Cleaning Up after the Cold War: Experts Call for Action on Abandoned Uranium Mines on the Navajo Nation

My latest for EHP covers an environmental health issue that is critical for residents of the Navajo Nation and other Tribal lands in the Southwest, but that receives scant attention elsewhere:

"An estimated 4,225 abandoned uranium mines formerly operated by the federal government and its contractors in support of Cold War weapons development remain on tribal lands across the U.S. West. In light of the significant threats to human health posed by these former mines, particularly via ongoing contamination of surface and groundwater sources, a group of experts in Tribal environmental health has proposed a more comprehensive path forward. In a recent commentary in Environmental Health Perspectives, the five authors—four of whom represent different Indigenous North American communities—propose a series of specific policy recommendations for improving upon current approaches toward the enormous and challenging issue of uranium-contaminated water sources."

 Read the full article here.