WEBVTT

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GUEST SPEAKER: Good morning.

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As you know, this past July
our National Council overturn

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legislation made
in December that

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would have allowed Uranium
Resources Incorporated to start

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mining near Church Rock.

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This is the same
Church Rock that

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was the site of the largest
release of radioactive material

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in US history, even larger than
the Three Mile Island accident

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but with much less
media coverage.

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Over 1,000 tons of
radioactive waste

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and 93 millions of gallons
of radioactive waste

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water were dumped into the
Puerco River that day in 1979.

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For those of you that
remember, the warnings

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came late and in English only.

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So our people went on
with business as usual.

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Many of our relatives
suffered for it.

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To this day the
government has not

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measured the health
effects of the spill.

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Now, within 35 years of
the Church Rock spill,

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there are members
of our community

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that are willing to open up
our lives to mining again.

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Thankfully, the council's ruling
has held off URI and others.

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But these mining
companies were waiting

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with bated breath
for any opportunity

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to mine on our lands.

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The voices demanding access
to domestic sources of energy

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are growing.

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We need to prepare our community
for inevitable discussions

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about uranium mining.

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I'm not here today to
argue whether or not

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we should allow mining.

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I know a lot of you want the
economic growth and the jobs.

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I'm here instead to outline
a strategy for integrating

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our voices into state
and federal policy making

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and to highlight the
challenges that we face.

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So I'll start first
with the challenges.

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Integrating our knowledge
into the broader discourse

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will be an uphill battle.

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First, we face
major disadvantages

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compared to the
mining companies.

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We don't have an
organized constituency.

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We can't compete with them
in terms of resources.

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And we don't have the
influence that they

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have over politicians.

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Second, many will dismiss
us for not being scientific

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and will try to argue that we're
motivated by our own interests

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and, therefore, not impartial.

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Third, the scientific data
isn't clearly on our side yet.

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The scientific community
has shown that uranium

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has made our community sick.

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But there hasn't been
enough money or time

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spent on how it's made us sick.

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So why is that important for
us to be able to clearly share

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our narrative about these health
impacts with the government

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and broader public?

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And why is it important
that we ourselves

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understand the full
extent of these impacts?

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Because the government and
corporations have failed us.

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Not just failed us, they've
dismissed and rejected us.

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So moving forward,
what is our strategy?

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First, we will
develop a task force

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that will be in charge of
mobilizing community members

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and spearheading an
outreach program to let

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our community know
about the efforts

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to reduce local knowledge
about the health

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impacts of the uranium mining.

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Second, reach out to
the scientific community

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for local partners.

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Several institutions such as
the University of New Mexico

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and Southwest Research
and Information Center

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have expressed interest
in health data.

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The task force can work
to get these scientists

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from different institutions
to partner with us on this.

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Third, facilitate
the conversation

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around the type of
data we should collect

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with members of the
scientific community

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and our own community.

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Fourth, train researchers
within our community

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to conduct
face-to-face interviews

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in English and Navajo.

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Make phone calls,
organize public forums

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to collect data about
community health.

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And the data can
then be validated

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through random sampling
to ensure validity.

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Fifth, pair
community researchers

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with members of the
scientific community

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to analyze and
interpret findings

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in a language that
can be understood

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within the scientific
community but also

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within our own community.

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And then hold public meetings
around this information

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to facilitate discussion about
the health effects of uranium

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mining as well as the
impacts of the remaining

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remnants of mining.

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Finally, the task
force should pair

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with members of the
scientific community

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to release findings
to local media,

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environmental organizations,
and to the broader public.

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Our strategy then is to
ensure that our community is

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knowledgeable about the
impacts of uranium mining

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so that we can understand
the full impact of opening

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our lands up again and to
be able to translate what

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we have suffered
in our own language

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and technical language
necessary to make people sit up

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and take notice of us.

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So I'll leave you with these
numbers; 29, 521, and 30.

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A 2000 study showed that
Navajo uranium miners

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are 29 times more
likely than Navajos

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that are not involved in
mining to develop lung cancer.

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There are now 521 abandoned
mines across the Navajo Nation.

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Although the federal
government is taking the lead

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to clean up after
these mines, it

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will take billions of dollars
and hundreds of years.

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It's time that we
just don't have.

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And the mining has left scars
on our water and our land

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that you can now estimate
that 30% of our people

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don't have access to
uncontaminated water.

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The EPA has been
a valuable partner

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in cleaning up old mines but
there's still much to do--

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sorry, but there's still much
to do in protecting ourselves.

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So we must convince the
government that they cannot

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stand by and watch as waste from
the mining continues to seep

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into our water,
land, and our bodies.