Navajos Mark 30th Anniversary Of Uranium Spill
Shirley Reaffirms Tribe's Ban On Uranium Mining
POSTED: 3:38 pm MDT July 16, 2009
CHURCH ROCK, N.M. -- Marking the 30th anniversary of a massive uranium tailings spill, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. on Thursday reaffirmed the tribe's ban on future uranium mining.
Shirley spoke about 20 minutes in both Navajo and English, addressing about 100 protesters who trekked seven miles along a highway in northwestern New Mexico.
On July 16, 1979, 94 million gallons of acidic water poured into the north fork of the Rio Puerco after an earthen uranium tailings dam failed. Within days, contaminated tailings liquid was found 50 miles downstream in Arizona.
Shirley called it "the largest peacetime release of radioactive contaminated materials in United States history."
Shirley says it will never be forgotten by Navajo and non-Navajo residents who are still struggling from effects of the disaster.
http://www.koat.com/news/20079342/detail.html
Shirley Reaffirms Tribe's Ban On Uranium Mining
POSTED: 3:38 pm MDT July 16, 2009
CHURCH ROCK, N.M. -- Marking the 30th anniversary of a massive uranium tailings spill, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. on Thursday reaffirmed the tribe's ban on future uranium mining.
Shirley spoke about 20 minutes in both Navajo and English, addressing about 100 protesters who trekked seven miles along a highway in northwestern New Mexico.
On July 16, 1979, 94 million gallons of acidic water poured into the north fork of the Rio Puerco after an earthen uranium tailings dam failed. Within days, contaminated tailings liquid was found 50 miles downstream in Arizona.
Shirley called it "the largest peacetime release of radioactive contaminated materials in United States history."
Shirley says it will never be forgotten by Navajo and non-Navajo residents who are still struggling from effects of the disaster.
http://www.koat.com/news/20079342/detail.html
