The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management (LM) and its Navajo Nation Public Affairs team led a fourth Uranium 101 workshop with Kayenta Township, Arizona, May 16, 2023. The Community Outreach Network includes federal agencies and Navajo Nation departments and programs who share a goal to educate and inform Navajo communities about the risks that uranium mines pose and how to protect people from exposure.

Jamie Rayman, a toxicologist with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, delivered the Uranium 101 presentation. Theo Shorty with the Navajo Uranium Workers Program explained the presentation in the Navajo language to an audience of about 30 Navajo people. During the presentation, Rayman described the history of uranium mining and risks that abandoned uranium mine sites pose to people living near them. According to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, there are 524 abandoned uranium mines in all five regions on the Navajo Nation.

In 2007, Congress conducted a hearing to better understand abandoned uranium mines at which Navajo leaders and communities testified. At the end of the hearing, Congress directed federal agencies and the Navajo Nation government to address immediate risks, including:

• Testing water sources.
• Assessing homes in areas with uranium mines.
• Prioritizing abandoned uranium mines.
• Initiating health studies.

The preliminary work resulted in the first Five-Year Plan (2008-2012) through which the government learned about the significant lack of resources to effectively educate and conduct outreach on the Navajo Nation. In 2014, the federal agencies created a second Five-Year Plan (2014-2018) in which the agencies and Navajo Nation departments and programs focused outreach on communities with the most mines.

The Uranium 101 workshops began in 2018. The first took place at Mariano Lake community, New Mexico, in Eastern Navajo, and the second was held at Cove Chapter, Arizona, in 2019. Although the pandemic slowed the process, the third workshop took place at Cameron Chapter, Arizona, in 2022. After the Cameron event, Kayenta Township leadership requested a workshop.

Community Outreach Network members set up tables under a tent at the Kayenta event to welcome community members, answer questions about mining and health programs, and hand out brochures.

As Community Outreach Network work continues, more and more programs are joining the network. Current members include:

• EPA Region 9.
• LM’s Defense-Related Uranium Mines Program.
• University of New Mexico Superfund Research Program Center Navajo Birth Cohort Study.
• U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency.
• Abandoned Mine Lands Reclamation.
• Health programs working with uranium miners.

The Kayenta Township Uranium 101 workshop was well attended, and U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Labor representatives joined to explain health care benefits to Navajo miners. Additionally, during each Uranium 101 workshop, Navajo people expressed their concerns about health effects that are impacting second and third generation families. The Community Outreach Network will continue to work collaboratively to educate and build partnerships that support abandoned uranium mine remediation. 

Original source can be found here.