Prevent Environmental Racism - Speak Out Against Uranium Mining in NM

Colleen Gorman writes:

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be meeting today to change the rules and regulations for uranium mining in the state of New Mexico.

When: 6 pm Thursday, 8/08/07

Where: The Hilton Hotel in Albuquerque on University and Menaul

For more information, call Don Hancock or Paul Robinson at the Southwest Research and Information Center

I received word about this meeting via an anonymous concerned citizen who wanted a Channel 27 Producer to film the event. Apparently they are trying to change the regulations so that uranium mining can begin again in accordance with illegal practices used in Texas. The caller mentioned that not too many people know about this meeting, and asked to get the word out about this to those who may be concerned about this.

News item in Santa Fe New Mexican here.

Quotes describing the effect of uranium mining on Navajo miners near the Four Corners:

"You could smell the gunpowder. When you blew your nose, it was yellow dust" (Eichstaedt l83).

"We never knew it would affect us on down the road" (Eichstaedt l86).

"Tests showed that his body was riddled with cancer. It was in his lungs and intestines. Ultimately, his spinal cord was affected, and he became paralyzed from the waist down" (Eichstaedt 96).

"my dad remains dead and I remain bitter...so continues the legacy of uranium miners"

History: Eichstaedt, Peter H. If You Poison Us. Santa Fe, NM: Red Crane Book, l994.

Oral histories: Doug Brugge. Memories Come to Us in the Rain and the Wind, 1997.

The Definitive Work (upcoming October): The Navajo People and Uranium Mining, 2007.