On July 16, 1979, the largest radioactive spill in U.S. history happened on the Navajo Nation, and those most harmed by it are thinking about the risk that new uranium mining poses near the Grand Canyon.
Larry King worked as an underground surveyor at the Northeast Church Rock Mine. It’s located less than 20 miles northeast of Gallup, New Mexico. Its nearby mill could process up to 4,000 tons of ore each day, using conventional crushing, grinding and acid-leach solvent extraction methods.
“There’s a problem that’s still lingering in our community,” said King. “We’re still being exposed to radiation on a daily basis.”
Church Rock extracted approximately 3.5 million tons of uranium ore between 1967 and 1982, becoming the second-highest producing mine on the Navajo Nation. But on July 16, 1979, a dam containing uranium tailings failed.
“I recall seeing huge cracks in the dam, and some of them were wide enough where you could put your whole hand in it,” King remembered. “That’s where the breach happened, and I saw the huge break in the dam.”
It dumped 1,100 tons of milling waste and 94 million gallons of wastewater into the Rio Puerco, a tributary that is part of the Rio Grande. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission permitted the mine to reopen five months later; it was abandoned in 1982.
Church Rock was owned by United Nuclear Corporation, now a subsidiary of General Electric Company, since 1996. But when King heard that the Pinyon Plain Mine opened near the Grand Canyon, memories from Church Rock flooded back.
“I do have deep concern,” King admitted, “but also, more concern about where the uranium ore is being trucked to, the White Mesa Mill, and the White Mesa community of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. We’re their allies.”
Pinyon Plain Mine and White Mesa Mill are owned by Energy Fuels, and its president and CEO Mark Chalmers disagrees.
“I think it’s comparing apples to oranges,” Chalmers told KJZZ News. “It’s not a fair comparison, and certainly, the world has learned a lot over the last 45 years. It’s a completely different world.”
The Church Rock spill is the world’s third-largest radioactive disaster to date, after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan and the Soviet-era Chernobyl meltdown.
The Environmental Protection Agency has been working with the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, or NNEPA, to oversee cleanup work being done by the responsible parties. United Nuclear Corporation and GE agreed to cover the EPA’s past and future costs at the site, leading to a settlement valued at least $11 million.
“This event stands as an important reminder of a dark chapter in our history that continues to cast a long shadow over our people and our land,” Nygren wrote in a statement to KJZZ News. “The aftermath left scars that are still felt today as the contamination continues to affect our water, soil and air.”
The Navajo Nation will “continue to fight for justice, healing and a safer future.”
“Our path forward involves not only addressing the immediate environmental cleanup but also advocating for stricter regulations and comprehensive plans to safeguard our Nation from similar catastrophes,” Nygren added. “The NNEPA is working tirelessly to restore our lands, protect our people and ensure that future generations can live free from the threat of environmental disasters.”
