'Our people have borne the cost of America’s nuclear program in their health and well-being,' said one Navajo leader.
A message about uranium mine cancer deaths is seen painted on an abandoned tank on Navajo land, near Cameron, Arizona, on September 12, 2022.Kathleen Tsosie remembers seeing her dad come home every evening with his clothes covered in dirt. As a little girl, she never questioned why, and she was often more excited to see if he had any leftover food in his lunchbox.
Over a decade later, Tsosie’s father also started getting sick. She remembers when he came to visit her in Wyoming; she was rubbing his shoulders when she felt a lump. She told him to get it checked out because he complained about how painful it was.“When my dad passed away, everybody knew it was from the mine,” Tsosie said. He was just the latest on a long list of Navajo men from her community who worked in the uranium mines and ended up getting sick and passing away.
Tsosie’s family history with uranium mining and growing up in an area downwind from nuclear testing sites is similar to many Navajo families in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. Her family is among the thousands potentially impacted by radiation from nuclear weapon testing, according to National Cancer Institute research.
Tsosie first heard of the program in the 1990s after her mother applied for it because her father was a uranium mine worker. She remembers the day her mother got a compensation check for $100,000 and handed it to her. The second time she worked with RECA was for her own case. After her cancer treatments concluded in December 2007, she took some time to heal before determining in March 2008 whether she qualified for RECA. She did qualify and received compensation.in 1990, more than 55,000 claims have been filed. Of those, more than 41,000 claims, or about 75%, have been approved — and roughly $2.6 billion had been paid out as of the end of 2022.
The RECA expansion bill would include more communities downwind of nuclear test sites in the United States and Guam. It would extend eligibility for uranium workers to include those who worked after 1971. Communities harmed by radioactive waste from the tests could apply for the program, and expansion would also boost compensation payments to account for inflation.
And it shouldn’t even be a matter of cost, Ahasteen said, because people have given their lives and their health in the interest of national security. Navajo Nation leaders advocated and worked with officials in Washington, D.C., for decades to get the amendments added to the RECA that would benefit more Navajo people who have been impacted by uranium mining, as well as radiation exposure.
“As the Navajo Nation, we feel that that’s the best fit for us, especially for our miners,” Curley told the Mirror about her support of the expansion bill. Ahasteen said those numbers show exactly how large the uranium operations were on the Navajo Nation and the impact it would have on the Navajo people.
“We want to remind all of the members of Congress that it was because of the Navajo Nation that we are where we are today,” Ahasteen said. “It is because of the uranium workers the United States is the nuclear power that it is today.”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Navajo Power seeks to rectify energy injustice deep in Navajo NationOrganizations in Navajo Nation are fighting energy injustice with solar power.
Read more »
Provo Power crew helping bring electricity to Navajo Nation homesA four-man Provo Power crew is in the Navajo Nation installing power lines to help bring electricity to those who don't have it, part of the Light Up Navajo initiative.
Read more »
Telemedicine Boosts GDMT Rates for HFrEF in Navajo NationA telemedicine initiative targeting patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction in the Navajo Nation improved rates of guideline-directed therapy by fivefold.
Read more »
Texas delegation urges Congress to withhold aid to Mexico over water treaty disputeWASHINGTON — Texans in Congress are threatening federal funds for Mexico, escalating a dispute over Mexico’s obligations to deliver water to the United States.
Read more »
Texas delegation urges Congress to withhold aid to Mexico over water treaty disputeA bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers are demanding appropriators withhold funds for the country until Mexico lives up to its end of a 1944 water treaty that requires it to send 1.75 million acre-feet to the U.S. every five years.
Read more »
Texas delegation urges Congress to withhold aid to Mexico over water treaty disputeA bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers are demanding appropriators withhold funds for the country until Mexico lives up to its end of a 1944 water treaty that requires it to send 1.75 million acre-feet to the U.S. every five years.
Read more »