years since the
catastrophic Church Rock uranium mine spill. To summarize, our
participation in the Cold War has devastated our lands and our
way of life as Navajo people. The impact is not only physical,
but spiritual and emotional, and will continue to cause much
suffering for the Navajo people into the foreseeable future ata
much greater rate if measures are not taken by the federal
government to help mitigate the impacts.
Approximately 30 million tons of uranium ore was extracted
from Navajo lands during mining operations from 1944 to 1986 to
support America's nuclear activities such as the U.S.
military's Manhattan Project, World War II, and the Cold War.
At that time, the United States Atomic Energy Commission was
the sole purchaser of all uranium ore mined in the United
States until 1970.
The uranium mining boom transpired from these activities
which led to the creation of hundreds of mines on and around
the Navajo Nation. This meant that many of our Navajo people
worked in these mines without proper safety measures, without
knowing the long-term effects that it would have on them and
their loved ones.
Once the Cold War ended and the federal government no
longer needed uranium ore to produce nuclear weapons, all of
these mines were abandoned without any reclamation, let alone
remediation. There are approximately 524 abandoned uranium mine
sites on the Navajo Nation, while the Navajo Nation estimates
that there could be far more. Unfortunately, only 219 of these
sites haveavailable funds for cleanup and remediation efforts,
leaving a total of 305-plus sites not being addressed and that
pose severe environmental health hazards to surrounding areas
and people.
Although there's approximately $1.7 billion to clean up the
219 mine sites, it is not enough. The Navajo Nation estimates
it will cost an additional $3.5 billion to address the
remaining 305-plus sites, which does not include the cost of
long-term monitoring and maintenance.
There are also four Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control
Act sites, and many of them were brought to the first panel's
attention. They are located within the Navajo Nation here. The
radioactive mill tailings were merely capped with clay and rock
and left at the former mill sites. As a result, the groundwater
underneath these sites has been severely impacted with
hazardous waste contamination.
There's also one other uranium mill processing site located
immediately adjacent to the Navajo Nation in Church Rock, New
Mexico. On July 16, 1979, an earthen dam was breached,
releasing over 1,000 tons--1,000 tons--of radioactive mill
waste and 93 million gallons--93 million gallons--of acidic
radioactive tailings solutions in the Puerco River, the largest
hazardous waste spill in the history of the United States, and
we are still working with the federal government to clean up
that area.
The uranium legacy on the Navajo Nation is expansive,
costly, and remediation efforts are fragmented across numerous
federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection
Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Department of Energy, Indian Health Service, and
the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, just to
name a few. This fragmentation results in a constant state of
evaluation and never seems to make any real changes.
In 2007 and 2014, the federal government developed a five-
year plan to address uranium contamination, and there was
little to no tribal input. With each five-year plan created for
the Navajo Nation, the Navajo Nation was not adequately
consulted, which is evidenced by the fact that these plans
fail.
We are presently developing another ten-year plan with U.S.
EPA, and once again, the Navajo Nation was not an active
participant in theunderlying development of this plan, and we
suspect that it, too, will be devoid of addressing our
concerns.
The Navajo Nation has competent citizens who have gone to
school and returned home to help, and they can provide a unique
perspective from our way of life, teaching, culture, and
tradition if we are able to have a seat at the table.
The Navajo Nation is addressing these issues and to help
our own people, we are not sitting back. Our nation has created
a Dine Uranium Remediation Advisory Commission to work with the
Abandoned Mine Lands Office, the EPA, and others to examine the
impacts and to identify solutions. With the support of Delegate
Crotty and Phil Harrison, the Navajo Nation has set aside funds
in our current fiscal year budget to hire a lobbyist to push
for the reauthorization and expansion of benefits under the
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. Under the proposed RECA
bill, downwinders and post '71 mine workers will receive
benefits that they are fully entitled to. This will bring some
justice to them and their families, as many of them continue to
suffer from cancer and other serious health problems.
And today, there are many of our Navajo post '71 mine
workers in attendance. Just to name a few, we have Leslie Begay
and Tommy Reed and others, and we also have our brothers and
sisters that are not from the Navajo Nation that are post '71
that have joined us today, as well. Thank you for your
advocacy.
The Navajo Nation and the Tuba City Regional Healthcare
Corporation also work with the cancer support community, Dr.
Jill Biden, and other health professionals to establish the
very first cancer treatment center on the Navajo Nation in the
community of Tuba City, Arizona.
We are also working with the Indian Health Service to
determine the feasibility of creating another cancer center as
part of a new hospital facility that will replace the aging
Gallup Indian Medical Center. These are a few examples of what
the Navajo Nation is doing to help our own people. It is time
for the federal government to step up and do their part, as
well.
In conclusion, the federal government has failed us by
allowing uranium mining on the Navajo Nation, leaving a mess,
and by not ensuring adequate protection for U.S. citizens
working in or living around uranium mine sites.
Again, we thank the Committee for holding this hearing
today and look forward to working with Congress to see how we
can address the contamination of our lands and help our people
suffering from serious health problems. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Nez follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Jonathan Nez, President, Navajo Nation
Dear Chairman John Hoeven, Ranking Member Tom Udall, and Members of
the Committee, I appreciate the opportunity to provide written
testimony on the impact uranium mining has had on our Navajo people. It
has been 75 years since the United States opened up the Navajo Nation
for uranium mining and 40 years since the historic Church Rock uranium
mill spill. To summarize, our participation in the Cold War has
devastated our lands and our way of life as Navajo people. The impact
is not only physical but spiritual and emotional and will continue to
cause much suffering for the Navajo people into the foreseeable future.
From the time of our emergence as Navajo people into our present
world, our Diyin Dine'e have entrusted us Dine people with protecting
and preserving our environment and land. Consequently, our Navajo
creation story, as well as all of our oral traditions are intrinsically
connected to our environment and land. Therefore, each Navajo
individual has a sacred duty to maintain Hozhq, which in the English
language can be translated to living in harmony and balance with our
environment, land, and all living beings.
Additionally, our elders have taught us that it is only by living
this way that we as Navajo people can experience wholeness, self-
respect, and maintain an overall positive state of well-being. In
contrast, when we don't do this, we experience Hochxq, which in the
English language can be interpreted as all that is ugly, unhappy and
disharmonious in our world, including all of the physical impacts that
we are now experiencing across our Navajo Nation. From health issues
like cancer and other diseases, to social issues like depression,
suicide, domestic violence, and alcohol and drug abuse, to
environmental issues like drought and now radiation exposure.
While the outside world might consider these beliefs to be folly,
implausible and not grounded in science, logic, or reason, we, Dine,
are a spiritual people, and as such, we understand that our thoughts,
actions, and traditional practices contain very real and inherent
metaphysical power, which ultimately transfers into our daily lives,
both for good and bad.
In stating this, I hope it helps you to better understand why the
issue of uranium contamination on the Navajo Nation is such an
important and time-sensitive issue for our Navajo people. How can we
live in harmony and balance when our people are chronically being
exposed to radiation and our Mother Earth has been exploited and
scarred with abandoned uranium mines?
I. The Legacy of Uranium Mining on the Navajo Nation
The United States first opened up Navajo land for uranium mining in
1944 to support the U.S. Military's Manhattan Project. Following World
War II, uranium mining on Navajo lands increased due to the Cold War,
and the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) became the sole
purchaser of all uranium ore mined in the United States until 1970. \1\
This subsequent mining boom led to the creation of hundreds of mines on
the Navajo Nation and our Navajo people working in those mines.
According to the U.S. EPA, approximately thirty million tons of uranium
ore was extracted during mining operations within the Navajo Nation
from 1944 to 1986. \2\ However, we won't know the actual amount of
uranium mine waste left behind until remedial site evaluations are
completed for all of the abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Brugee, Doug, Timothy Benally, and Esther Yazzie-Lewis. The
Navajo People and Uranium Mining, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
Press, 2006.
\2\ Navajo Nation: Cleaning Up Abandoned Uranium Mines. (2019,
April 12). Retrieved July 9, 2019, from https://www.epa.gov/navajo-
nation-uranium-cleanup
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once the Cold War ended and the federal government no longer needed
uranium ore to produce nuclear weapons, all of these mines were
abandoned without any reclamation, let alone remediation. Indeed, it
was a requirement in the AEC's lease agreements with the private mining
companies who were extracting the uranium ore that no reclamation work
was to be performed in case the United States should ever decide to
restart the uranium mining on Navajo land so it could again purchase
the uranium ore.
According to U.S. EPA, there are approximately 524 abandoned
uranium mine sites on the Navajo Nation, while the Navajo Nation
estimates that there could be far more. Unfortunately, only 219 of
EPA's identified sites have available funds for clean-up and
remediation efforts, leaving a total of 305 sites not being addressed,
and that pose severe environmental and health hazards to surrounding
areas and people. \3\ Additionally, while these 219 sites have funds
available, which total approximately $1.7 billion, it is not yet clear
whether this amount is sufficient. Moreover, the Navajo Nation
estimates that it will cost an additional $3.5 billion to address the
remaining 305 sites, which does not include the cost of long-term
monitoring and maintenance of areas where hazardous waste may be
contained in a disposal cell.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Abandoned Uranium Mine Settlements on the Navajo Nation. (2018,
April). Retrieved July 9, 2019, from https://www.epa.gov/sites/
production/files/2018-05/documents/navajo_nation_settlement_fact_sheet-
2018-04-18.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are also four Uranium Mill Tailings Remediation Control Act
(UMTRCA) sites located within the Navajo Nation. These sites exist as a
result of the uranium mill processing sites that were decommissioned by
the United States. Here, the radioactive mill tailings were merely
capped with clay and rock and left at the former mill sites. As a
result, the groundwater underneath these sites has been severely
impacted with hazardous waste contamination. These disposal cell sites
are located in Mexican Hat, Utah, Shiprock, NM, Tuba City, AZ, and
Monument Valley, Arizona.
There is also one other uranium mill processing site located
immediately adjacent to the Navajo Nation in Church Rock, NM, which has
caused severe heartache for the Navajo people living in that area. It
was here, on July 16, 1979, that the largest hazardous waste spill in
the history of the United States occurred when the earthen dam to the
pond holding the processing mill's uranium tailings was breached. \4\
The spill, releasing over 1,000 tons of radioactive mill waste and 93
million gallons of acidic radioactive tailings solution into the Puerco
River, traveled downstream through the Navajo Nation, to the community
of Sanders, AZ, located nearly 60 miles west of the spill site. \5\ The
effects of this spill are still being felt today and may be linked to
the discovery of elevated levels of uranium in the local school's
drinking water. The cleanup and management of these sites is currently
being performed and monitored by the Department of Energy Office of
Legacy Management at an annual cost of approximately $4 million. \6\
This does not include cleanup of the Sanders water contamination.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Community Involvement Plan. (2016). Retrieved July 9, 2019,
from https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-11/documents/
cip_northeast_churchrock_kerrmcgee_quivira.pdf
\5\ Id.
\6\ Federal Plans: Related Documents. (2018, September 20).
Retrieved July 9, 2019, from https://www.epa.gov/navajo-nation-uranium-
cleanup/federal-plans-related-documents#docs
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
At present, the uranium legacy on the Navajo Nation is not only
costly, but the remediation efforts are also fragmented across numerous
federal agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC), the U.S Department of Energy (DOE), Indian Health
Service (IHS), and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry, just to name a few. This fragmentation results in constant
state of evaluations and re-evaluations but never promulgates steps
toward expedited remediation.
II. Abandoned Uranium Mines and Clean-up Efforts
In October 2007, at the request of the U.S. House Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform, USEPA, along with the BIA, the NRC,
the DOE, and the IHS developed a coordinated Five-Year Plan to address
uranium contamination on the Navajo Nation.
Because the plan's objectives in that initial Five- Year Plan were
never completely met, a second Five-Year Plan was created in 2014, in
an attempt address the work still needing to be done during the first
five years, and to establish objectives and strategies in moving
forward to better address the most significant risks to human health
and the environment. However, the Navajo Nation feels that it was never
adequately consulted on either plan, which is evidenced by the fact
that these plans fail to contain issues, concerns, objectives, goals,
and desired outcomes most important to the Navajo Nation.
Some of the aforementioned include: (1) comprehensive groundwater
studies for all uranium impacted areas; (2) comprehensive Nation-wide
studies regarding the health impacts to our Navajo people as the result
of seven decades of chronic radiation exposure; (3); comprehensive
Nation-wide studies regarding potential risk exposure pathways,
including the plants we traditionally eat and use for ceremonial
purposes, our sheep and livestock, which are primary sources of
sustenance, and the water sources many of our Navajo people still use
for drinking water and ceremonial purposes; (4) the establishment of
cancer treatment centers on the Navajo Nation; (5) compensation and
relocation for all Navajo families living in areas impacted by uranium
mining; (6) the capacity building of our Navajo Nation Environmental
Protection Agency to take the lead on addressing the abandoned uranium
mine sites on the Navajo Nation; (7) including traditional and cultural
knowledge into the CERCLA clean-up process, as well as in determining
risk assessment components, prioritization factors, and so forth; (8)
accountability and communication to the Navajo Nation from the various
federal agencies regarding their outlined objectives; (9) a
comprehensive strategic plan outlining the roles and duties of each
federal agency in relation to the Navajo Nation's own lead agency, the
Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency; (10) a more direct
funding approach in providing resources to the Navajo Nation
Environmental Protection Agency so that it has flexibility and
discretion to more effectively and efficiently operate; (11) utilizing
and researching better practices and technologies for site assessment
and clean-up of uranium waste, which could significantly reduce clean-
up costs and provide better clean-up outcomes; and (12) a comprehensive
plan to address how the federal government will fund the additional 305
sites not currently being addressed, just to name a few.
At present, another Ten-Year Plan is currently being developed,
which is supposed to be submitted to the Navajo Nation's Environmental
Protection Agency for comment. However, here again, the Navajo Nation
was not an active participate in the underlying development of this
plan, and suspects that it too will be devoid of the same said points.
Additionally, the Navajo Nation specifically requests the following
from the United States:
1. That the Phase 2 Priority Orphan Mine Trust, which is the
result of a settlement agreement between the Navajo Nation and
the United States to complete remedial site evaluations at 30
abandoned uranium mine sites for which the United States is the
responsible party, be expanded to 48 sites, and also include:
(1) the 18 sites not currently being addressed in the Tachee/
Blue Gap area; (2) the 9 sites not currently being addressed in
the Cove area; and (3) the 8 sites not currently being
addressed in the Tse Tah area. Additionally, in relation to
groundwater contamination, the current settlement agreement
only includes 2 water studies. The Navajo Nation would like
this number expanded to 5, and to include the following
geographic areas: (1) Sanders, AZ; (2) Cameron, AZ; (3) Church
Rock, NM; (4) Tse Tah, AZ; and (5) and Tachee/Blue Gap, AZ.
Lastly, that the settlement agreement be amended to not only
include the completion remedial site evaluations for these 48
sites, but also clean-up.
2. That the Tronox abandoned uranium mine sites on the Navajo
Nation receive first priority in relation to clean-up
activities under the Tronox settlement agreement.
3. That the United States pass comprehensive legislation
allocating permanent funds to the clean-up of all abandoned
uranium mines on the Navajo Nation. However, in the interim,
that the United States DOJ begins negotiations with the Navajo
Nation for additional funding to address the 305 sites with no
current funding.
4. That the USEPA works towards establishing the Navajo Nation
Environmental Protection Agency as the lead agency for the
clean-up of all abandoned uranium mine sites on the Navajo
Nation.
Another area of concern for the Navajo Nation that is currently not
being addressed as part of the present uranium contamination clean-up
efforts is the previously mentioned UMTRCA sites within the Navajo
Nation, which are overseen by the DOE. All of these sites have
groundwater issues and the remediation strategy that was implemented
has not been successful. As a result, DOE is now reevaluating their
approach and is considering 3 across the board alternatives for these
sites:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alternative Main Points
------------------------------------------------------------------------
#1: Remove Pond--Continued Remove evaporation ponds; Cease
Monitoring contaminate extraction and use
supplemental standards; Continued
Monitoring; May include removal of
unneeded infrastructure throughout
site.
#2: Replace Pond--Implement Newer Replace pond; Continue contaminate
extraction.
Technology Implement newer remediation
technologies.
#3: No Action Continue with current strategy;
Monitor buildup of sediment in pond;
Repair liner as needed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As to these alternatives, 1 and 3 are not acceptable, but the
Navajo Nation supports alternative 2 upon further consultation with the
Navajo Nation.
III. Cancer Among the Navajo
Cancer is the second leading cause of disease and death for the
Navajo people. \7\ Cancer rates have doubled on the Navajo Nation from
the 1970s to the 1990s. The Indian Health Service estimates that 7.3
percent of all deaths in the Navajo Area Indian Health Services region
were due to cancer from 1999 to 2001. From 2005-2013, the cancers with
the ten highest incidence counts among the Navajo were female breast,
colorectal, stomach, prostate, kidney, uterine, stomach, non-Hodgkin
lymphoma, pancreas, liver, and lung.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ Navajo Nation Mortality Report, 2006-2009 (Rep.). (n.d.).
Retrieved http://www.nec.navajo-nsn.gov/Portals/0/Reports/
Vital%20Statistics%20Report%202006%20to%202009%20FINAL.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In comparing the incidence rates of cancers by gender, Navajo men
were more likely to be diagnosed with cancer. Prostate cancer was the
most commonly diagnosed cancer among Navajo men, followed by colorectal
cancer, kidney cancer, and stomach cancer. Among Navajo women, breast
cancer was the most commonly diagnosed cancer, followed by colorectal
cancer and uterine cancer, and kidney cancer.
Reports of cancer among the Navajo people were published in the
medical literature as early as the 1930. A common finding in these
reports was the relative low number of cancers observed among the
Navajo. For example, C.G. Salsbury, M.D., a physician who worked among
the Navajo in Ganado, Arizona, wrote in the Arizona Medicine that
cancer rates were lower among the Navajo compared to whites and
questioned whether the Navajos were protected from diabetes and cancer
by their diet and nutrition.
Following World War II, uranium mining swept onto the Navajo Nation
and settled within uranium-rich regions including Arizona communities
of Cove and Monument Valley, and New Mexico communities of Sanostee and
Church Rock. Tailings from the milling process were left untreated in
Shiprock, New Mexico, Tuba City, Arizona, and Kayenta, Arizona. Decades
later, increasing rates of lung cancer (10.4 cases per 100,000 persons
incidence rates, 2005-2013, males and females combined, all ages) in
this generally non-smoking population were attributed to occupational
exposure with working in the uranium mines.
Incidence (new cases) rates compared to incidence rate of non-
Hispanic white (NHW), cases per 100,000 persons incidence rates, 2005-
2013, males and females combined, all ages:
Liver (9.9 incidence rate compared to 4.8 incidence rate of
non-Hispanic whites)
Stomach (15.0 incidence rate compared to 4.3 NHW)
kidney (25.6 incidence rate compared to 14.0 NHW)
A report covering years 1989-1993 revealed that the mortality for
all cancers among American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) remained
lowered compared to whites. Yet, mortality rates, in populations
comparative measure, for cancers of the liver, stomach, kidney, and
gallbladder were much higher than whites.
Mortality (pass away) rates compared to incidence rate of non-
Hispanic white, cases per 100,000 persons incidence rates, 2005-2013,
males and females combined, all ages
Liver (8.1 mortality rate compared to 4.6 mortality rate of
non-Hispanic whites)
Stomach (9.8 mortality rate compared to 2.2 NHW)
Kidney (7.2 mortality rate compared to 3.5 NHW)
Gallbladder (2.9 mortality rate compared to 0.4 NHW)
AI/AN women also had significantly higher mortality rates from
cancer of the cervix than white women. In a report covering years 1999-
2004, incidence rates for all cancers among AI/AN, including the Navajo
in the southwest were lower than whites, while cancers of the stomach,
liver, kidney, gallbladder, and cervix for females were much higher.
Navajos are 7.2 times more likely to pass away from gallbladder
cancer, 4.4 times more likely to pass away from stomach cancer, 2.1
times more likely to pass away from kidney cancer, and 1.8 times more
likely to pass away from liver cancer than non-Hispanic whites.
Among Navajo men, mortality from prostate cancer, stomach cancer,
and liver cancer were most common. And, among Navajo women, mortality
from breast cancer, stomach cancer and liver cancer were most common.
IV. Disturbing the Navajo Way of Life
The stories told by our Navajo uranium workers and families of
deceased mine workers and community members is unfathomable. Some
common examples include an individual who as a child played in an
abandoned mine or mill tailing pile, a sheep herder who watered his
sheep in an un-reclaimed open pit mine, an elderly woman who for many
years washed the dust-coated clothing of her uranium miner husband, or
a family who obtained their drinking water from a stream that ran
through or near a uranium mine.
We also hear stories of families who have had to get rid of their
entire livestock herd or had to tear down a house or Hogan made with
radioactive materials. There are also families who have had to struggle
to survive following the death of the main breadwinner in their family.
And, there are those families who could not continue their
participation in ceremonies for a variety of reasons such as limited
mobility, loss of income, loss of traditional space/home, etc.
These stories are telling of the emotional, traditional, spiritual,
and cultural loss our Navajo people have had to endure. What's more
concerning is that the impact then becomes generational and our people
are never able to fully heal. It is the Navajo way of life to life in
harmony with everything that surrounds you; and if your land and
environment remains contaminated, how do we return to a state of Hozhq?
V. Conclusion
In conclusion, what the Navajo people desire most is to have their
lands cleaned and remediated. It's been far too long. We need to bring
this long and sad period of history to a close. As President of the
Navajo Nation, I call upon Congress to work with the Navajo People to
address the concerns we have raised for uranium mine workers,
downwinders, and families.
Ahe'hee' (thank you),
Senator Udall. Thank you very much, President Nez. Governor
Chavarria.
STATEMENT OF HON. J. MICHAEL CHAVARRIA, GOVERNOR, SANTA CLARA
PUEBLO
Mr. Chavarria. Out of respect, and just good afternoon at
this time, Chairman, members of the Committee.
My name is Michael Chavarria. I serve as governor for Santa
Clara Pueblo. I also serve in the capacity of the chairman for
the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council and the vice-chairman
for the All Pueblo Council of Governors, which is a consortium
of the 19 pueblos in New Mexico, to include the Pueblo of
Isleta del Sur down in Texas.
For today's hearing, I'm going to be providing my testimony
as the governor of Santa Clara Pueblo. Regarding the title of
today's hearing, ``America's Nuclear Past: Examining the
Effects of Radiation in Indian Country,'' this help is quite
important to many tribes and pueblos here in New Mexico. Today
my testimony will focus on theissues related to my Pueblo as it
pertains to Los Alamos National Laboratory, or LANL. LANL,
originally referred to as Site Y, was opened in the town of Los
Alamos in 1943 with a single mission at that time to design and
manufacture the world's first atomic weapon. That mission was
successful. The so-called ``Fat Man'' device was created, was
successfully tested, and then dropped on Japan in 1945.
In 1942 the so-called ``secret city'' sprang up seemingly
overnight as part of the Manhattan Project. However, this
wasn't a secret city to us, as it was literally right in our
backyard. Maps reveal that in the early days of the Manhattan
Project, LANL once shared a boundary with Santa Clara Pueblo in
an area called Area E within Site Y. During these times, our
members recall visually observing explosive testings occurring,
while feeling the shock waves and concussions of those blasts
while they were hunting, collecting medicinal plants, or
gathering fuel wood.
I understand the critical need for national security, but
at what cost? Due to our lifestyle living off the land, we rely
strongly upon the plant, animals, and water resources of the
area for a variety of purposes, including food, medicinal
needs, traditional practices, production of crafts, and
ceremonial purposes. We do have concerns about the health
effects from activities at LANL, but we as pueblo people, must
retain our traditions and lifestyle, living off the land, and
it's not optional.
In my written testimony I discuss that in 1998, the
Department of Energy provided funding to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention to begin a study of records at
LANL to better understand whether radioactive materials, known
as radionuclides, and other toxic chemicals are released into
the environment. During the historical operations from the
1940s through the 1960s, the CDC began the Los Alamos
Historical Document Retrieval and Assessment Project in 1999,
and continued to 2009. In 2010 the CDC, through its
contractors, presented this report to the Pueblo, an official
community survey, which document I would respectfully ask,
Chairman, to submit for the record. I'll give a copy to
Anthony.
Senator Udall. No objection. So submitted.
Mr. Chavarria. Thank you, Chairman.
In the summary of that report, the report confirms that
airborne plutonium releases were higher at LANL in the 1940s
and 1950s than earlier reports indicated and should be
prioritized for future or further analysis. During that time,
the reports state exhaust systems used to process plutonium in
crude facilities during World War II were unfiltered. There
were no high-efficiency particulate air, or HEPA, filters used
and LANL was unusually hesitant or slow to implement installing
of those filters, meaning raw materials were released into the
atmosphere.
The report indicated the next step to address the impact on
surrounding communities, both Native and non-Native, to include
conducting a more detailed dose reconstruction for all or a
selective set of releases and locations identified in the
report. However, to this date, no funding has been provided for
those next steps, which I feel is unacceptable.
For Santa Clara Pueblo, this remains a concern. The need
for a formal dose reconstruction study needs to happen to get a
full understanding of the health impact of those radiation
releases from the past. So funding the CDC for this purpose
isparamount. Santa Clara Pueblo does receive limited funding
from the Department of Energy through a program known as the
Los Alamos Pueblos Project, or LAPP, since limited funding
helps to collect data to conduct our own analysis and includes
oversight of the various processes occurring at LANL. However,
such funding needs to be increased, as well.
In addition to the LAPP funding, the Department of Energy
provides limited funding to allow Santa Clara Pueblo to
participate in the Los Alamos National Lab Trustee Council,
along with the Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Ag,
the Forest Service, the State of New Mexico, and the Pueblos of
San Ildefonso, Jemez, and Cochiti. The task of the Trustee
Council is to work cooperatively to conduct an assessment of
natural resources potentially affected by radiological releases
of contaminants from LANL. The end goal is to restore any
injured natural resources in the condition they would have been
but for the releases of the hazardous contaminants. The
Department of Interior and BIA will not contribute funds to
assist the Pueblo to participate in the Trustee Council, even
though the Department of Interior funds natural resource damage
assessment work for other tribesacross the nation. The
Department of Interior has taken a stand because a potentially
responsible party for the hazardous releases in this case is a
sister federal agency, the Department of Energy.
So we are at a disadvantage compared to other tribes in
having the financial and technical resources to fully assess
the impacts of radionuclide releases at LANL.
So in closing, we request Congress to help allocate funding
to the CDC by completing a true dose reconstruction at LANL to
address what CDC identified as historical radionuclide releases
from the early days of LANL.
So thank you very much for your consideration of this
testimony. I stand for questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Chavarria follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. J. Michael Chavarria, Governor, Santa Clara
Pueblo
Introduction. Thank you Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall, and
Members of the Committee for the opportunity to provide testimony on
this critically important topic addressing the impacts of the nation's
nuclear history in Tndian country.
My name is J. Michael Chavarria and I am the Governor of Santa
Clara Pueblo located in northcentral New Mexico and am testifying today
in that capacity. I also have the honor of serving as the Chairman of
the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council and as Vice Chairman for the
All Pueblo Council of Governors.
This is a topic that is quite important to many different Tribes
and Pueblos in New Mexico because of the very direct history the
development of nuclear weapons plays in our little part of the world. I
do not know that any amount of clean up or compensation can ever
reclaim the cultural losses or fully address the health effects
suffered by the peoples of Laguna Pueblo for the Jackpile Uranium mine
on Laguna lands, or for the many continuing effects of uranium mining
felt by Acoma, Zuni, and Navajo peoples, but my testimony today will
focus more on issues related to my Pueblo and other Pueblos that are
near Los Alamos National Laboratory, also known as LANL.
Key Background regarding LANL and its relationship to surrounding
Pueblos. Originally referred to as ``Site Y,'' what is now known as
LANL (the laboratory's official name has changed over the decades) was
opened in the town of Los Alamos in 1943 with a single mission at that
time--to design and manufacture the world's first atomic weapons. LANL
succeeded in that mission. The so-called ``Fat Man'' device was tested
at the Trinity Site in the Tularosa Basin of New Mexico on July 16,
1945 and then the bomb was dropped on Japan less than a month later.
Los Alamos is one of three ``secret cities'' that sprang up seemingly
overnight as part of the Manhattan Project to support the efforts of
the U.S. Government to develop and test nuclear weapons. The Manhattan
Project was so secret at its inception that knowledge of the project
was even kept from then-Vice President Harry S. Truman.
LANL was built on a very beautiful volcanic plateau known as the
Pajarito Plateau and is essentially encircled by four different
Pueblos--Jemez Pueblo, the Pueblo de Cochiti, the Pueblo de San
Ildefonso, and Santa Clara Pueblo. The Pueblo de San Ildefonso shares a
direct border with the lab. However, maps reveal that, in the early
days of the Manhattan Project, LANL once shared a boundary with Santa
Clara Pueblo at a location called ``Area E'' within ``Site Y.'' In
fact, members of our Pueblo recall explosives testing occurring during
the Manhattan Project and feeling shock waves from those tests at Santa
Clara. Our Pueblo's current closest border to LANL is approximately 5
miles as the crow flies from the current-day boundary of LANL. It has
been well-documented that Santa Clara Pueblo is in the path of the
prevailing winds of LANL. We are thus part of the LANL down-winders.
Since time immemorial, ancestral Puebloan people occupied extensive
areas of the Pajarito Plateau including areas of the plateau that
eventually became LANL. The Pueblos of Cochiti, Jemez, San Ildefonso,
and Santa Clara, as well as other Pueblos in the region, continue to
actively use and rely upon the plant, animal, and water resources of
the area for a variety of purposes including food, medicinal needs,
traditional practices, production of crafts, and ceremonial purposes.
There are concerns about the health effects of conducting activities in
this area, but we as Pueblo people must maintain our traditions. It is
not optional.
It is also important to remember that Pueblo people are land-based
people. Although each Pueblo is unique in its traditions, our shared
values are based on the fundamental belief that all people are
inherently interconnected with the land. We believe all of the natural
ecosystems must be respected and cared for so that all peoples remain
healthy now and into the future. When this sacred area of the Parajito
Plateau was seized by the U.S. Government for the Manhattan Project,
the Pueblo peoples were denied access to areas of traditional and
cultural importance that had been respected and cared for by our
ancestors. Being denied access to sacred areas so that weapons of
destruction could be developed in those places is an upsetting part of
our history.
Moreover, LANL's mission continues to include the development of
plutonium pits for nuclear weapons which continues that cycle of
destruction. The Pueblos are patriotic people and we care deeply about
protecting the national security of the United States, but using such a
sacred area to promote destruction is an on-going harm that Pueblo
people feel in our hearts. To help heal that hurt, we at Santa Clara
Pueblo are trying to find ways to promote clean-up and restoration of
the natural resources that were injured by LANL and upon which we
depend for our on-going traditions through collaborative processes with
the Federal Government and the State of New Mexico.
Past Federal Efforts to Examine Radiation Impacts of LANL on
surrounding communities. In 1998, the Department of Energy (DOE)
provided funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) to begin a study of records at LANL to better understand whether
radioactive materials known as radionuclides and other toxic chemicals
were released into the environment by the lab during its historical
operations in the 1940s through 1960s, and to gather the applicable
documentation in one place to support doing an off-site dose
assessment. The CDC began the ``Los Alamos Historical Document
Retrieval and Assessment Project'' (LAHDRA) in 1999 and continued its
work through 2009. In 2010, the CDC, through its contractors, presented
its LAHDRA report to the public, an official ``community summary'' of
which is attached to this testimony for the record. The CDC's study
team indicated in the report that they compiled enough information to
reconstruct public exposures resulting from the most significant of
LANL's historic releases to allow health professionals to assess the
extent of measurable significant health effects--effects that the
Pueblos remain deeply concerned about today.
The report summarized a wealth of historic documents about areas of
radiation exposure and included a preliminary conservative screening
analysis of potential exposures to certain key radionuclides of
greatest concern. The LAHDRA report confirmed that airborne plutonium
releases were higher at LANL in the 1940s and 1950s than earlier
reports had indicated and should be prioritized for further analysis.
The report described how plutonium was processed in crude facil ities
during World War II and how many of the exhaust systems for those facil
ities were unfiltered. The report also stated that ``LANL was unusually
slow in implementing the use of high efficiency particulate air (HEPA)
filters on the exhaust systems ofplutonium facilities.'' (LAHDRA
Community Summary, page 10.) In addition to plutonium, the CDC also
recommended that tritium and uranium be pat1 of the radionuclides that
should be considered in further analyses of impacts from historic
releases. The CDC indicated that a possible next step to address
impacts on surrounding communities could include conducting a more
detailed dose reconstruction for all or a selected set of releases and
locations identified in the report.
Dose reconstructions involve developing methods to assess and
estimate environmental doses and to determine risk of environmental
exposures through selected calculation methods. The CDC had no funding
to proceed to this next important step, however. Some efforts were made
back in 2010 to secure that funding but the efforts did not succeed,
even though the information a formal dose reconstruction could provide
is still very much needed and should be considered by Congress now.
Need for additional federal funds to assist the Pueblos near LANL
in fully understanding impacts of radionuclide releases at LANL. We
still have unfinished business from the CDC's LAHDRA report. There is
still a need for a formal dose reconstruction study to be done to help
both Native and non-Native communities surrounding LANL understand the
health impacts of radiation releases that occurred in the early years
of LANL before environmental laws went into effect. This is important
information that the Pueblos sti ll need to know even though some of
the Pueblos are conducting human health risk assessments using more
recent data. The CDC, through the LAHDRA work, gathered the necessary
information demonstrating that airborne plutonium releases were high
during historic LANL operations. Inhalation of plutonium particles is a
concern because plutonium particles can imbed in the lungs and emit
alpha and gamma radiation for many years and increase the risk for
certain cancers. Our Grandmas and Grandpas who inhaled these plutonium
particles may have already passed on but we are still owed that
information as Pueblos whose ancestral lands were seized for the
production of this plutonium.
In addition, more funding is needed to assist the on-going efforts
of the four Pueblos closest to LANL to collect and analyze more recent
data and to participate in collaborative processes to restore natural
resources of cultural importance to us that were injured by LANL
radionuclide releases. The four Pueblos that are closest to LANL--
Cochiti, Jemez, San Ildefonso and Santa Clara--all receive limited
funding from the DOE through a program known as the Los Alamos Pueblos
Project or LAPP. LAPP funding helps the four Pueblos collect data and
conduct their own analyses and provide oversight of various processes
addressing LANL. In addition, DOE provides very limited funds to allow
the four Pueblos to participate in the LANL Trustee Council along with
the DOE, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the State of New
Mexico. The LANL Trustee Council is working cooperatively to conduct an
assessment of natural resources potentially affected by releases of
contaminants from LANL. The end goal of the LANL Trustee Council's work
is to restore any injured natural resources to the condition they would
have been in but for the release of the hazardous contaminants. Based
on the constraints ofCERCLA, however, the LANL Trustee Council has to
focus more of its work on LANL releases since the 1980s and cannot
fully embrace all of the historical releases of concern from the early
days of the lab's operations.
These processes through the LAPP program and the LANL Trustee
Council will help the four Pueblos to better understand the Western
science impacts of radionuclide releases at LANL but the Pueblos would
be greatly benefited by additional funds to do this imp011ant work. The
funding from DOE is appreciated but it is woefully inadequate. The
Department of Interior (DOl) will not contribute funds for the four
Pueblos to participate in the LANL Trustee Council even though DOl
funds natural resource damage assessment work of other Tribes across
the nation. DOl has taken this position because the potentially
responsible party for the hazardous releases in this case is a sister
federal agency, DOE.
Thus, the four Pueblos really are at a disadvantage compared to
other Tribes in having the financial and technical resources to fully
assess impacts of radionuclide releases at LANL. This is an area where
Congress can help with additional funds. Congress can also help by
finally authorizing and funding a true dose reconstruction at LANL to
address what the CDC has already identified concerning historical
radionuclide releases from the early days of LANL.
Thank you for your consideration of this testimony. We look forward
to working with Congress, the DOE, and other appropriate federal
agencies to address these critical issues.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much, Governor.
Councilman Ryan Riley. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF HON. RYAN RILEY, COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE, PUEBLO OF
LAGUNA
Mr. Riley. Good afternoon. On behalf of Governor Herrera,
the Pueblo of Laguna extends its gratitude to Vice Chairman
Udall for chairing this hearing today; to Representatives Lujan
and Haaland for your interest in attendance. To also Chairman
Hoeven and the Committee, and to the Committee staff who have
made the journey here today.
I would also like to acknowledge our Pueblo of Laguna
membership that has traveled from Laguna to attend this hearing
today. Thank you for coming today.
The Pueblo deeply appreciates the opportunity to testify on
the effects of radiation in Indian Country, a subject of great
long-standing and ongoing concern to the Pueblo of Laguna. This
statement is submitted by the Pueblo of Laguna to apprise the
Committee of the impacts of radiation exposure on the Pueblo's
tribal lands. The needs of Pueblo members and families
afflicted by mine-related diseases must be addressed. Further,
the Pueblo's land, contaminated by past uranium mining, must be
remediated as required under federal statute.
The Pueblo of Laguna is a federally recognized Indian tribe
with 8,800 tribal members affiliated with six different
villages on 530,000 acres just west of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Those tribal lands contain the site of what was once the
world's largest open-pit uranium mine, the Jackpile-Paguate
Mine. The Pueblo's members and our land continue to suffer from
radiation exposure,death, disease, polluted water, and
thousands of fenced-off acres are the mine's legacy today.
The United States aggressively promoted, encouraged uranium
exploration and mining in an effort to develop nuclear
capability for military purposes at the end of World War II and
throughout the Cold War. It exercised extensive control over
the uranium industry. Beginning in 1952 Anaconda Mining Company
entered into BIA-approved leases to mine uranium on the Laguna
reservation. Under the federal government's oversight,
Anaconda, over a 30-year span, mined 24 million tons of
uranium-bearing ore from Laguna tribal lands. After the United
States had stockpiled enough uranium to meet its military
needs, mining ended on the Pueblo's land in 1982, and the
mining company finally left.
Despite Anaconda's resistance, the Bureau of Indian Affairs
required reclamation of the mine after its closure. But lacking
federal standards that would adequately address a uranium mine
cleanup, the BIA and Bureau of Land Management developed a
reclamation plan intended primarily to restore the site back to
its natural state or as close to as practicable.
The limited reclamation was completed in 1995, but the
Pueblo's members are still suffering profound health effects
from not only the mining and reclamation periods, but also
ongoing contamination. All told, 1,000 or more Pueblo members
worked at the mine from 1953 to 1995. Many more, including
women and children, were and continue to be exposed to
radiation and hazardous substances in the water, in the air, in
plants and meat that we eat, and even from the earth used to
build homes, particularly in Paguate Village, which is situated
on the edge of the largest mine pit at Jackpile.
While no comprehensive health study has ever been conducted
on the Pueblo, existing academic and medical studies
supplemented by surveys confirm that cancer and respiratory
illnesses have plagued Pueblo members for decades and still do
to today. For example, a startling 88 percent of 402 pueblo
home health patients who worked at the mine after 1971 have
been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a RECA-compensable
disease. In fact, research collected by the Southwest Research
and Information Center shows no meaningful difference in the
health effects on pre- and post-1971 mine workers.
But the focus on uranium workers is too narrow. A regional
survey found that 40 percent of the women who washed their
spouses' contaminated work clothing reported a wide range of
adverse reproductive outcomes, including miscarriages,
stillbirths, and children with birth defects. 72 percent of
Paguate homes tested over a three-month period in 2011 had
excessive radon levels with a cancer risk equivalent to smoking
between one to two packs of cigarettes per day.
Accordingly, the Pueblo urges not only immediate expansion
of RECA to include uranium workers from 1972 to 1990, but also
further research and legislation to address the more widespread
effects that have been ignored to date.
EPA has listed the Jackpile Mine as a Superfund site in
2013. The Pueblo is encouraged by the long-needed decision to
remediate the mine and the preliminary steps taken to clean up
the contamination under CERCLA to the extent that it is
possible.
In conclusion, uranium mining during the Cold War era left
a long legacy of contamination borne significantly by a few
American Indian tribes, including Laguna Pueblo. The people of
our pueblo have already paid a devastating and steep price
toassist the United States in its time of need. We continue to
pay as our members struggle with death and disease and an
enduring scar on the tribal landscape today. We implore the
United States to repay its debt to the pueblos' members by
addressing the health and welfare of our people and by cleaning
up the environmental devastation left behind.
Thank you for allowing the Pueblo of Laguna to testify
today, Vice Chair. Our written testimony goes into greater
detail. If you have any questions, I am ready to answer. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Riley follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Ryan Riley, Council Representative, Pueblo
of Laguna
Good morning. The Pueblo of Laguna extends it gratitude to Vice
Chairman Udall for chairing this hearing, to Representatives Lujan and
Haaland for your interest and attendance, to Chairman Hoeven and the
Committee, and to the Committee staff who made the journey here. The
Pueblo deeply appreciates the opportunity to testify on the Effects of
Radiation in Indian Country, a subject of great, longstanding, and
ongoing concern to the Pueblo of Laguna.
This statement is submitted by the Pueblo of Laguna (``Pueblo'' or
``Laguna'') to apprise the Committee of the impact of radiation
exposure on the Pueblo's tribal lands. The needs of Pueblo members and
families afflicted by mine-related diseases must be addressed. Further,
the Pueblo's lands, contaminated by past uranium mining, must be
remediated as required under federal statute.
The Pueblo
The Pueblo of Laguna is a federally recognized Indian tribe located
45 miles west of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Pueblo has approximately
8,800 members who are affiliated with six different villages. The
Pueblo's lands consist of more than a half million acres in Cibola,
Sandoval, and Bernalillo counties. Those lands contain the site of what
was once the world's largest open pit uranium mine: the Jackpile-
Paguate Mine.
Summary
In an effort to develop nuclear capability for military purposes at
the end of World War II and throughout the Cold War, the United States
promoted and encouraged uranium exploration and mining. The Pueblo of
Laguna was a very early focus given its location in the Grants Mineral
Belt, which stretches from the Pueblo to east of Gallup and has
especially rich uranium deposits. During this period, the United States
exercised extensive control over the domestic uranium industry,
including exploration, production, processing, and marketing. For
example, the United States set the price for uranium and established
itself as the sole purchaser of uranium ore until the late 1960s. The
rapid development of uranium mining in the Southwest during the Cold
War left a long legacy of contamination. That price, paid for our
national defense, was and is borne significantly by American Indian
tribes.
Beginning in 1952, Anaconda Mining Company entered into BIA-
approved leases to mine uranium on the Laguna Reservation. Under the
federal government's oversight, Anaconda mined 24 million tons of
uranium-bearing ore from Laguna tribal lands over a 30-year span,
during a time when environmental controls were unsophisticated and
undeveloped.
Mining ended on the Pueblo's lands in 1982, and the mining company
left. Despite Anaconda's resistance, the Bureau of Indian Affairs
required reclamation of the mine after its closure. But, lacking
federal standards that would adequately address a uranium mine cleanup,
BIA and BLM developed a reclamation plan intended primarily to restore
the site back to its natural state, or as close to it as practicable.
That limited reclamation was completed in 1995, but the Pueblo's
members are still suffering profound health effects from past exposure
and ongoing contamination.
To understand the horrible and lasting effects radiation and other
uranium-related contamination have had for decades, and continue to
have, on the Pueblo and its members, it is important to understand the
history of the mine. That history spans almost seventy years, from the
early 1950s when mining began through the mine's closure in 1982,
followed by reclamation, post-reclamation, and finally the CERCLA
remediation period beginning under the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (``CERCLA'') in 2013 and
still in its early stages.
Mining at Laguna
Consistent with the United States' aggressive promotion of uranium
mining, in May 1952, the Anaconda Mining Company (later Atlantic
Richfield or ARCO) entered into a lease with the Pueblo, approved by
the Secretary of the Interior, to mine uranium on 4,988 acres of Laguna
land near the Village of Paguate. Additional BIA-approved leases were
signed in 1963 and 1976 bringing the total to almost 8,000 acres. As a
result, Anaconda operated what was then the world's largest open pit
uranium mine at the Pueblo from 1953 until 1982. The vast majority of
uranium produced on Indian land between 1950 and 1968 was purchased by
the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.
Anaconda utilized three open pit mines and nine underground mines
at Laguna to produce 24 million tons of uranium-bearing ore. More than
400 million tons of earth had to be moved to obtain that ore. The pit
located next to the Village of Paguate was the deepest at 625 feet.
Mining conducted from the underground mines primarily began in the
1970's. The mine employed as many as 800 tribal members, the majority
of the Laguna workforce.
Anaconda closed the mine on March 1, 1982, after the United States
had the stockpile of uranium it needed for military purposes,
international competition increased, and concerns about the nuclear
power industry were growing.
The 1980s
Despite requirements in the mining leases and federal mining
regulations, Anaconda resisted its responsibility to reclaim the mine
after its closure, even threatening litigation. As a result, the site
lay dormant for seven years before efforts to reclaim the mine began.
More than 2,000 acres of land and several pits needed to be reclaimed.
Some pits were filled with contaminated water that had seeped up over
the years. During that time, stockpiled waste blew into surrounding
areas, including the Paguate Village, located just 30 yards from the
mine. In addition, rain water washed waste from the mine into surface
water tributaries.
A draft environmental impact statement recommended reclaiming the
mine because the site was a public health and safety hazard, noting
that more serious hazards would develop if the site was not reclaimed.
Reclamation would eventually begin only after Anaconda, the United
States, and the Pueblo reached an agreement in 1986, approved by the
Secretary of Interior, by which the Pueblo would perform the limited
reclamation work under a contract with Bureau of Indian Affairs
(``BIA'') funded by Anaconda (now Atlantic Richfield).
Reclamation
There were no standards for reclaiming a closed uranium mine in
place at that time. CERCLA was in its infancy and was not even
mentioned in the almost 1,000-page environmental impact statement
prepared by BIA and BLM. Accordingly, the reclamation was conducted
with BIA and BLM oversight according to a Record of Decision and
Management Plan developed by BIA in cooperation with other federal
agencies and according to regulations under which BIA and BLM
controlled mining and reclamation on tribal lands. The limited
reclamation work by the Pueblo's newly created tribal corporation,
Laguna Construction Co., began in 1989 under a Public Law 638 contract
between the Pueblo and the BIA.
As the Pueblo's trustee, the BIA is responsible for monitoring the
site and its ongoing health and environmental impacts, and much remains
to be done to mitigate the health and environmental impacts. Even then,
nothing can erase the scar in the land, bring back the lives that have
been lost, restore broken families, or heal the terminally ill.
EPA Designation of the Jackpile-Paguate Mine as a Superfund Site
EPA listed the Jackpile Site on the National Priority List (NPL) by
publication in the Federal Register on December 12, 2013, thereby
making it a Superfund site. In summary, the results from EPA's
preliminary site investigation showed that despite the surface
reclamation of the mine areas, releases of hazardous materials from the
site are still occurring and elevated levels of isotopic uranium have
been detected in the surface waters of Rio Paguate, Paguate Reservoir,
and downstream in the Rio San Jose. Surface water is used for fishing,
livestock and wildlife consumption, and traditional/cultural
activities.
The first major step in the CERCLA process, the Remedial
Investigation/Feasibility Study, is underway to identify the options
for the ultimate CERCLA cleanup. But forty years after the mine's
closure is forty years too long.
Radiation Impacts at Laguna
Given this tortured history and the hazardous materials inherent in
uranium mining, it was perhaps inevitable that members of the Pueblo
would suffer from serious, all-toooften fatal, diseases.
The Village of Paguate, situated on the edge of the largest open
pit in the mining area, was significantly affected by the mining
activity. In the village, often-daily blasting caused old stone and mud
houses to crack apart. Paguate residents recall dust that seemed to
linger for hours after a blast before settling on their homes, crops,
and clothes.
Little is yet understood about the stability of the radioactive
pollutants and additional risks, including their migration into local
groundwater supplies or into the atmosphere. Of the 24 million tons of
ore mined from the Jackpile-Paguate Mine, approximately 23.7 million
tons were left as waste, which is still dangerous because of
radioactive elements it contains. In addition, water that flows through
the site, including the Rio Moquino and the Rio Paguate, is
contaminated from radioactive elements. Communities and families lost
their water wells because of unsafe levels of radiation. Because water
is so scarce in our arid part of New Mexico, the contamination of our
water resources is particularly devastating to our people and to the
entire region.
Miners and mill workers were largely unaware of the dangers of
radiation exposure. Even as the understanding of those dangers grew,
the Federal Government failed to protect uranium workers and their
families from the hazards of exposure to radioactive materials.
Radiation exposure can cause disease that may not show up for 10-40
years, and recall that Pueblo members worked actively on reclamation
efforts as recently as 1995.
Former mining and reclamation employees, as well as Pueblo members
living in Paguate and downwind or downstream continue to report growing
numbers of mining- and cancer-related illnesses. Many Laguna members
have died, and many more suffer from disease linked to radiation
exposure attributed to uranium mining. The United States is indebted to
those Pueblo members who sacrificed their health and even their lives
to provide uranium for America's Cold War nuclear arsenal.
We asked the Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC), an
organization with significant expertise in uranium impacts, to help us
prepare for this hearing by cataloging and analyzing available research
on the health impacts of uranium, particularly on Laguna members. We
hope to supplement this written testimony with a written report from
the SRIC, but from the preliminary memorandum already provided to the
Pueblo, at least four conclusions can be highlighted.
First, the health impacts on Pueblo members specifically are
profound. For example, a startling 88 percent of 402 Pueblo home health
patients who worked at the mine site after 1971 have been diagnosed
with pulmonary fibrosis, a RECA-compensable disease. That number alone
is staggering and confirms what the Pueblo has known for decades:
mining has had a devastating and ongoing effect on our community.
Second, at least three studies on uranium mine workers show that
there is little to no difference in the health effects on workers who
were in the industry before and after 1971, the current RECA cutoff and
when safety conditions supposedly improved. For example, a recent 2017
study conducted in our area showed that 66 percent of mine workers
employed after 1971 had abnormal chest X-rays indicative of
pneumoconiosis, a RECA-listed lung disease. That is only two percent
less that the pre-1971 workers in the same study. In a survey of some
1,300 post-1971 mine workers in our region only a decade ago, more than
70 percent reported ``uranium-related medical conditions'' as defined
by federal agencies, but only nine percent of those illnesses would
have been compensable under RECA because of the restrictive list of
covered conditions. RECA must be amended, not only with respect to the
time period, but also with respect to the scope of conditions covered.
Third, the focus on mine workers is too narrow. The same regional
survey found that 40 percent of women living with mine workers reported
a wide range of adverse effects on their reproductive health, including
miscarriages, stillbirths and children with birth defects, primarily
because they were the ones who washed the contaminated work clothes
worn by mine workers. And the risks of exposure to non-mine workers are
ongoing. Seventy-two percent of Paguate homes tested over a three-month
period in 2011 had excessive radon levels, with a cancer risk
equivalent to smoking between a pack and two packs of cigarettes a day,
and often more.
Fourth, more research is nevertheless necessary. No comprehensive
and focused study has been done on the health effects at the Pueblo. At
a listening session in Paguate last month conducted by the University
of New Mexico METALS Superfund Research Center, Village residents
expressed a wide range of concerns about chronic health problems.
Primary concerns included lung cancer and other cancers; respiratory
diseases, asthma, and other breathing problems; potential health
effects of ingesting crops grown in contaminated soils or meat from
livestock and game exposed to mine wastes; and hypertension and
cardiovascular disease. Pueblo members stand ready to volunteer for
community-based health studies and medical screening programs, and to
implement interventions to lessen the effects of exposure. There was
strong demand for programs that include the generations that have
followed the uranium workers of the 1950s through the 1980s.
In short, the health effects and environmental dangers are real,
they are ongoing and multigenerational, and they are not confined to
mine workers. We at the Pueblo have known this for decades. If the
United States needs still more data to understand and believe the
endemic health and environmental damage its nuclear program has
unleashed, then please fund the research.
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA)
The Pueblo has worked with the New Mexico Congressional delegation
to amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to cover former
uranium workers beyond the 1971 cutoff period. Again, the Jackpile-
Paguate Mine did not close until 1982, ten years after the cutoff date
under RECA, and many Pueblo members worked on the reclamation project,
which continued until 1995. As shown above, post-1971 mine workers
suffer the same health effects at virtually the same rates as pre-1971
workers. They should be afforded the same benefits under RECA. The
Pueblo therefore is grateful that S.947, the Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act Amendments of 2019, would extend coverage through
1990.
While the Pueblo strongly supports the legislation, it should also
be apparent from this testimony that it does not go far enough. What of
the ill Pueblo members who worked on the reclamation project, which
continued until 1995? What of the Pueblo women and children in Paguate
who have died or are ill because they lived within a stone's throw of
the largest uranium mine pit in the world? What of the Pueblo members
of all ages and genders who have been exposed through other pathways?
Justice does not end with the current RECA amendments.
Conclusion
The Pueblo deeply appreciates the Committee's attention to this
issue and the opportunity to testify, and hopes that finally real
progress can be made. Sadly, not a whole lot has changed since, for
example, our testimony in support of amendments to the Surface Mining
Control and Reclamation Act seven years ago. The Pueblo is encouraged
by the preliminary steps that have been taken toward remediation of the
Jackpile-Paguate uranium mine under CERCLA and appreciates the
cooperation of its federal trustee in facilitating the CERCLA process.
The Pueblo is hopeful that RECA will be expanded, but much more remains
to be done, and it must be done.
Thank you for allowing the Pueblo to testify before this Committee.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much, Councilman Riley, and
all the testimony of all the witnesses. Your longer testimony
will be in the record.
Mr. Phil Harrison.
STATEMENT OF PHIL HARRISON, CONSULT/ADVOCATE, NAVAJO URANIUM
RADIATION VICTIMS COMMITTEE
Mr. Harrison. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Phil
Harrison. I'm an enrolled member of the great Navajo Nation.
I'm a former underground uranium miner, remediation worker, and
victim of the past Cold War era.
It is an honor and privilege to be invited and present my
statement today before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
I would like to personally thank Senator Udall and your
colleagues who bring the oversight field hearing to New Mexico.
The theme of ``America's Nuclear Past: Examining the Effects of
Radiation on Indian Country'' certainly hits home, as it brings
sadness and memories of our loved ones who died from uranium
mining exposure and milling yellowcake.
During the Cold War era, the Atomic Energy Commission under
the United States Government looked towards the Navajo Nation
for uranium when the U.S. discovered it in various parts of the
Navajo Nation. The mining of uranium was fully engaged from
about the late 1940s to the year 1990. My late father, Phillip
Harrison, Sr., died from lung cancer at the age of 44. He was
one of the early miners, along with my uncles, and hundreds
more who went to work. The miners from the onset were never
warned and unknowingly exposed to excessive radiation and toxic
chemicals. Nor did they know the rationale behind mining
uranium and not understanding what being patriotic was. It is
sad to say that they did not speak English or write English.
The federal government conducted several studies pertaining
to uranium exposure. One of those studies was by the U.S.
Public Health Service and the National Institute of
Occupational Safety and Health. These records are held by
Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. Through these
studies, it is a known fact if you mine or mill uranium, you
will get lung disease or lung cancer. After the fact, there are
so many sad stories that many of our people and others across
the nation have lost their loved ones in the Southwest United
States.
However, compensation programs were established and being
administered by the U.S. Department of Justice and the
provisions were too stringent. According to the 2018 report by
the U.S. Department of Justice, 6,447 members of 22 Indian
tribes applied for RECA compensation. 4,253 were approved, and
2,078 were denied pursuant to RECA as of February 2018. Of this
amount, 5,523 Navajos submitted, 3,489 were approved, and 1,957
were denied. The same numbers are also evident under the U.S.
Department of Labor rules and regulation.
There are some flaws in the law as to which we are
requesting an executive discussion to recommend some proposed
changes. These proposed changes would certainly benefit the
former uranium workers and ease the requirements. Under the
proposed changes, the RECA amendment of 2019, the post-'71
uranium workers are included. The post-'71 uranium workers are
suffering the same consequences, which many have died from lung
disease and lung cancer. Our neighboring tribes, Laguna Pueblo,
have also experienced the same deadly consequences within their
tribe and continues to wait for the federal government to
recognize, apologize, and compensate them fairly for their
illness.
In conclusion, in examining the effects of radiation in
Indian Country, it should not be that hard to understand there
was harm being done. The federal government knew the danger of
radiation exposure and the deadly consequences. In addition,
the Native people rendered services for national security and
created America's nuclear weapons program.
Furthermore, many Natives served in the U.S. Armed Forces,
and as you know, the story behind the Navajo code talkers and
how they won the war so we could have freedom. For all the
sacrifices they have made, it is imperative to act on the
proposed changes in the RECA law.
So Vice Chairman, we have some concerns over the laws being
administered by the Department of Justice and the Department of
Labor. There's a list here that we have and one of them is that
we would like to have the passage of the RECA amendment and
also to meet with the Judicial Committee as soon as possible,
the hearing that has been planned. And there are some flaws in
the medical benefits, the wage laws, and impairment
evaluations. So these are some things that we would like to
have addressed as we go along with this struggle.
Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair.
Senator Udall. Thank you so much, Mr. Harrison, for that
testimony.
And please proceed, Ms. Tina Cordova.
STATEMENT OF TINA CORDOVA, CO-FOUNDER, TULAROSA DOWNWINDERS
CONSORTIUM
Ms. Cordova. Good afternoon, Vice Chairman Udall. It's an
honor to be with you here today to provide this testimony. I
want to thank you for inviting me to participate, but I also
want to acknowledge that I feel very honored to be a part of
this distinguished panel.
I hope you won't feel that I'm out of order when I mention
something, because you invited our comments after the testimony
we just heard. I think it's very unfortunate that Mr. Gray and
Mr. O'Konski didn't remain, because we were here patiently
listening to their testimony, and they have exited before we
gave ours.
As you know, Senator, I'm a native New Mexican, a mother, a
grandmother, a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, an aunt, a
friend, and I'm also a small business owner of over 29 years.
But I'm a cancer survivor and a downwinder, and a volunteer
community organizer, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin
Downwinders Consortium, or TBDC for short.
Joining me today in the audience are many other downwinders
representing communities from all across New Mexico. Some of
these people have had cancer themselves or are battling cancer
now. All of them have lost loved ones, far too many to mention
here. We certainly know and understand the importance of these
hearings.
Senator Udall, as we thank you for this hearing and your
support, we also want to acknowledge and thank your father,
Secretary Stewart Udall, posthumously for the dedication he
and, as a matter of fact, your entire family has had to the
issue at hand. The creation and passage of the Radiation
Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, has its origins in your
family, in the tireless work of your father, who possessed the
moral compass to well understand the damage that was done to
human health as our government sought to develop and test
nuclear devices.
In a 1992 article published in The New York Times, your
father stated the following, and I quote: ``There is nothing
comparable in our history to the deceit and the lying that took
place as a matter of official government policy in order to
protect this industry. Nothing was going to stop them, and they
were willing to kill our own people.''
Senator, we know that if it were within your power and your
control, we wouldn't be here today to request the support of
the U.S. Senate to pass the amendments to the Radiation
Exposure Compensation Act. We would be here, Senator, today to
celebrate with you the justice we have all fought so hard to
achieve, the justice your father so doggedly fought for on
behalf of the downwinders and uranium workers.
Today we ask again for the support of the U.S. Senate in
the passage of Senate Bill S-947, amendments to the Radiation
Exposure Compensation Act, and adoption of the language to
coincide with and match the language in the recently introduced
House Bill HR-3783, whose primary sponsor is Congressman Ben
Ray Lujan of New Mexico and which is completely supported by
Congresswoman Haaland. We ask that the U.S. Congress extend
compensation to the people of New Mexico, noting that New
Mexico has played a pivotal role in this country's national
security as home to the Manhattan Project, all the uranium
mines that have been described here today, the Trinity Test
Site, two national laboratories, Los Alamos and Sandia, and
many other large government installations, too many to mention.
Senator, as part of this testimony, I won't go into the
specifics about the Trinity test that made it so devastating to
human health. That was included in my written testimony already
submitted. I want to focus on the at least three significant
events that occurred this summer that support and advance our
work.
First, we were able to consult with Dr. Arjun Makhijani of
the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research. He brought
to our attention that when nuclear bombs were tested
aboveground at the Nevada Test Site, monitors were in place in
New Mexico that indicated fallout traveled to all parts of our
state. The fallout didn't end at the New Mexico border, as is
sometimes depicted in maps used by our government. It is
important to note that exposure to radiation is cumulative. And
while many people in New Mexico received a high dose of
radiation from the Trinity test, New Mexicans also continued to
receive chronic doses from the fallout produced at the Nevada
Test Site well into the summer of 1962.
This data is documented in the book entitled ``Under the
Cloud: The Decades of Nuclear Testing,'' by Richard Miller.
Second, Robert Alvarez and Kathleen Tucker authored an
article published in the July 2019 issue of the Bulletin of
Atomic Scientists entitled ``The Most Significant Hazard of the
Entire Manhattan Project,'' that brings attention to the sharp
rise in infant mortality recorded after the Trinity test. This
spike was seen after there had been a steady multi-year decline
in infant mortality.
Senator Udall, babies in New Mexico were dying. And when
the government was asked about why or how, the government again
refused to admit they had over-exposed people in New Mexico to
high levels of ionizing radiation.
This is unconscionable. We should all be outraged that we
were losing our babies and we were refused assistance by the
U.S. Government.
Last, Dr. Joseph Shonka, a health physicist and nuclear
engineer, delivered a lecture entitled ``The First Dirty Bomb:
Trinity'' at a scientific symposium in Denver this summer. Dr.
Shonka worked extensively on the Los Alamos Historical Document
Retrieval and Assessment, or LAHDRA, Project, a project
commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
His work on LAHDRA focused on Trinity, and he's considered to
be a foremost expert on all things relative to the Trinity
test. His lecture focused on the extensive fallout produced by
the Trinity bomb and the subsequent negative consequences to
human health.
We're working to bring Dr. Shonka to New Mexico to deliver
his lecture in locations all across our state, because we
believe that the people of New Mexico deserve to hear what Dr.
Shonka has to say about the toxic nature of the Trinity test to
validate what we've experienced and to inform everyone why it's
vital to amend RECA to include the downwinders of New Mexico.
And so Senator, members of the TBDC are here again today
asking for justice, asking for fairness, asking that after 74
years we be treatedthe same as other downwinders that have
received compensation since RECA was first passed in 1990, over
29 years ago. We're hoping and praying that after 74 years,
members of the U.S. Senate will hear us with open ears, open
hearts, and open minds.
Senator, no other state in the United States sacrificed
more than New Mexico for our national security during World War
II, and yet New Mexicans continue to fight to be acknowledged
and compensated for that sacrifice, even as people continue to
suffer and die as a result.
So as we approach the 75th anniversary of the Trinity test
in 2020, there is an urgent moral and ethical imperative to
right this wrong. There is a path to healing for the uranium
miners and the downwinders of New Mexico whose lives and lands
were taken advantage of and exploited during the Manhattan
Project and beyond. It starts with the recognition of our
service and our sacrifice to this great nation and is complete
only when we are afforded the exact same care and coverage as
other downwinders. Not one dime more, Senator Udall, not one
dime less. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Cordova follows:]
Prepared Statement of Tina Cordova, Co-Founder, Tularosa Downwinders
Consortium
Good Morning Vice Chairman Udall,
It is an honor to be with you here today, Senator, to provide
testimony. Thank you for inviting me to participate. I want to
acknowledge that I also feel very honored to be a part of this
distinguished panel to offer testimony on behalf of all the Downwinders
of New Mexico. As you know, my name is Tina Cordova. I'm a native New
Mexican, a mother, a grandmother, a daughter, a granddaughter, a
sister, an aunt, a friend and I'm also a small business owner of 29
years. I have employed countless people through the years as one of
very few women who hold a construction license in the State of New
Mexico. I'm also a cancer survivor, a community organizer and the Co-
Founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium (TBDC).
Joining me today in the audience are many other Downwinders
representing communities all across New Mexico. Some of these people
have had cancer themselves or are battling cancer now. All of them have
lost loved ones, far too many to mention here. We certainly know and
understand the importance of these hearings.
Senator Udall, as we thank you for this hearing, we also want to
acknowledge and thank your father, Secretary Stewart Udall,
posthumously, for the dedication he and, as a matter of fact, your
entire family has had to the issue at hand. The creation and passage of
the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) has its origins in your
family in the tireless work of your father who possessed the moral
compass to well understand the damage that was done to human health as
our government sought to develop and test nuclear devices.
In a 1992 article published in the New York Times, your father,
Secretary Stewart Udall, stated the following:
``There is nothing comparable in our history to the deceit and
the lying that took place as a matter of official Government
policy in order to protect this industry. Nothing was going to
stop them and they were willing to kill our own people.''
Senator, we know that if it were within your power and your
control, we wouldn't be here today to request the support of the US
Senate to pass the Amendments to RECA. We would be here today to
celebrate with you the justice we have fought so hard to achieve--the
justice your father so valiantly fought for on behalf of the
Downwinders and Uranium Workers.
Today we ask again for your support for the passage of Senate Bill
S. 947 Amendments to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, and
adoption of language to coincide with and match the language in the
recently introduced House Bill H.R. 3783 whose primary sponsor is
Congressman Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico. We ask that the U.S. Congress
extend compensation to the people of New Mexico, noting that New Mexico
has played a pivotal role in this country's national security as home
to the Manhattan Project, two national laboratories, Los Alamos and
Sandia, and many other large government installations, such as Cannon,
Holloman, and Kirtland Air Force Bases, and White Sands Missile Range.
On July 16, 1945, the first nuclear device was detonated in the
desert of New Mexico at the Trinity site. The government has always
characterized the area as remote and uninhabited, but we know from the
US census data that there were at least 40,000 people living in a 50-
mile radius of the test site. We've identified ranching families that
lived as close as 12 miles to the test site. A few of these people are
alive today to tell the stories of how one by one their loved ones have
lost their lives to cancer.
The atomic bomb at Trinity had some unique qualities that produced
significant fallout. It was the first nuclear device to ever be tested.
Because the scientists working on the project had to make certain the
test was a success, the bomb was packed with 13 pounds of plutonium.
Only three pounds fissioned. The remaining ten pounds of unfissioned
plutonium was joined with the soil, the sand, and the animal and plant
life in the area and incinerated. The mushroom cloud rose over seven
miles beyond the atmosphere, penetrating the stratosphere. The
plutonium utilized has a half-life of 24,000 years. A green glass-like
substance called Trinitite was produced at the site when the sand in
the soil melted from the heat of the blast and was joined with the
plutonium. The only place in the world you'll find Trinitite is in the
desert of New Mexico.
Trinity was also the only bomb ever detonated on a platform, 100
feet off the ground. In comparison, the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki were detonated at a height of 1,600 to 1,800 feet. The Trinity
blast literally had nowhere to go once it impacted the earth and is the
reason radioactive material was dispersed widely across the Tularosa
Basin.
This radioactive fallout settled on everything. On the soil, in the
water, in the air, on the plants, and on the skin of every living
thing, both human and animal. It was a public health and an
environmental disaster of grand proportions.
To fully understand how the fallout negatively impacted human
health, we also have to understand what life was like in rural New
Mexico in 1945. People lived very organic lifestyles. They had no
running water and used cisterns, holding ponds, or ditches to collect
water for drinking, cooking, bathing, cleaning and doing laundry. They
depended on the earth, the soil, the water to produce all the food they
ate. They had gardens and orchards and raised cows, pigs, chickens,
sheep, goats, and the like for food. They hunted wild game when it was
necessary. One man told me, ``We didn't have much, but we had all we
needed, and it was all destroyed after the bomb.''
Dr. Louis Hempelmann, the physician who served as the Manhattan
Project Medical Director, stated afterwards, and I quote:
``A few people were probably overexposed, but they couldn't
prove it and we couldn't prove it so we just assumed we got
away with it.''
Part of the history of Trinity is that there was a time following
the detonation when people were allowed to freely go in and out of the
site without obstruction. Children were taken there on field trips, ate
their lunches there, and then packed their pockets with the radioactive
Trinitite I mentioned before. They stored shards of Trinitite in cigar
boxes under their beds along with other childhood treasurers. People
picnicked at the site and some ranchers have told me they hunted wild
game there all the time.
New Mexicans were the first people in the world to be overexposed
to radiation as a result of a nuclear test. The New Mexico Downwinders
are the collateral damage that resulted from the extraction of
minerals, the research, and development and testing of the first atomic
bomb and the unfettered disposal of nuclear waste.
Few knew what had taken place when the bomb was detonated. It
produced more heat and light than the sun and was more powerful than
the bomb at Nagasaki. The blast took place before dawn and most people
alive at the time have told me they thought it was the end of the
world.
While it was not the end of the world, it was the beginning of the
end for so many people, people like my own father who a four-year-old
child was living in Tularosa about 40 miles south of the Trinity site,
the way the crows fly. Like his neighbors, he and his family lived a
simple but full life in rural New Mexico. As a result of his exposure,
he paid the ultimate price for simply being a child raised in a
downwind community.
My father, Anastacio Cordova, died after suffering for more than
eight years with three different cancers for which he had no risk
factors. He didn't smoke, drink, use chewing tobacco, or have any
viruses, yet he developed two distinctly different and rare oral
cancers along with prostate cancer--which are all compensable under
RECA. The doctors told us, ``This just doesn't happen. We just don't
see this.''
My father's overexposure to high levels of radiation from the
Trinity test as a child damaged his cells, which led to cancer and
altered his DNA. Those genetics were passed on to me, and I am thank
goodness a cancer survivor. Through our exposure we continue to pass on
the damaged DNA to our children and our children's children from one
generation to another never to be the same.
As a result, we experience a cycle of poverty associated with the
cost of taking care of our health when we get sick. Living in rural New
Mexico, we can never get treatment at home because there are no medical
facilities in the small towns and villages where we live. Since 1990,
the RECA program has resulted in the establishment of medical clinics
and screening and treatment facilities in other downwind communities.
The proposed amendments would generate similar results where New
Mexicans will be able to receive care.
People tell me stories of how they hold bake sales to buy pain
medications or how they have to sell cattle to pay for their
chemotherapy. How a wife has to go door to door in her Pueblo community
to try to raise money for fuel to get her husband to and from his
treatments in Albuquerque. When a family must spend all they have to
obtain the medical care they need to survive cancer, they have nothing
left to pass on but the damaged genetic legacy.
We would also like to add that this summer at least three
significant events occurred that support and advance our work:
1. We were able to consult with Dr. Arjun Makhijani of the
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER). He brought to
our attention that when nuclear bombs were tested above ground at the
Nevada test site, monitors were in place in New Mexico that indicated
fallout traveled to all parts of New Mexico. The fallout didn't end at
the New Mexico border as is sometimes depicted in maps used by the
government. It is important to note that exposure to radiation is
cumulative and while many people in New Mexico received a high dose of
radiation from the Trinity test, New Mexicans also continued to receive
chronic doses from the fallout produced at the Nevada test site well
into the summer of 1962. A sample of this data is chronicled in the
book entitled Under the Cloud: The Decades of Nuclear Testing, by
Richard L. Miller.
2. Robert Alvarez and Kathleen M. Tucker authored an article
published in the July issue of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
entitled The Most Significant Hazard of the Entire Manhattan Project
that brings attention to the sharp rise in infant mortality recorded
after the Trinity test. This spike was seen after there had been a
steady multi-year decline in infant mortality. Senator Udall, babies in
New Mexico were dying and when the government was asked about why or
how the government again refused to admit they had overexposed the
people in New Mexico to high levels of ionizing radiation. This is
unconscionable. We should all be outraged that we were losing our
babies and we were refused assistance by the government..
3. Finally, Joseph J. Shonka, Ph.D., a health physicist and nuclear
engineer, delivered a lecture entitled The First Dirty Bomb, Trinity,
at a scientific symposium in Denver. Dr. Shonka worked extensively on
the Los Alamos Historical Document Retrieval and Assessment (LAHDRA)
Project, a project of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
His work on LAHDRA focused on Trinity and he is considered to be a
foremost expert on all things relative to Trinity. His lecture focused
on the extensive fallout produced by the Trinity bomb and the
subsequent negative consequences to human health. We are working to
bring Dr. Shonka to New Mexico to deliver his lecture in locations
across our state. We believe the people of New Mexico deserve to hear
what Dr. Shonka has to say about the toxic nature of the Trinity test
to validate what we've experienced and to inform everyone why it is
vital to amend RECA to include the Downwinders of New Mexico.
Members of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium are here again
today asking for fairness, asking that, after 74 years, we be treated
the same as other Downwinders that have received compensation since
RECA first passed in 1990. After all, RECA recognizes the
responsibility of the Federal Government to apologize and provide
health care and monetary compensation to individuals who contracted
certain cancers and other serious diseases following their exposure to
radiation during atmospheric nuclear weapons test. Downwinders and
Uranium workers covered by RECA have received more than $2.3 billion in
claims. While this is a significant amount of money, and as you well
know would be meaningful to the people of New Mexico what we covet most
is fairness and inclusion in the health care coverage afforded by RECA.
We don't want one dime more, or one dime less than what other
Downwinders receive.
New Mexico Downwinders are hoping and praying that after 74 years,
members of the US Senate will hear us with open ears, open hearts, and
open minds. We ask that you put yourself in our shoes that you consider
what it's like to walk with us just one day. Imagine what it's like to
attend a funeral, a chemo infusion, or receive the horrible news that
the cancer you've been fighting is back. Can you imagine telling their
children that you are dying, and all you can wonder is: Did I pass on
my damaged genes to my children and grandchildren?
No other state in the United States sacrificed more than New Mexico
for our national security during World War II. And yet New Mexico
continues to fight to be acknowledged and compensated for that
sacrifice even as people continue to suffer and die as a result of that
sacrifice.
As we approach the 75th anniversary of the Trinity test in 2020
there is an urgent moral and ethical imperative to right this wrong.
There is a path to healing for the Downwinders of New Mexico whose
lives and lands were taken advantage of and exploited during the
Manhattan Project and beyond. It starts with the recognition of our
service and our sacrifice to this great nation and is complete only
when we are afforded the exact same care and coverage as other
Downwinders. Not one dime more. Not one dime less.
Thank you, and I stand for questions.
Referenced:
New York Times Article published in 1992 entitled Santa Fe
Portrait; A Longtime Pillar of the Government Now Aids Those
Hurt by Its Bombs.
Sample of Data from Under the Cloud: The Decades of Nuclear
Testing, by Richard L. Miller.
Article from Bulletin of Atomic Scientists entitled The Most
Significant Hazard of the Entire Manhattan Project.
Dr. Joseph Shonka Resume and Abstract from lecture entitled The
First Dirty Bomb, Trinity.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much, Ms. Cordova, for that
very, very powerful testimony. And I just want to let you know,
on one of the points you raised, we specifically asked the
witnesses that were before you to stay, and asked them to stay
and hear your testimony today. I have been told that there are
individuals from the departments here in the audience that are
going to report back to the departments, and please be assured
that the departments will be asked in subsequent hearings about
your testimony, and also the testimony will be available
publicly, because this is a public hearing and when it's
finally reported, it will be out there for everyone to see. So
thank you very much.
President Nez, you testified that the Navajo peoples
creation story is deeply connected to your environment and
land, and what the Navajo people desire most is to have their
lands cleaned and remediated. So it only makes sense that the
Navajo people have a say on the type of cleanup that occurs on
your lands; and to actively plan and participate in that
cleanup, perhaps even using traditional ecological knowledge.
To your knowledge, has the federal government ever included
traditional and cultural knowledge into the cleanup process?
Mr. Nez. Thank you, Vice Chair, for that question. Not to
my knowledge, Vice Chair. But as you know, Chairman, Vice
Chair, a lot of the departments throughout the federal
government are beginning to be open to utilizing indigenous
traditional knowledge in their programs. As you know, Park
Services has been beginning to open their eyes and ears to
traditional knowledge and techniques of restoring lands. And I
can see the same thing happening here in uranium mine
reclamations work.
We have a lot of great talent on the Navajo Nation. You
know, we tell our young folks to go to school, gain that
experience, and to come home and help out. And they have that
knowledge when they return home, that dominant way of thinking
when they come home. But they also balance it with our own way
of life teaching, our culture and tradition.
And that is one of the reasons why we say that we want to
be at the table when it comes to the ten-year plan. And I think
Navajo professionals and young people today can bring valuable
insight to the plan as well as the remediation work, in our
minds, today.
And lastly, I just want to say, you know, that the Gallup
Indian Medical Center that's going to be rebuilt there, we are
wanting to really advocate for a cancer treatment center there,
as well, and also include traditional and cultural teaching to
bring balance. And if you see my testimony, it says (in Dine).
In Navajo, (in Dine) means a restoration and a move to balance
and harmony. (In Dine) is imbalance. And we want to return our
lands back to harmony as well as our people; not just Navajo
people, but all peoples here in the Southwest.
Thank you, Vice Chair.
Senator Udall. Thank you, President Nez.
And one of the things that I think comes out from the
testimony is the issue of consultation and how consultation is
performed, because I think, many times, what sometimes the
leaders of federal agencies and others think is that
consultation means we draw up a plan and then we present it to
the tribe and say, you know, ``You have a chance to comment.''
To me, consultation means you are equals and before any
plan is drawn up, there is a thorough consultation and then,
through that process, the plan is come up with, with vigorous
consultation00 throughout, rather than this kind of one-sided
presentation. And so we're always at the Indian Affairs
Committee trying to remind federal agencies that that's true.
Do you agree with that?
Mr. Nez. Thank you, Vice Chair. And I do agree, you know.
Administrator Gray from Region 6 spoke earlier. And as you know
and many of us here know on the Navajo Nation, we have three
regions: We have Regions 9, 6, and 8. And really, Region 9 is
the go-to region in terms of all of Navajo. We got New Mexico,
Utah, Arizona, all overseen by Region 9.
So it would have been great to hear Administrator Mike
Stoker testify before you, but I know that his heart is with
the Navajo people. He has visited us. I do have our executive
director behind me, Oliver Whaley, our Navajo EPA. So we're
looking for ways to bring more resources to the Navajo Nation
and we even challenge them to open their own office, uranium
office, on the Navajo Nation; an EPA office, a suboffice as
well, on the Navajo Nation.
So I do agree with your comment, Vice Chair, and we look
forward to bringing everyone together, you know, Department of
Energy, EPA, andIHS. You know, when those mandates come from
Congress, it's usually the federal programs and the federal
offices that begin to coordinate. And tribes--I think we can
all agree, tribes are kind of just left on the side wondering
what is being planned for the communities. And we advocate for
being at that table, Vice Chair. Thank you. SENATOR UDALL:
Thank you.
Councilman Riley, you testified that the Village of
Pojoaque is located on the edge--excuse me. I know, Paguate.
Sorry. I went a little bit further there with my E. It's
located on the edge of what was at one time the largest open
pit mine in the world, and that the village was significantly
affected by mining activity. Sometimes radioactive dust
lingered for hours on homes and on crops and on clothes. Was
the community ever warned of the possible public health risk
during the mining activity?
Mr. Riley. Thank you for the question, Senator. I think
many of us in this room know the answer to that. There was not
any information provided by the United States Government on the
effects or the outcomes that actually could happen to not only
the workers but the communities surrounding the Jackpile Mine
boundary area.
And as we become a more mobile community, the health
effects of water, surface water, all our ecosystems within our
Pueblo of Laguna, we do not and will not be leaving the area
anytime soon. So this problem is certainly something that holds
great interest to us. So I believe that if the federal
government had provided its right information on those effects,
I think we might have seen a little bit different outcome how
many decades later.
Senator Udall. Yes. Yes. Can you describe any lingering
effects of uranium contamination present today from your
observations and things that you have seen?
Mr. Riley. One of the great curious--you know, looking back
in history, not being able to quantify at times all the things
that were there prior to the uranium mining, but also being
able to see what the effects on surface water in particular
have on the local communities and how it's mobile going down to
different parts of our reservation. So I think that's probably
one of the most prominent.
Secondly, the health effects of cancer, radioisotope
outcomes. As mentioned early on in the presentations, the human
safety and the environment are a priority to the Pueblo of
Laguna and all tribal communities. And we want to make sure
that in all those respects, that we take care of those issues
today. We can do better than this.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much.
Governor Chavarria, you testified that the Los Alamos
Historical Document Retrieval and Assessment Project concluded
that LANL was slow to implement the use of HEPA filters on the
exhaust systems of plutonium facilities and the need to further
study the effects. Has there been a comprehensive study on
cancer or other public health studies on Santa Clara and other
northern pueblos in New Mexico? And if not, what do you think
is needed there?
Mr. Chavarria. So Chairman, members of the Committee, part
of my testimony is to provide funding for the CDC to do that.
Those reconstructions really give us a formal understanding,
because we owe that to Grandma and Grandpa. You know, it was
them that faced those consequences. So the inhalation of
plutonium particles is a concern because plutonium particles
can embed in the lungs and emit alpha and beta--or gamma
radiation for many years and increase the health risk for
cancers. Again, our grandmas and grandpas who inhaled these
plutonium particles, they've already passed. But we still owe
them that information.
And so for now, we have been working with the University of
New Mexico, the Cancer Research Center, to help us. Because we
can't just rely on the federal government. We have to look at
other outside entities to support us in that collection of
data. And then it comes back to HIPAA. You know,
confidentiality of that data that's been collected. And we
heard earlier from the Indian Health Service that, yeah,
funding for those specialty type of services are no longer
available in the Indian Health Service, so they got to refer
the patients out to specialty type healthcare facilities.
But to me, they're not sharing that data. And that should
be very important. And I found out yesterday through HIPAA we
had a death of one of our veterans, our grandpa. Once an
individual is deceased, HIPAA is no longer. It's open to then
get that medical record of that individual. But I got to work
with the Office of the Medical Investigator. Today I'm working
on the death certificate to identify what the actual cause of
death to that individual was.
So there's a lot more gaps that need to be filled in. But
ultimately, working together is going to be important, because
we need that data to actually show the impacts. And how do you
put--you can't put a dollar figure on a human, the impact to
the health, impact to the natural resources or materials that
we utilize for our traditional cultural religious activities.
It's priceless.
So how do you put a price on compensation? Even though our
lands might be impacted, where do we go? We can't just pack up
our bags and leave. We have nowhere else to go because all of
our traditions, our cultures, have been embedded in those
lands, aboriginal lands, and surrounding areas, and that's very
critical.
All this is very important, Chairman and members of the
Committee, that we get the full support from the federal
government, the state government, but also tribes, but also
higher education institutions to help us fill in those gaps and
voids, come to a better conclusion of those health scenarios or
health risk assessments as it pertains to us as pueblo, tribal,
and tribalnations, people in general.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much for that answer.
Ms. Cordova, Tina, you testified that to fully understand
the impacts of the Trinity test, you must understand life in
rural New Mexico in 1945. Could you expand on how the nuclear
fallout from the Trinity test affected the land and the water
in the area, and what that means for those who raise livestock
and eat from their gardens?
Ms. Cordova. First of all, to answer that question, Senator
Udall--and I appreciate the question, because it's very
important for people to understand that in 1945, life was
dramatically different than it is today. First of all, the
radioactive cloud of debris that was dispersed by the bomb at
the Trinity Test Site exceeded the atmosphere and penetrated
the stratosphere. They overpacked the bomb with plutonium. They
actually utilized 13 pounds of weapons-grade plutonium and only
three pounds fission. That means that the remaining ten pounds
of unfissioned plutonium that went in that fireball exceeded
the atmosphere. For days afterwards, documented by the
government, at least for five days afterwards, an ash fell from
the sky, a radioactive ash.
We didn't have running water in the villages of New Mexico
in 1945, so now the ash was joined with our water supply. It
was also joined with the earth and literally got on the skin of
every living thing, both animal and humans.
We didn't have grocery stores in 1945 in rural New Mexico.
We didn't have refrigeration. So everything that people ate
they either grew or harvested or raised or hunted, and our
entire food supply was then affected by the fallout that came
down.
We tend to live today very differently from that. We lived
very organically back then. But when you collect water in a
cistern for every purpose, for drinking, for bathing, for
cleaning, for cooking, and that water is contaminated, in a
closed space with no place for it to go, it remains there
forever. Plutonium has a half-life of 24,000 years. Imagine.
And so the people's way of life was completely and totally
impacted. And we stress that as we talk about the exposure that
we received. I thought it was really interesting that
Congressman Lujan referenced in the LADHRA study the passage
that says that the CDC believes that the exposure the day of
the event was 10,000 times what is considered acceptable today.
That is hard to wrap our minds around. And so that is in answer
to your question.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much. And I think you know in
studying this and listening to the experts and the person that
you talked about that you're trying to urge to come to New
Mexico, that just the smallest amount of plutonium, just so
everyone knows, the size of a small grain of sand or something
on the tip of a pen, if you get that in your body, through
either inhaling it or through a cut or something along that
line, there's a substantial, substantial likelihood that you're
going to get cancer. That's the evidence that's out there
today.
So we need to know, we all need to know that when you have
a nuclear blast like that and then it settles on a community,
it isn't just that one day. The exposure is over a long period
of time. And I think your points are very, very well made.
Ms. Cordova. Senator, can I say one other thing?
Senator Udall. Yes, please.
Ms. Cordova. Our government--I was just at the opening of
the Trinity Site Saturday. We do a peaceful demonstration. We
stage ourselves there to make sure that the entire history of
the test is told. They still today on the inside at the Trinity
Site say that it was remote and uninhabited, that nobody lived
in the area. But we know from the census data that there were
tens of thousands of people living in a 50-mile radius. And Dr.
Hempelmann, who was assigned to the test, said afterward--and I
won't get it exactly right--but something to the effect of,
``We can never do this again here because we so overexposed
people to radiation. And if we ever do it anyplace else, we
have to find an area with a 150-mile radius uninhabited.''
Well, if you draw a radius around Trinity 150 miles, it
pretty much encompasses all of our state. And so by the own
admission of the government, they damaged our way of life
basically forever.
Senator Udall. And I would invite you to put the actual
quote in the record and you can do that.
Ms. Cordova. It is in my written testimony that I
submitted. It's there.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much.
Phil Harrison. You have decades of experience as an
advocate for uranium miners, but have also seen firsthand the
effects of the uranium legacy in Navajo as a miner yourself.
Could you describe some of your observations growing up near
uranium mines and the effects on the people around you?
Mr. Harrison. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
When I was in high school, I went to work as a miner to
help my father. They gave me a shovel and told me to keep the
tracks clear, which I did. And when I was not cleaning up the
tracks, I was helping the drilling. And they asked me to do
drilling, they were full throttle on the lever. And if I wasn't
doing that, I was supplying dynamite and fertilizer and primer
cord and blasting caps.
The day I went into that mine, I was never told that this
is going to be dangerous and there's going to be some
consequences. And I drank that water probably like eight to ten
cups a day. So did the rest of the miners. And I have observed
that. During the weekends they would load up their canvas bags
of water, canvas bags, and take them home, back over here to
Shiprock. And all the years that the miners' family--they lived
on the site and they were exposed to the tailings that were
there, the ore tailings that was there. They used dynamite
boxes for their kitchen cupboards. They used vent bags also as
kind of like an apron on their cupboards, too.
So I have seen all of that and observed that at a young
age. My father would come back in the morning or evening, he
would rub his pants and shake it, and all the contaminants
would be spread in the living area. Clothes were washed in one
basket along with the clothing that came from the mine.
And besides what has happened there at the mine site, the
Navajo families, so probably other neighboring tribes, have
been exposed to a lot of radiation. The background radiation is
like 20 radiation levels. And I would think it was more where
the Navajo people lived. So the family members, the children
that grew up on the mines, were probably just as affected as
the miners when they went into the mine, in the mines.
So I think the whole community, the family, the water
sources, the structures, all of those were impacted by 50 years
of mining, and that's what I have seen.
I myself went through a major surgery and I was approved
for medical benefits but there was no compensation. And also
I'm going to bring this out that why were the post-'71 workers
not approved for compensation, whereas the remediation workers?
They're post-'71 and they're eligible to file a claim; they're
eligible for medical benefits, but there are certain illnesses
that's not compensated. They're not allowed for compensation.
Some of us are in that detrimental category today.
So we ask Members of Congress to include what is not
included in the compensable list for miners and also
downwinders.
Senator Udall. And as you know, on the post-'71 miners, all
the legislation that was mentioned over in the House, from the
Members of Congress here and my legislation in the Senate, is
to deal specifically with that issue of the post-'71 miners,
because it's really important that we recognize that what we
have learned over the years--there may have been some reason in
the past, if you go way back. But we have learned that the
exposure has continued and that was there.
So would you say that the post-'71 miners are facing the
same sort of health issues as those covered under RECA,
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act?
Mr. Harrison. Chairman Udall, I can say that being among
our people, a lot of post-'71 miners at a young age have
passed. A lot of their children also contracted cancers. We
just had a funeral for a young lady two weeks ago. And we just
lost a uranium miner about a week ago. We had that funeral. He
was a veteran of the Armed Forces.
And I would say that I went to a symposium a couple days
ago in Laguna, and I heard from four widows. They lost their
husbands all from lung disease. That's typical. Pulmonary
fibrosis, silicosis, pneumoconiosis, fibrosis of the lung, cor
pulmonale. They died from the same lung disease as the pre-'71.
So it's pretty much evident that their lives are shortened.
Their lives are shortened and they're not going to be able to
enjoy what Western society says, the American dream. A lot of
our fathers did not get to the point where they would have that
Navajo dream or Western dream. They did not. They were deprived
of their life, such as my father died at age 44. My siblings,
my grandchildren never got to know who their father, who their
grandfather, was. And this is typical among all the families,
all the workers and all the neighboring tribes. They're
experiencing that now, Mr. Udall. They are hurt, and there's
pain and suffering and frustration, even with the criteria.
There's a lot of thresholds that you have to jump so high to
pursue compensation. That's pretty evident now.
Senator Udall. Phil, to your knowledge, was your father
ever screened for cancer or considered high risk for cancer?
Mr. Harrison. My father was part of the cohort studies that
was done by the NIOSH and Public Health Service. Like I said
earlier, there was like 744 Navajo miners that were studied.
The government has a logbook of who was studied: Their Social
Security number, their birthday, when they entered the mine,
when they died, when they were diagnosed, what they were
diagnosed with. But one day in the meeting in Shiprock, I seen
that booklet. I said, ``You have the information. Why are we
going through the conversation and frustration proving to you
that these guys actually mined uranium?''
My father was already dying slowly and he didn't last a
year after he left the mine in 1970. He died January 11, 1971.
So he was part of the people that was studied. And I know that
the government continues to study those miners somewhere, and
it's hard to find medical records, and nowadays, just like this
gentleman had mentioned, someone passes. If the Department of
Justice wants medical information, you have to hire an attorney
again. You put the burden on the family to find the executor of
the estate. You have to go through tribal court to prove to the
federal government that a father died from lung disease. And
that just creates more frustration for our people. It's getting
harder and harder every day for those that have not been
compensated.
Senator Udall. Yes, I know, we understand. That's what
we're trying to do with this legislation, to bring some justice
to this situation.
President Nez, in my opening statement, I mentioned the Red
Water Pond community, a settlement on the Navajo Nation and the
EPA's proposed relocation plan. I think you would agree that
when tribes hear the word ``relocation,'' especially by the
federal government, it causes some anxiety. In fact, we have
heard directly from the Red Water Pond community with concerns
about the EPA's proposed relocation plan. To your knowledge,
has the EPA or the Army Corps of Engineers reached out to the
Navajo Nation government on the proposed relocation plan?
Mr. Nez. Thank you again, Vice Chair, for the question. Not
to my knowledge. And let me just say that I heard from the
first panel that cleaning up those uranium mine sites can be
done. I know that at times we're told by the departments,
federal departments, that it has to be an act of Congress to
clean up uranium mines. You know, many of our Navajo people--
and I think all of them, you know--their umbilical cords are
buried there in their home community, in their homeland. And
when you try to relocate somebody to another place foreign to
them, you know, that brings a lot of heartache and hardship.
And we know that from the history of the Navajo Hopi land
dispute, the land settlement, where people were forced to
relocate to other places. And sometimes, you know, they go
through much more hardship than others on the Navajo Nation.
But while I have the floor, Vice Chairman, I wanted to
mention the fact-finding hearing or the meeting that occurred
by Raul Grijalva, the chairman of the House Natural Resource
Committee, last week. And we heard testimonies from post-'71
mine workers. Leslie Begay, who is sitting here today. Tommy
Reed, who is seated here today. Walter Marble. Johnny Begay. I
sat there, front row seat, while they were testifying about
what they have gone through, their health. And I felt very sad.
I shed a tear; I shed many tears sitting there. But after that,
I got angry. And I think there's a lot of anger amongst the
many of us here today, wondering why the federal government has
yet to help the people that are going through these health
problems.
And as you heard from the first panel, as well, if we clean
up these uranium mines, then the second, third generations down
the road don't have to go through the same health problems as
these individuals are going through today.
Leslie there, his testimony about medication not being
available at IHS, and the specialization care that he gets off
the Nation. Some of them, they can't afford transportation or
fuel to go many, many hundreds of miles to get their care. And
that's why there's a need for an oncology cancer treatment
facility for many of our tribes. It was quite interesting to
hear that when we opened the cancer treatment facility in Tuba
City, that that was the first cancer treatment facility to ever
open up in Indian Country. With these high rates of cancers
throughout Indian Country, there was not one. And that's being
worked on right now.
And because of the many stories of our Navajo people and
those post-'71 mine workers, you know, the hardship they have
gone through, I'm sure that is the reason why--I believe that's
the reason why the Navajo Nation banned uranium mining on our
lands. And I understand that there's even going to be a
referendum to solidify that and say, ``Yes, enough is enough.''
And we're not going to condone any more uranium mining on our
Navajo lands.
But transportation of radioactive material and waste--there
is a ban. Unless they're getting rid of it. Take it out. Take
it off our lands. And if we can do that, then there will be no
need for relocation of our citizens. And that would bring
harmony, restoration, just and fair compensation to all our
mine workers here, those post-'71 Navajo workers as well as our
brothers and sisters that are not Native, as well. They should
get that compensation that they deserve. Thank you, Vice Chair.
Senator Udall. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Councilman Riley, EPA is currently working on the Grants
mineral belt cleanup plan which covers Laguna Pueblo. Can you
give the Committee some insight from the Pueblo's perspective
on how the cleanup plan is progressing? Also, has EPA worked
directly with the Pueblo on setting up cleanup goals?
Mr. Riley. Thank you again for the question, Senator. And
like any project of this complexity, complication, working side
by side always can be better. And I think that it goes to great
lengths that our federal agencies and our offices need to
continue to do the best they can in working with not only our
Pueblo of Laguna, but other tribal communities as well. So I
think that that is something that we can continue to strive for
as a nation-to-nation of sorts, and I hope that once we move
forward with the Grants mineral belt activities.
One thing that I want to point out, Senator, is having to
deal with the outstanding issue of having to do mining. There's
a moratorium at the Pueblo of Laguna for uranium mining. It's
been long-standing. And when you have other entities that are
doing or trying to do those type of initiatives, it's very
tough and challenging, especially when you look at water
authority, water jurisdiction, water rights, and having the
Pueblo of Laguna continue to have to fight for water rights and
this whole process.
Vice Chairman, I just want to make just a brief comment.
Very thankful for the candid discussion that we've had today.
Words like government responsibility, accountability, trust
responsibility, justice. And the tribal contributions to the
United States' well-being is unrefuted. And I believe that when
the tribes come to the table and might have an answer that the
rest of the Grants mineral belt may have, like no mining, or
watch out for the water, because here's the effects--we don't
have to revisit those stories again--that they look at that in
good faith with us. Because I mentioned earlier, we're not
going anywhere. We're going to be there forever.
So I want to just say that we are citizens of three areas:
The United States, the State of New Mexico, and the Pueblo of
Laguna. And I think that's something that is unrefutable and
we're very proud of and we want our people's health and our
people's environment protected, and we can do better.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much. And we're nearing the
end here, but I just want to take this opportunity to allow
anyone who may want to add any parting words from the panel
here, thoughts or comments for the record before we adjourn.
Mr. Harrison. And then we'll come to the governor here.
Mr. Harrison. Senator Udall, I just want to express my
appreciation on your late father. We certainly did work with
him and he understood the damages that had taken place among
our people and all the uranium workers. We do appreciate that.
We remember him very well. And a lot of our Navajo people in
our public meeting, they often mention your father.
And I'm really sorry to hear that you're going to be
leaving the Senate, and before you leave, we'd like to have our
amendment passed byCongress.
Senator Udall. That's what we're working on.
Mr. Harrison. The other thing is, talking about being our
homeland here, the Department of Justice is asking the
downwinders to prove residency. This is very alarming and very
hurtful to many people, actually a slap in the face, where the
government asks a grandpa or grandma, ``Where did you live
between 1951 and 1958? Or in one month of 1962, where did you
live?''
And I once said that, you know, the federal government has
the title of federal trust land. It has title to our land, and
yet you're asking Grandma to prove residency. Well, she
corralled there for the longest time. They did not come from
Australia or Siberia. We have been there for the longest time.
And in the amendment, we listed that affidavits be used where
there's a recognized tribal leader can say that Grandma lived
here with a grazing permit from 1941; therefore, let this be in
record to prove residency for Mrs. Yaie or Mrs. Benally.
So that's something that's been very hard. There's extreme
disparities for the Navajo downwinders getting compensation
because it's hard for them to come up with records to prove
residency. They ask for such things as Lions Club, Rotary Club,
Elks Club, VFW. It never existed back in those days. And it's
hard to prep a case for--it takes a year. No wonder the
attorneys run from it, because if you take $1,000 and divide
that by $12, how much is that for them? They don't want to mess
with it.
The other thing that--I might not sleep tonight--I have to
mention this. In my research when I was in Washington, I heard
about the 911 Compensation Fund. It didn't take very long for
the federal government to approve billions. And I also looked
to the Internet. And I was looking down the list. You know, we
really do appreciate the first responders, what they did in
clean-up of the Twin Towers. And it's very alarming to hear
about what happened. But they got sick, too, just as much as
our uranium miners got sick. And I was looking at the rate, the
compensation rate. The cases were like over $1 million, $2.1
million, $1.3 million for breast cancer. And I went down the
list now following the gentleman that was diagnosed with
pulmonary fibrosis, he received $883,000 compared to $100,000.
I don't think it's fair. So I want to take my father, being at
44. If he still lived, if he was still with us and got to 66
years old, so if you take 20 years times like about maybe
$30,000 a year, he would have made $500,000 to $600,000 during
that lifetime. But when you come back and you just give the
spouses $100,000, that is very, very low. And it's alarming and
it doesn't sit well with me. So we need to do something about
the compensation rate.
Thank you, Mr. Vice Chairman.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much.
Governor Chavarria.
Mr. Chavarria. Yes. Chairman, Members of the Committee. I'd
also like to thank you, Chairman. You have been a champion for
us, the Native people in your tenure both in the House and the
Senate. You know, it's going to be hurtful and a loss for all
of us, because you have been pushing and helping us along with
many of these issues as the Vice Chairman for the Senate
Committee of Indian Affairs, and we wish you well.
You know, it's up to all of us as brothers and sisters to
work on these challenging issues together, coming up with
solutions. And yes, the other federal agencies were possibly
the trustees, but at times they challenge us. They want to see
we're actually capable, competent, of providing these services
for our own people. That's a challenge that we all face
together. But for us as a Native people, it goes back to the
power of prayer. We're all unique. You know, we share that same
value of our traditions, our cultures, and our religious
activity. And those sacred values are based upon the landscape,
the resources, the water, the animals, the plants that we use
with that fundamental belief that we have that inherent
interconnection to our land.
The Pueblo people are patriotic people. We care deeply
about protecting, yes, the national security, but using that
sacred area to hurt us is unacceptable. Yes, we're trying to
find ways to promote cleanup and restoration of those
resources, our lands. As was mentioned, the half-life of those
radioactive isotopes is thousands of years. Where do we dispose
of that material? Right now there's not no permanent disposal
site in the United States or in the entire world. Yeah, you
have WIPP, but that's only a temporary disposal area.
And so this legacy waste is what we're dealing with, with
the Department of Energy right now, with all the waste and the
legacy. But now we're having to deal with the Department of
Energy environmental management with the current waste. And so
funding is very important, which is a challenge. And for us as
tribes, it's confusing, because now they're both one agency,
but now it's separate roles and responsibilities they're having
to undertake.
And so to having to be at the table to fully understand
which team do we have to deal with for the legacy, but also for
the current and future waste, is also critical. But yet,
they're using our lands to transport maybe to the highways, the
railroads. But then if something happens, who does it impact?
It impacts all of us.
And so that's very important and critical: How do we engage
to come up with positive solutions? You talked about
consultation. For us it's coming to the table to reach
consensus. The issue is to identify the challenged obstacles,
but what are the solutions we're looking at? There's not no one
agency that has all that money to support. It comes back to
Congress and the president to fully allocate those
appropriations and deal with many of these issues. Yes, this is
one issue. But you got healthcare, you got education, you got
employment. All these issues that we as tribal leaders would
deal with for our constituents.
And you have seen that, Senator. And you feel that pain.
And this is why you have called this meeting for today, this
hearing. So we ask: How do we help you? How do we help you then
go to that next level by addressing and advocating in
Washington, D.C. for those committee chairmen of those
respected committees to make sure they have a full
understanding of these commitments, of these discussions and
dialogue we're having today? Because if we don't do it, who's
going to do it for us? It's not for us. It's for the ones that
have went, the ones that are yet to come. That's who we do it
for. But as tribal leaders, it's up to us now to engage in
those critical discussions to fulfill our obligations to our
people, our lands, the community, our animals, the plants that
we still utilize today for our tradition and cultural religious
activities because that's who we are. And we can never get away
from that.
So I appreciate you, Senator, members of the Committee, for
hosting this hearing today. And that's why I ask however I can
help, whatever else I need to do to help you, please let me
know. And I'm willing to roll up my sleeves to help all of us
in this room, and move to a positive conclusion or outcome. But
again, as I say, there's not no dollar figure you can put on a
life. That's priceless.
So again, I'd just like to thank you for the opportunity to
be here today, Chairman and members of the Committee.
Senator Udall. Thank you.
Ms. Cordova. Senator Udall, I would just like to please
bring your attention to part of my written testimony and oral
testimony that I delivered. Senate Bill 947 does not have
language that we think goes far enough. There has been new
language introduced in House Bill 3783 that extends the
eligibility period and addresses other areas that we think are
shortcomings in the Senate bill. So today, there are only two
things that I really want to stress. And that is part of them,
that we need language to mirror the language in the House bill.
The other thing, sir, that I think that I need to stress is
that--and the Congresswoman did a great job when she mentioned
about the cost of doing this, because we hear that all the
time. I don't know how many times I have heard, ``It's going to
cost too much.'' Well, we can't place a value on human life,
and we've all given far too much. I always say, ``I don't know
what else we can give to this cause.'' We bury our loved ones
on a regular basis. I don't know what else we can give.
So we all need to start developing language around this
idea that it's going to cost too much to take care of the
people of New Mexico. This has had a grave economic consequence
to this state. I believe that it's part of what locks us into a
cycle of poverty that we can't ever get out of. When we spend
all that we have to take care of our health because we're so
sick and we're dying, we have nothing to pass on to the next
generation. And we should be afforded the same opportunity to
the American dream that other people are afforded all across
this country.
And so on behalf of all of us, I have to say that I am so
tired of hearing that, that it's going to cost us too much. We
need to develop messaging around that idea that it costs too
much.
Senator Udall. Excellent testimony.
Thank you.
Please, Councilman Riley.
Mr. Riley. First off, I want to thank you, Senator, for all
of your help and assistance all these years on going up to
Washington, D.C., on behalf of the Pueblo of Laguna, all the
different issues and projects and initiatives. You're always
there standing side by side with us and helping us, and your
staff, for many, many long meetings. So I want to thank you for
your service and thank you for the projects, especially this
one, as very complex.
At the end of the day, I have faith and trust that the
United States must take responsibility for the cleanup of these
uranium mines at the end of the day. But no matter where we're
located, no matter how big or small our tribes are, we have to
be working together side by side. And I came to this hearing on
behalf of Governor Herrera and our Pueblo Council, and I walk
away today with a good sense of hope and faith that you're
going to be helping not only our people but those that have
been affected, post-'71, downwinders and all those folks, that
should get justice because they have contributed so much in
their land and their health and, unfortunately, in the passing
of many of our tribal members.
But thank you very much, and I wish you well. And if
there's anything that we can do at the Pueblo of Laguna, please
let us know. And thank you for letting us participate in the
hearing.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much.
President Nez.
Mr. Nez. Just as our tribal leaders and advocates have
mentioned, thank you for being the champion for Indian Country,
Vice Chairman Udall. And your staff. Let's not forget the
staff. And all the many advocates that are here today. I think
this is a charge that we all need to take seriously for our
relatives throughout our tribal communities throughout the
Southwest here. We need to come together as one, advocate on
behalf of our people that are sick, because we now need to have
the federal government step up to the plate and clean up these
uranium mines throughout the Southwest. That is key. And if not
now, you know, we're going to be in the second, third, many
generations after this, going through the same problem. I think
here and now is the opportunity that we all bind together. I
always say that in our Navajo language, you know, (in Dine)
that means weall are five-fingered beings. I think all of us
here are five-fingered beings. It doesn't matter what color our
skin is. You can see uranium affects everybody. And it's not
color-blind. And so our drinking water is affected, our food,
our farms, the livestock that we have and we take and we eat
affects us.
And you know, we haven't yet even started talking about the
Gold King Mine spill, even that, with a lot of heavy metals
that came through all these mines. Even that mine, those mines,
many mines, thousands of mines up there, are ready to burst.
And we need to all come together and really educate our
lawmakers in Washington, D.C. Let them know that this is a
problem in Indian Country as well as the Southwest.
I'm going to conclude by this statement that I have heard
once, and I'm going to reiterate that since we have a lot of
our veterans here today. Our veterans--and it was mentioned
earlier that our veterans--I think it was Representative
Haaland who mentioned it--that Native Americans, a high
percentage of ethnic group, volunteer for service. And let's
not forget our Navajo Code Talkers, where the Navajo language
was used to win the war. And I know that my brothers and
sisters from other tribes that have Code Talkers, as well. And
for Navajo, we used our language to win the war, as well as the
uranium that was extracted from our homeland. And to this day,
there are over 300-plus uranium mines still open, and it
affects everybody.
You all know that we have lots of high winds in our region.
And when that radiation goes up into the atmosphere, which way
does the wind blow? Eastward. And it affects each and every one
of us on a daily basis.
So thank you, Vice Chairman, for your advocacy. And I know
with your help we are going to do some great things in getting
these uranium mines cleaned up, not just in Indian Country, but
all over the Southwest.
So if you all can help me give him a big round of applause,
our Senator Udall. Thank you so much, Senator.
Senator Udall. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you very much to the entire panel today.
Governor Chavarria asked, you know, what can you do? Well,
the five of you have done an enormous thing here by coming
forward with this powerful testimony and really getting to the
root of what we need to fix. And that really, really makes a
difference, and it helps me enormously in doing my job in
Washington.
And so you may feel that, you know, coming here and giving
testimony is like a small rock dropping in a pond and is just a
small ripple. But I think what happens is, because of that
ripple and the five of you and then others speaking out, we're
going to build that into a tidal wave to get all of this done.
So that's what we're working on doing, and you have really
helped us do that.
And I also want to thank--many of you said very nice things
about my service. First of all, I just want to tell you, I'm
not retiring. I'm going to continue public service. Okay? I
never use the word ``retire.'' And I'm not leaving until
January of 2021. That's when my term expires. And so you can
see there's a ways to go, and so there's an opportunity to get
a lot of these things done that we've been talking about here.
I also want to acknowledge the many folks and advocates for
downwinders and post-'71 miners that came here today, people
like Linda Evers, who's been a tireless advocate for post-'71
miners. And I just want to thank you so much for coming here
and making the effort and being a part of this, because you're
also the help that spreads the ripple that builds into the
tidal wave. So thank you. Thank you very much for that.
And there are no more questions at this point, so I would
remind folks that senators may also submit follow-up written
questions for you for the record. The hearing record will be
open for two weeks until October 21st, and I just really thank
you for your time and testimony today.
I also want to thank Senator Hoeven, my chairman. He
couldn't be here with us, but he sent his top guy here, and
he's been listening to every single word.
And I also want to thank my staff, both Mike, Senator
Hoeven's top guy, and Jennifer. They have worked very hard to
pull this all together and do a very, very professional
hearing. So let's give them a round of applause. I don't know
that rounds of applause in a Senate hearing are etiquette, but
I only did it once, so I hope I'm not violating too much.
But this hearing is now adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 2:00 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Prepared Statement of Hon. Max A. Zuni, Governor, Pueblo of lsleta
The Pueblo of lsleta shares many of the same concerns expressed by
other tribes regarding open pit mining and possible radiation
contamination from federal entities. The three major federal entities
that are upstream of the Pueblo are Los Alamos National Laboratory
(``LANL''), Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB) and Sandia National
Laboratories. Discharges by these federal entities into any waters have
the potential to reach the Pueblo's waters.
Like many pueblos, our way of life is tied to the land and water.
Whether the health of our community has been compromised by the mining
operations conducted by these federal entities is unknown. However,
similar to other communities that provided testimony, cancer and other
diseases are present in our community.
Los Alamos National Laboratory alone has the potential to release
20,000 pounds of hazardous air pollutant chemicals to the air. It also
has the potential to discharge toxic chemicals to the water and the
potential to generate and/or manage at least 2,200 pounds of hazardous
waste in a month. A compound list for LANL can be found at: http://
www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/index.asp.
At Sandia National Laboratories, a total of 1,902 pounds of toxic
releases from 2009 to 201 7 have been reported and are in EPA's
Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database.
The Pueblo of Isleta is also very concerned about the mixed-waste
landfill, a 2.6-acre dumpsite, which operated from 1959 to 1988. This
site is located within 3 miles of the Pueblo's northern boundary.
According to the Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, a non-profit
environmental justice group out of Santa Fe, New Mexico, the mixed-
waste landfill contains an estimated 1,500,000 cubic feet of
radioactive, toxic and hazardous wastes from experiments and the
development of nuclear weapons. Plutonium, americium, tritium, depleted
uranium, lead, beryllium, PCB's and chlorinated solvents are some of
the highly hazardous materials that have been disposed of at this site.
This site has the potential of contaminating the Pueblo's groundwater.
Radioactive decay in half-life of 250,000 years or more means that
the uncertainty of long-term effects on human health and the
environment from a radioactive release or exposure will be with the
Pueblo permanently for many generations into the future. The Pueblo
insists that our people and land be protected from harm under Federal
law, the importance of which is underscored by adherence to the
significant trust responsibility of the Federal government to Indian
tribes.
At Kirtland Air Force Base, there have been a total of 4,209 pounds
of toxic (lead and naphthalene) releases from 2009 to 2017 reported and
recorded in EPA's ECHO database. The effects of lead can lead to
permanent adverse health effects, particularly affecting the
development of the brain and nervous system. Naphthalene can cause
neurological problems, anemia, kidney and liver damage and cataracts.
Naphthalene is an insecticide meant to kill insects. Humans and other
mammals are not immune to its effects.
From these three federal upstream entities, 8,381 pounds of toxic
pollutants have the potential of entering Pueblo waters by way of non-
perem1ial, ephemeral or intermittent streams. The Pueblo is concerned
that the pollutants released from KAFB and Sandia National Laboratories
may be entering the Pueblo waters by way of Tijeras Arroyo. Tijeras
Arroyo discharges into the Rio Grande less than 5 miles upstream of the
Pueblo's north boundary.
We are also concerned about possible contamination of the Rio
Puerco resulting from the Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine. The Mine, in
operation from 1952 to 1982, is approximately 20 miles from our
Pueblo's western edge and 40 miles from the village area of our Pueblo.
The Rio Puerco runs over 47 miles through Pueblo lands from north to
south, on the Pueblo's western edge boundary and is also the eastern
boundary for the Pueblo's Comanche Ranch, which was placed into trust
in 2016. The Rio San Jose is a concern for the Pueblo because it is a
tributary to the Rio Puerco and enters the Rio Puerco on Isleta Pueblo
lands. Again, the possible impact to our community of potential uranium
exposure and contamination from the operation of the Jackpile-Paguate
Mine is unknown.
Further, although mining has ceased on the Laguna Pueblo, the
former mining operation creates a potential upstream source of metal
and radionuclide contamination from releases of tailings solutions. We
are concerned about any radioactive isotopes and heavy metals from
mining processes that could originate from the Jackpile-Paguate Mine
and other upstream mining operations in the Rio San Jose. The Pueblo of
Isleta's Environment Department regularly conducts special collections
of the Rio Puerco for radioactive material and heavy metals. To date,
the results have shown that no contaminants are reaching the Pueblo,
but the potential threat remains.
It is also unknown whether our community has been affected by
particulate matter from the Jackpile-Paguate Uranium mine. Particulate
matter has the potential of traveling hundreds of miles. Being exposed
to particulate matter can cause adverse health effects causing both
heart and lung disease.
In conclusion, our land, water and air are crucial elements to our
everyday life as Pueblo people. As Pueblo people, not only do we depend
on good water quality for agricultural purposes, our customs and
traditions, but we are stewards of our tribal lands. Protecting what we
have in order to provide a clean environment that is safe for our
community, as well as all wildlife, aquatic and plant life, is key to
our continued survival and our future generations.
Attachment
Supplementary Information Submitted by Chris Shuey, MPH, director,
Uranium Impact Assessment Program, Southwest Research and Information
Center
This memorandum is submitted to supplement the Pueblo of Laguna's
testimony for the Senate Indian Affairs field hearing on October 7,
2019, in Albuquerque. It is a revised version of a memorandum provided
to the Pueblo prior to the hearing. The material here is organized by
issues raised by the Pueblo in advance of the hearing, and where
appropriate, copies of relevant documents are attached. * I request
that this communication be placed in the record of the hearing.
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* The information referred to has been retained in the Committee
files.
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Issue 1: Laguna Pueblo's interests in supporting Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act (RECA) reform legislation to develop more
accurate data on Pre-71 an d Post-71 Laguna uranium workers.
The Jackpile-Paguate Mine operated from 1952 to 1982 and employed
many Pueblo of Laguna members, along with non-Pueblo members who were
brought in to work the mine in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Some Laguna
members also worked at the St. Anthony Mine on the Cebolleta Land Grant
located immediately north of the Pueblo boundary (operated from 1951 to
1982), while others worked at the Anaconda Company's Bluewater Uranium
Mill at Bluewater, NM, about 45 miles west of Laguna.
Despite this long history of mining on the Pueblo, the exact number
of tribal members who worked in the uranium industry before and after
1971 has not been quantified and can only be estimated. Information
from various sources suggests that the total is several hundred
individuals and may approach or exceed 1,000 individuals. Home
healthcare organizations that serve Laguna members and residents report
having records for 150 Pre-1971 workers, many of whom are deceased. \1\
Of 402 Post-71 Laguna uranium workers reported to have received home
health services, 352 (or 87.6 percent) have been diagnosed with
pulmonary fibrosis, a RECA compensable disease. These individuals
received their diagnoses from examinations conducted in a mobile van
brought to the area by the Miners' Colfax Medical Center, based in
Raton, NM. While these exams were conducted without cost to the
workers, many of these individuals lack personal financial resources to
pay for treatments, prescription drugs and other healthcare services
related to their occupational exposures and effects.
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\1\ Unfortunately, most miners who worked on the Colorado Plateau
from 1942 through 1971 and for whom records were available to
Government agencies are deceased. A vital status update of the Pre-1971
cohort (Schubauer-Berigan et al., 2009) showed that nearly 75 percent
of white miners (N=3,358) and nearly 70 percent of Native American
miners (N=779; tribal affiliations not identified), who were alive on
Jan. 1, 1960, had died by Dec. 31, 2005. Not all Pre-71 uranium miners
are included in National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's
database because many miners, especially Native American miners, were
often paid in cash and were not included in company records during the
1940s and 1950s.
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In numerous community meetings and symposia over the past two
decades, many current residents of Paguate and other Laguna villages
have identified themselves as former uranium workers or family members
of former workers who worked after 1971. Many have reported having a
variety of malignant and non-malignant respiratory diseases. This
concern was highlighted in statements attributed to Frank Cerno, Pueblo
Secretary, in a March 7, 2017, article in the Navajo Times (Madeson,
2017): ``Uranium is a `human carcinogen and a toxic heavy metal that
leads to devastating illnesses such as kidney failure and respiratory
illnesses.'"
Two recent studies by researchers at the University of New Mexico
(UNM) and the Miners' Colfax Medical Center (Assad et al., 2019; Kocher
et al., 2017) found that Post-71 workers have similar radiogenic lung
disease partners to Pre-1971 workers. Kocher et al. (2017) reported
that of 81 miners who were examined at the Colfax mobile miners'
clinic, 68 percent of Pre- 1971 workers and 66 percent of Post-71
workers had abnormal chest X-rays indicative of pneumoconiosis, a RECA-
listed miners' lung disease. The authors concluded that:
the prevalence of abnormal chest radiograph pattern is not
significantly different between pre-1971 and post-1971 uranium
industry workers. . .This argues that post-1971 uranium
industry workers should be screened for the presence of
respiratory diseases and that expansion of RECA to this group
may be warranted [emphasis added].
A follow-up study (Assad et al., 2019) involving 122 Post-71
workers also found little difference in abnormal chest X-rays, forced
expiratory volume (FEV) and various lung diseases between the Pre-1971
(N=47) and Post-71 (N=122) groups. In this study, 56 percent of the
Post-71 workers were Native Americans (tribal affiliation was not
identified, however). The authors concluded that their findings:
support the conclusion that. . .uranium miners continued to be
exposed to harmful levels of mining dust, resulting in a high
burden of respiratory disease among former uranium workers in
New Mexico, employed after 1971. Our findings argue that
medical screening for respiratory diseases. . .should be
extended to post-RECA era uranium workers, especially if large
epidemiologic studies confirm our results.
Furthermore, a lay survey of more than 1,300 Post-71 workers by the
Post-71 Uranium Workers Committee (UWC) based in Milan, NM, found that
more than 70 percent had one or more ``uraniumrelated medical
conditions,'' as defined by federal agencies, but only 9 percent had
medical conditions compensable under RECA because of the limited number
of uranium-related medical conditions defined in the statute (Evers et
al., 2009. Seventy percent of Post-71 workers reported having a
uranium-related respiratory condition, of which 53 percent were
identified as ``Pueblo'' workers. (Of the 216 Post-71 respondents to
the Post-71 UWC survey, 86 identified as ``Pueblo'' residents, but
tribal affiliations were not given.)
The Post-71 UWC survey also found that 30 percent of female uranium
workers (N=132) and 40 percent (N=169) of female spouses of uranium
workers reported a wide range of adverse reproductive outcomes,
including miscarriages, stillbirths and children with birth defects.
For non-worker women, the principal source of exposure to uranium
contamination was washing the clothing of their worker spouses. Laguna
Pueblo is aware that women members were both workers and spouses of
workers who were exposed to contaminated dust on their spouses'
clothing. However, spouses are not eligible for compensation under the
current RECA scheme for their own exposures, but are eligible as
beneficiaries of their deceased spouses.
That Native American women and children are at risk from exposure
to uranium mine and other hardrock mining wastes was documented in a
2015 paper published by my colleagues at UNM, led by Dr. Johnnye Lewis,
a toxicologist and director of the UNM Community Environmental Health
Program (CEHP). Lewis and colleagues explored potential risks of
adverse reproductive outcomes and child developmental concerns from
widespread exposure to more than 160,000 hardrock mining sites
(including more than 10,000 uranium mines [USEPA, 2008]) in the 13
western states with the highest percentage of Native American
populations. The authors concluded that existing data demonstrate:
. . .a strong potential for exposures to metal mixtures
associated with mining wastes in Native American populations in
the Western United States,. . .a linkage of exposures to
developmental disabilities and congenital malformation in
population and laboratory studies. . .higher rates of several
congenital anomalies in Native American populations, and. . .a
lack of comprehensive data on rates and types of developmental
disabilities in Native populations.
The Post-71 UWC survey results have been reported to Congress and
academic institutions, but they have not been accepted as
scientifically valid because the survey was originally written and
administered by lay members of the Post-71 group. A second version of
the original survey was developed by the UWC group with the assistance
of researchers at UNM, Colorado College and SRIC. These results should
be given weight in legislative proceedings because they were obtained
from direct responses from more than 1,300 former workers, making the
survey the largest assessment of Post-71 concerns to date. However, the
surveys have been preserved and are available for analysis.
Despite these findings, the Federal Government has not
systematically examined either the vital status of Post-71 uranium
workers or its own responsibility for overseeing the uranium industry's
compliance with in-mine exposure standards enacted in the 1970s. For
example, a recent report by the Congressional Research Service (2019)
noted that ``[a]n expansion of RECA to cover post- 1971 uranium
activities would largely cover workers in the commercial uranium
sector, which would expand the program beyond its original statutory
intent'' [emphasis added]. Yet there is evidence that the Federal
Government did not enforce various worker-protection requirements of
the Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.
MSHA required mining companies to monitor and report in-mine gamma
radiation and radon gas exposures of all workers and to report those
records to a central database. However, officials with MSHA in Denver
and the National Institute of Occupational Safety Health (NIOSH) in
Cincinnati could not identify where these records were consolidated
when contacted by SRIC staff working with the Post-71 UWC in 2009-2011.
NIOSH officials provided a link to a spreadsheet that was said to
contain exposure records by mining company and mine. Our examination of
those data indicated that no information was compiled prior to 1983--
the year after Jackpile Mine and most other mines in the Grants Mineral
Belt of New Mexico had closed. The database contained only three
entries for the Anaconda Company (or Atlantic Richfield or ARCO), and
only one entry for a worker at the Jackpile-Paguate Mine. Accordingly,
the database is not particularly useful for calculating the number of
Laguna Post-71 workers or for evaluating their exposure histories
against their medical conditions.
The apparent lack of enforcement of MSHA to compel companies to
comply with protecting worker health during the ``commercial'' era,
coupled with the lack of data on legally mandated exposures to Post-71
workers, including Laguna workers, suggests a Federal responsibility in
the development and lack of treatment of radiogenic disease patterns
among the Post-71 workers. Congress could initiate a GAO inquiry into
why miner exposure records were not reported, or if they were reported,
why the data are not available or where they may be physically located.
Once located, analyses of these data by MSHA and NIOSH would be
justified to assess the relationship between exposures and health
outcomes.
Finally, Laguna members were also employed as ore haulers and
uranium millers after 1971, but again, the exact number is not known.
Two studies (Waxweiller et al., 1983; Thun et al., 1985) found an
excess of kidney disease among Pre-1971 millers, but this excess was
not apportioned between white and Native American millers. NIOHS
concluded that additional research was needed to examine links between
mill exposures and mortality from end-stage renal disease and non-
malignant lung diseases (Pinkerton and Bloom, 1997). Like Post-71
miners, Post-71 ore haulers and millers should be eligible for the same
screening benefits now afforded under RECA.
The need to expand and fully fund the RECA program has come before
the United States Congress on several occasions over the past 20-plus
years, and that the issues addressed in this supplemental statement
were raised in considerable detail in hearings in 1998 and 2004. In a
June 25, 1998, hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, tribal
representatives--including former Laguna Governor Roland Johnson--along
with my SRIC colleague Wm. Paul Robinson, gave testimony and written
materials addressing the need to cover Post-1971 workers among many
issues. (See, Record of Hearing on H. R. 3539, Radiation Workers
Justice Act of 1998 at http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/
hju59930.000/hju59930_0f.htm.) On July 21, 2004, the Senate Judiciary
Committee received testimony from Government officials on supplemental
funding needed to address an expected shortfall in compensation
benefits for the Pre-1971 uranium workers and downwinders. (See S. Hrg.
108-883, An Overview of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act,
available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-108shrg25152/
html/CHRG-108shrg25152.htm). I recommend the Senate Indian Affairs
Committee review the records for these hearings for additional and
historic perspectives on Native American uranium workers.
Issue 2: Impacts on Pueblo of Laguna public health from exposures to
wastes on and around the Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine are
pervasive but require additional focused research.
Although the data above provides strong evidence regarding health
impacts to Pueblo of Laguna members, no comprehensive or even focused
population-based studies have been conducted on Laguna Pueblo to
ascertain if releases from the Jackpile Mine are associated with
adverse health outcomes. By ``population-based'' studies, we mean
studies that examine health status and exposures specifically among
Laguna community members who volunteer. Ascertainment of exposure can
be, and usually is, through a combination of personal interviews,
environmental measures of contaminants in air, soil and water, personal
monitoring of individual exposures to airborne, waterborne, and soil-
and crop-borne contaminants, and collection and analysis of biological
samples, typically blood and urine. As noted above, some Laguna members
have had medical examinations associated with their occupational
histories. Survivors among these individuals would be included in a
population-based study if they volunteered.
The UNM METALS Superfund Research Program (SRP), of which SRIC is a
partner, conducted a Listening Session at Paguate Village on September
12, 2019 and heard a wide range of concerns from residents about
chronic health problems. Among the top concerns were:
Respiratory diseases, asthma, other breathing problems
Lung cancer and other cancers
Hypertension and cardiovascular disease
Potential health effects of ingesting crops grown in
contaminated soils or meat from livestock and game exposed to
mine wastes
Residents overwhelmingly indicated that they would volunteer to
participate in community-based health studies, interventions to lessen
effects of exposures, and medical screening programs, especially if
they were aimed at the generations that have followed the uranium
workers of the 1950s through the 1980s. A summary of the major concerns
expressed at the meeting was contained in an article published in the
October 2019 edition of the TownCrier, the Laguna community newspaper.
The METALS SRP will be summarizing and analyzing these responses in the
coming months.
That residents of Paguate have had multiple decades of exposures to
releases from the Jackpile Mine that have occurred across multiple
generations is not disputed. The METALS SRP group categorized these
exposures by pathway--air, water, plants-animals, and a combination of
pathways--in a poster prepared and presented at the September 2017
Laguna Environmental Open House. The community concerns were derived
from community meetings held at Mesita Village and Paguate Village in
Fall 2016. A copy of the poster is Exhibit D to this memorandum.
Concerns about dust settling on agricultural lands and crops were
among the most frequent comments during those meetings. Impacts of dust
from the mining and reclamation activities have been described in the
published literature. For example, Paguate native June Lorenzo, Ph.D.,
reported observations about the impacts of these releases in a recent
paper in the Journal of American Indian Education (2018):
Paguate residents were exposed to the dust from daily blasting
that took place very close to the village. This blasting caused
damage to many of the traditional rock and adobe homes; a
common complaint by residents was cracked walls in their homes.
The side of the village with the plaza and two-story buildings,
dating back over 100 years, was closer to the uranium mine than
other areas of the village and sustained a lot of damage. Some
people eventually moved out of their traditional homes due to
damage from the explosions. . . [emphasis added].
Indoor radon and surface gamma radiation rates were assessed by
USEPA and its contractors in Laguna communities, including in Paguate,
in 2010-2011 (Laguna ENRD, 2011). About a quarter of the 144 homes
tested exceeded the EPA's indoor ``action level'' of 4.0 picoCuries per
liter (pCi/l) during 7-days tests. Of 32 homes tested over a 91-day
period, 72 percent exceeded the EPA action level. Mitigation measures
were installed in at least 23 of the 143 homes tested for radon.
According to EPA, indoor radon is the second leading cause of lung
cancer in the U.S.(see, https://www.epa.gov/radon/health-risk-radon).
Thus, the indoor radon observed in Paguate homes is a significant
source of exposure and public health risk. Further, it should be noted
that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends taking action to
reduce indoor Rn levels at a concentration of 2.7 pCi/l (see, https://
www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/radon-andhealth). For
comparison, my group--working with UNM-CEHP, the Navajo Nation
Department of Health and the Navajo Area Indian Health Service on the
federally funded Navajo Birth Cohort Study--has tested more than 800
homes on the Navajo Nation for indoor radon since 2013, and found the
average indoor concentration to be about 1.0 pCi/l. Only about 6
percent of those homes had radon concentrations equal to or greater
than 2.7 pCi/l, which is our ``referral'' level. For comparison, EPA's
action level of 4.0 pCi/l carries a lifetime lung cancer risk
equivalent to smoking between 1 and 2 packs of cigarettes a day.
Previous opportunities to assess community health in a
comprehensive and specific way through valid environmental health
disciplines, involving toxicity and epidemiology, were missed. For
example, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Reclamation of
the Jackpile Mine (USDOI, 1985) stated that possible health impacts of
mining on former miners and residents of Paguate, and any psychological
effects on local residents from mine operations and closures, were not
within the scope of the EIS. More recently, the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR, 2017) concluded in its Public
Health Assessment (p. iv) that it did not have enough information to
conclude whether past exposure of people living or spending time in the
former mine housing area or in Paguate Village could harm their health.
ATSDR's Public Health Assessment and risk assessments performed by
USEPA at Superfund sites like the Jackpile-Paguate Mine use available
environmental monitor data for comparison with regulatory standards to
develop an understanding of the potential public health risks of CERCLA
sites. Such risk assessments are not population-based public health
studies, though, which, as noted above, include some form of surveying,
environmental and biomonitoring. Accordingly, it is vitally important
that Congress ensure that public health studies are conducted by
qualified academic institutions with a track record of having conducted
rigorous environmental health research, in collaboration with such
federal agencies as the National Institutes of Health and National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Issue 3: Recent research documents ongoing impacts of releases from the
Jackpile Mine to Laguna water resources.
Numerous environmental studies on the Jackpile Mine have been
conducted by various agencies over the past five decades. Those studies
are in the record of EPA's designation of the mine as a National
Priorities List Superfund site in December 2013. In this section, I
discuss just a few of the recent studies conducted by colleagues at the
UNM METALS Superfund Research Center. Our group is available to provide
the Committee with additional, detailed documentation of the studies
and their findings discussed here briefly.
The UNM METALS group conducted surface water studies in the Rio
Paguate both upstream of the Village of Paguate and in stream segments
inside of the Jackpile lease area and farther downstream in Paguate
Reservoir behind Mesita Dam between 2014 and 2017. Grab samples were
also taken from the Rio San Jose upstream of the mine in Old Laguna and
downstream of the mine in Mesita. Field work to support those studies
was subject to applicable permits from the Pueblo of Laguna and was
conducted in collaboration with Laguna ENRD.
The UNM researchers, led by geochemist Johanna Blake (now with the
U.S. Geological Survey) and Professor Jose Cerrato, an environmental
engineer, investigated the mobility of uranium in water and
accumulation in sediments along the Rio Paguate and in the wetlands of
Paguate Reservoir, located 5 kilometers (about 3.1 miles) south of the
Jackpile Mine (Blake, et al., 2017). (See, also, Exhibit E, UNM METALS
Research Brief 3.) Dr. Blake and colleagues found that ore and mine
wastes on the surface of the Jackpile Mine were the source of high
concentrations of uranium in the Rio Paguate surface water. They also
found that the concentration of uranium in the Rio Paguate varies
seasonally, with higher concentrations (up to more than 700 micrograms
per liter, or nearly 25 times greater than the federal drinking water
standard of 30 micrograms per liter) observed during the summer monsoon
season runoff. While the uranium concentration in surface water
decreases downstream of the mine, the uranium itself was found to
accumulate in organic-rich sediments in the Paguate Reservoir wetland.
\2\
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\2\ It should be noted that sampling in the Rio Paguate upstream of
the village, and therefore, upstream of the Jackpile Mine, found very
low concentrations of uranium--about 2 micrograms per liter--in
multiple tests between 2014 and 2017. All other water quality
parameters were similarly low, indicating that water running off the
eastern flank of Mt. Taylor is of high quality before the passes
through the backfilled North Pit.
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These recent findings are consistent with studies conducted in the
late 1970s when the Jackpile Mine was operating. New Mexico Bureau of
Mines and Mineral Resources researchers found increased concentrations
of uranium, other metals and radioactive elements derived from the
decay of uranium in the bottom sediments of the Reservoir (Popp, et
al., 1983). Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey during the same time
period also detected elevated concentrations of uranium and other trace
metals in surface water as it passed through the mine (Zehner et al.,
1985). These studies, spaced 35 to 40 years apart, document continuing
impacts of the mine on Laguna water sources, even long after mining
stopped and initial reclamation was conducted.
UNM researchers have also found that some stream-side vegetation,
especially salt cedars, is concentrating uranium in plant roots (El
Hayek, et al., 2018). Calcium in the water and sediments appears to
increase uptake of uranium, suggesting that the nuisance specie could
be used as a phytoremediation method.
The UNM METALS group, led by Drs. Adrian Brearley and Matthew
Campen, is also assessing the presence and toxicity of
``nanoparticles'' containing uranium, vanadium and other metals in tiny
clusters in mine wastes (Exhibit F, METALS Research Brief 2.1, 2019).
These clusters are very small, less than 1 micron, but consist of many
even smaller particles that can be broken off and potentially
transported by air separately or attached to other dust particles. A
micron is onemillionth of a meter; for comparison, a human hair is
about 50 microns in diameter. Generally, particles 2.5 microns or less
can be inhaled deeply into the lung where they may cause damage to the
breathing sacs. Recent laboratory animal studies showed indications of
cardiopulmonary toxicity in mice exposed to dusts collected near an
abandoned uranium mine on the Navajo Nation in northwestern Arizona
(Zychowski, et al., 2018; available at https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/
article/164/1/101/4962180). And recent meteorological data collected by
Dr. Campen and colleagues at the AirCare1 mobile lab, stationed in
Paguate next to the North Pit, showed that winds are coming from the
mine toward the lab--and therefore, toward the village--about 30
percent of the time.
These preliminary findings could provide an environmental link to
self-reported respiratory disease among Paguate residents, and gives
added weight to the need for public health studies in Paguate and other
Laguna villages impacted by the Jackpile Mine.
REFERENCES
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). Public
Health Assessment, Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine, Laguna Pueblo,
Laguna, Cibola County, New Mexico, EPA Facility ID: NMN000607033,
November 2017. Available at: https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HAC/pha/
JackpilePaguate/JackpilePHAPublicComment_508.pdf.
Assad, N, Wigh S, Kocher K, Shore X, Myers O, Moreno M, Karr R,
Armstrong E, Cook KS, Sood A. Post-1971 Era Uranium Workers in New
Mexico Have Significant Lung Disease Burden. AnnalsATS Volume 16 Number
41, April 2019.
Blake JM, DeVore CH, Avasarala S, Ali AM, Roldan C, Bowers F,
Spilde MN, Artyushkova K, Kirk MF, Peterson E, Rodriguez-Freire L,
Cerrato JM. Uranium mobility and accumulation along the Rio Paguate,
Jackpile Mine in Laguna Pueblo, NM. Environmental Science: Process and
Impacts, 2017. DOI:10.1039/c6em00612d.
Congressional Research Service. The Radiation Exposure Compensation
Act (RECA): Compensation Related to Exposure to Radiation from Atomic
Weapons Testing and Uranium Mining. https://crsreports.congress.gov,
R43956; Updated June 11, 2019.
El Hayek E, Torres C, Rodriguez-Freire L, Blake JM, DeVore CL,
Brearley A, Spilde MN, Cabaniss S, Ali AS, Cerrato, JM. Effect of
Calcium on the Bioavailability of Dissolved Uranium(VI) in Plant Roots
under Circumneutral pH. Environmental Science & Technology, 2018.
Evers L, Lucero C, Lucero L, Martinez Y, Sparkman G. Post-71 A
Survey of Former Uranium Workers. Post-71 Uranium Workers Committee,
August 2009.
Kocher E, Wigh S, Wilson-Boyce T, Myers O, Evans K, Cook L, Sood A.
Post-71 Uranium Industry Workers Have a Similar Radiologic Lung Disease
Burden to Pre-1971 Workers. American Thoracic Society Conference, 2017.
Laguna ENRD. EPA Structure Assessment Project -Pueblo of Laguna,
New Mexico. Presented by Environmental and Natural Resources Department
staff at the Tribal Lands Forum in Green Bay, WI in August 2011.
Lewis J, Gonzales M, Burnette C, Benally M, Seanez P, Shuey C, Nez
H, Nez C, Nez S. Environmental Exposures to Metals in Native
Communities and Implications for Child Development: Basis for the
Navajo Birth Cohort Study. Journal of Social Work in Disability &
Rehabilitation (2015), 1-25. DOI: 10.1080/1536710X.2015.1068261.
Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/
1536710X.2015.1068261.
Lorenzo JL. Paguate Village Attitudes and Beliefs on Preservation
and Renovation of Traditional Structures: Remembering Our Connection to
Our Mother. Journal of American Indian Education, 2018, 55(3), 91-110.
Madeson F. NM House, Senate memorials pass in support of uranium
miners. Navajo Times, March 9, 2017.
METALS Research Brief 2.1. Super-tiny particles containing uranium
and other metals found in Jackpile Mine wastes. UNM METALS Superfund
Research Center, September 2019.
Pinkerton LE, Bloom TF. National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health. Letter to Kate Sweeney, National Mining Association.
Cincinnati: Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for
Occupational Safety & Health, January 17, 1997.
Popp CJ, Hawley JW, Love DW. Radionuclide and Heavy Metal
Distribution in Recent Sediments of Major Streams in the Grants Mineral
Belt, N.M. Socorro: New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources,
prepared for the U.S. Office of Surface Mining, Glll5352 (1981-82),
1983. Available at https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/15484953/
radionuclide-and-heavymetal-distribution-in-recent-sediments-of-
Post-71 Uranium Workers Committee. Zehner HH. Hydrology and Water
Quality Monitoring Considerations, Jackpile Mine, Northwestern New
Mexico. U.S. Geological Survey, Water- Resources Investigations Report
85-4226 (USGS WRI 85-4226). Available at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/
1985/4226/report.pdf.
Schubauer-Berigan MK, Daniels RD, Pinkerton LE. Radon Exposure and
Mortality Among White and American Indian Uranium Miners: An Update of
the Colorado Plateau Cohort. American Journal of Epidemiology (February
10, 2009), 169:6. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwn406.
Thun MJ, Baker DB, Steenland K, Smith AB, Halperin W, Berl T. Renal
toxicity in uranium mill workers Scand J. Work Environ. Health. 1985;11
:83-90.U.S.Department of the Interior. Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine Reclamation Project. Bureau
of Land Management, BLM-NM-ES-85-001-4134, February 1985.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Technical Report on
Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials from
Uranium Mining, Volumes 1 and 2: Washington, DC: Office of Radiation
and Indoor Air Radiation Protection Division, 2008. (Available at:
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-05/documents/402-r-08-
005-v1.pdf.)
Waxweiler RJ, Archer VE, Roscoe RJ, Watanabe A, Thun MJ. Mortality
patterns among a retrospective cohort of uranium mill workers. In:
Epidemiology Applied to Health Physics, Proceedings of the Sixteenth
Midyear Topical Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Albuquerque, New
Mexico, January 9-13, 1983;428-435.
Zychowski KE, Kodali V, Harmon M, Tyler CR, Sanchez B, Suarez YO,
Herbert G, Wheeler A, Avasarala S, Cerrato JM, Kunda NK, Muttil P,
Shuey CL, Brearley A, Ali AM, Lin Y, Shoeb M, Erdely A, Campen MJ.
Respirable Uranyl-Vanadate-Containing Particulate Matter Derived From a
Legacy Uranium Mine Site Exhibits Potentiated Cardiopulmonary Toxicity.
Toxicological Sciences, 2018, 1-14; doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfy064.
______
Prepared Statement of Kathy Sanchez, Environmental Health and Justice
Program Manager, Tewa Women United
We, from the Northern Pueblos of New Mexico ,are Downwinders of Los
Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), which began operations in April1943
to create the first atomic bomb. The proposed amendments to the
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), Senate Bi11947 and House
Bill 3783, begin coverage for overexposure to radiation on June 30,
1945. They do not cover those overexposed to radiation from early
operations of LANL.
We respectfully request that the eligibility period for Downwinders
in New Mexico begin on April 20, 1943, when the University of
California signed a contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to
operate the secret laboratory on the Pajarito Plateau in the Jemez
Mountains of Northern New Mexico. We have orally handed down and first
hand expert testimony from our 1st generation relatives who worked
during the creation of the bombs in our sacred Jemez Mountain
homelands. We have felt and still feel the spirit core of our beings
was invaded and shattered as nuclear energy is invasive and has no
boundaries of time and space of radical disturbance of death and
destruction. Our generational cells hold cancerous decaying smells.
We offer the following to support our request to expand the
eligibility period from April 20, 1943:
1. In 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) began a multi-year study, called the Los Alamos Historic
Document Retrieval and Assessment (LAHDRA) Project. The CDC and
its contractors reviewed the materials in 40,000 boxes of
documents, as well as microfiche, and other electronic data
storage devices.
We, Tewa Women United were part of the collaborative
organization called Las Mujeres Hablan and have been involved
in the LAHDRA process since 1999, when CDC and its contractors
held their first public meeting in Taos, New Mexico.
2. Chapter 16 of LAHDRA provides a Partial Chronology of
Accidents, Incidents, and Events at LANL. Some of the incidents
of interest include chemical releases, fires, explosions,
radiation exposures to workers, and other notable accidents
that occurred at LANL. The accidents that are potentially
relevant to off-site releases or health effects are of
particular importance.'' ld., p. 16-1.
The researchers reviewed over 30,000 pages in over 500
documents to compile Table 16-1 Partial Chronology of
Accidents, Incidents, and Important Events at LANL.
Between 1944 and 1962, a total of 254'radioactive lanthanum
(RaLa) experiments were conducted in Bayo Canyon using 301 ,802
Curies. ll;L,, p. 9-11.
The first listed incident is RaLa Shot No. 1 on September 21,
1944. It involved approximately 25 to 60 Curies, with an
explosive charge of 201 to 350 lbs. No sampling is reported.
In all, 30 RaLa shots took place before June 30, 1945,
utilizing a maximum of 1 060 Curies, with an explosive charge
of between 601 to 750 lbs. Sampling was focused on Technical
Area 1 (TA-1). The first mention of sampling in Espanola,
downwind of LANL, is for RaLa Shot No. 158 on August 29, 1952.
Contamination was found above and below background in Espanola
on:
August 5, 1954 (RaLa Shot No. 168-1500 Curies with an
explosive charge of 101 to 200 lbs.),
September 16, 1954 (no fallout above background was
detected) (RaLa Shot No. 170-300 Curies with an explosive
charge of 101 to 200 lbs.),
November 16, 1954-2440 Curies with an explosive charge of
101 to 200 lbs.),
October 19, 1955 (RaLa Shot No. 192-2000 Curies with an
explosive charge of 101 to 200 lbs.),
October 26, 1955 (RaLa Shot No. 193-3987 Curies with an
explosive charge of 101 to 200 lbs.),
November 3, 1955 (RaLa Shot No. 194-3500 Curies with an
explosive charge of 101 to 200 lbs.),
April12, 1956 (RaLa Shot No. 204-3740 Ci with an explosive
charge of 20-100 lbs.),
March 29, 1957 (RaLa Shot No. 219-3079 Curies with an
explosive charge of 20 to 100 lbs.),
April17, 1957 (RaLa Shot No. 220-3249 Curies with an
explosive charge of 101 to 200 lbs.),
April 2, 1959 (RaLa Shot No. 236-980 Curies with an
explosive charge of 20 to 100 lbs.)
LANL conducted some calculated dose assessments studies for its
personnel, finding the largest dose of 17 mrem in 1955. None of the
LANL studies were independently critiqued by the LAHDRA team. p. 9-10.
We understand that no study of the cumulative effects of exposure to
the radioactive lanthanum experiments by the residents of the downwind
and downstream communities has been done.
CITATIONS:
Beata Tsosie-Pena is the author of the Community Introduction to
the LAHORA Report, Final Report of CDC's LAHDRA PROJECT, pp. i-iii.
https://wwwn.cdc.gov/LAHDRA/Contentlpubs/
Finai%20LAHDRA%20Report%20201O.pdf
3. Introduction to Community Summary of CDC's LAHDRA Project,
pp. i-iii. https://wwwn.cdc.gov/LAHDRA/Content/pubs/
Final%2OLAHDRA%20
Community%20Summary_December%2002%20201O.pdf
Demonstrated citations which show the amount of plutonium
emissions at LANL:
The final June 2009 LAHDRA draft report states:
''If airborne plutonium releases from DP West Building 12
stacks between 1948 and 1955 were as high as the 1956 reports
by the Lab's industrial hygiene staff indicate, plutonium
releases from LANL could easily exceed the independently
reconstructed airborne plutonium release totals from the
production plants at Hanford, Rocky Flats, and Savannah River
combined, even without the other sources and other years at
LANL included.'' ES-11, Draft Final Report of CDC's LAHORA
Report--Executive Summary.
Unfortunately, the final November 2010 LAHDRA report was
modified by a new project leader to mask the facts to read:
''Using only LANL summaries of DP West Building 12 stacks
alone, and correcting the sample line loss and filter burial
(corrections that LANL failed to apply when the data was
compiled in the 1970's), the releases greatly exceed the
independently established total releases from routine
operations for all other DOE plutonium production facilities.''
ES-14, Final Report of CDC's LAHDRA Project--Executive Summary.
Given that LANL operations continue to emit pollution into the air,
discharges to surface and ground water, and burials of radioactive,
toxic, and hazardous wastes above the drinking water aquifer and the
Rio Grande, we respectfully request that the proposed amendments to the
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act extend the eligibility period from
April 20, 1943, when LANL operations began. This is when our men and
women were taken up to the laboratory operations to work in removing
the highly contaminated experimented and exposed materials. I as a
child went with my aunties to clean the homes of the scientists. My
memory of sacred mountains and life bloods of Mother Earth need to be
honored.
I have included maps and other information as attachments. Thank
you. *
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* The information referred to has been retained in the Committee
files.
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______
Prepared Statement of Jerry Benally, President, Navajo Uranium
Radiation Victims Committee
Congress needs to pass the Radiation Exposure Act Amendments to
provide fair and practical compensation to those who suffered the
consequences of our nation's radiation and nuclear history. I urge to
bring the Senate Bill and House Resolution forward in Congress.
It is long past time for our families and friends to be compensated
for their radiation exposures as down winders, uranium miners, post 71
miners and others.
My personal comments: We the people are stilt being jacked around.
Our point is simple. People are dying do to the rules and regulations
of the (1) one year duration of work and 40 working level months
because they don't qualify. Research has proven (1) one month of work
in a uranium mine exposes miners to radiation. (Seidman, Selikoff
Etal.1979) and see (Goldyn, Condos Etal, 2008) The working level months
needs to be reduce to 10 WLM and duration of work to 3 months. We
demand these changes to be included in the 2019-2020 Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act.