Indigenous leaders confront U.S. Government over Its uranium exploitation policies at historic  IACHR hearing in D.C.

Diné (Navajo), Ute Mountain Ute, Havasupai, Oglala Lakota, and Northern Arapaho Tribal Members Give Powerful & Moving Testimonies on How the NRC, EPA & BIA Violate Tribes’ Human Rights

ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Members of five different Native American Indigenous communities provided moving and powerful testimony on the devastating health, environmental and cultural impacts from the uranium industry during a thematic hearing convened by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on Wednesday, February 28, 2024.

The thematic hearing, “Impacts of Uranium Exploitation on the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the United States,” was held at the Organization of American States in Washington, D.C., and included testimony from Edith Hood and Teracita Keyanna, Diné (Navajo) tribal members from the Red Water Pond Road Community Association (New Mexico); Anferny Badback and Yolanda Badback, Ute Mountain Ute tribal members from White Mesa Concerned Community (Utah); Carletta Tilousi of the Havasupai Tribal Government (Arizona); Big Wind Carpenter of the Northern Arapaho Tribe (Wyoming); and Tonia Stands (Oglala Lakota), Buffalo Magpie Organizing (South Dakota). Eric Jantz, Legal Director at the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, also provided testimony as legal counsel.

The United States government sat at a table across the room comprised of a large delegation. Four representatives spoke: Francisco Mora, U.S. Ambassador to the IACHR; Bryan Newland, Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs; John Lubinski, Director of the Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC); and Clifford Villa, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Land & Emergency Management at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Indigenous Communities (referred to by Commissioners as “civil society” and “petitioners”) and the State were each given 20 minutes to present testimony, followed by comments and questions by IACHR Commissioners and the Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights, concluding with 12 minutes for each side to present rebuttal.

Eric Jantz introduced the esteemed panel, and laid out the purpose of the hearing: “To bring to light a long overlooked issue: how the U.S. government has jeopardized the rights to life, health, culture, environment and water of hundreds of Indigenous communities across the country in the pursuit of a single mineral—uranium.” 

NRC and EPA were harshly criticized by Jantz who said, “Federal agencies have ignored or suppressed information about the dangers of uranium development. They’ve dragged their feet on uranium waste cleanup from historic mining and milling in Native communities, while at the same time promoting and subsidizing new uranium production in those communities. The U.S. has rarely, if ever, secured tribal consent for uranium production on and near tribal lands. The costs of the government’s lopsided policies have disproportionately fallen on Native communities.” 

Jantz asked the IACHR to recommend that the U.S. place a moratorium on all new uranium mining until clean-up of previous legacy mining has taken place, aka “no start-up til clean-up.” 

Edith Hood then shared her experience growing up near Churchrock, New Mexico, where after the uranium mines came, her community was forever changed. “The government was aware of the risks and the dangers, but failed and neglected to inform our people. As it is, the Federal Government puts its Indigenous people at risk, never returning to check on the people and the land. There was no respect for people living on these lands and certainly no respect for Mother Earth.”

Teracita Keyanna, also from Red Water Pond Road Community (Navajo Nation), testified how uranium caused a variety of health problems in her family, eventually triggering displacement and relocation. She said, “After prolonged exposure to uranium in the home I grew up in which caused me and my family significant health problems such as cancer, autoimmune issues, skin issues, liver and kidney diseases, and even learning delays in infants and toddlers, I was forced to relocate off reservation to Gallup, New Mexico.” Keyanna also shared how the uranium industry has violated her family’s cultural rights, saying, “Extractive mining, and the United States government’s neglect of its responsibility to clean up and close these mines, has harmed the land, poisoned our family and community, and continues to cause harm by forcing us to relocate outside of our tribal community and lose touch with our language and culture.” Later, she added, “Why is the government just feeling like we are disposable? We’re not.”

Anferny Badback (Ute Mountain Ute) from White Mesa Concerned Community spoke on behalf of his mother Yolanda Badback and their community about how the U.S.’s last operating uranium mill operated by Energy Fuels impacts tribal members in southern Utah. “We are concerned about pollution in our well water. … We used to drink the spring water for our ceremonial purposes—we don’t do that anymore. We used to hunt for animals near our homes. We used to gather plants for medicine and for baskets and to eat. We don’t do that anymore as well. … We want to use spring water for ceremonies without fear. We want to gather herbs and hunt without worrying whether the herbs are safe to use and whether the meat is safe to eat. We want the mill and its contamination to be moved where it can’t hurt any living things.”

Carletta Tilousi spoke on behalf of the Havasupai Tribal Government, with Chairwoman Bernadine Jones seated behind her. Tilousi explained that an active uranium mine, Pinyon Plain Mine near the Grand Canyon contaminates Havasu Creek and the aquifer their community depends on. She asked the Commission to urge the United States to change the 1872 Mining Law that allows uranium companies to mine on public lands and to shut down the mine. When commissioners asked if the U.S. had done proper consultation, Tilousi responded, “At this time there is no enforcement and there is no oversight. We have been diligently participating in consultation processes; they hear our voices; there is no response. They don’t come to our communities; we have to travel to do these testimonies; we have to spend our resources to show up as a tribal government.”

Big Wind Carpenter, Northern Arapaho tribal member, said, “They [proponents of nuclear energy] have rebranded nuclear as green but the damage that is done to our homelands and communities is far from green. We demand environmental justice. We need your support to hold accountable those who exploit our resources and propose projects that harm our people and our homelands.”

Tonia Stands, Oglala Lakota Tribal member, with her young daughter Tokala seated beside her, spoke about an in situ leach mine contaminating the aquifer beneath Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. She said, “We may be the poorest county in the country, but we are rich with our cultural and spiritual practices. People come from all over the world to share our connection we have with the Land, Water and the Silent Relatives. … We suffer from high levels of radiation and uranium contamination when we go into ceremony. The western tribes of South Dakota received piped-in water from the Missouri River. This is supposed to save us because of our uranium contamination when in fact we have no filters off our groundwater and this pipeline water that’s coming in off Missouri River is bringing in all the Wyoming ISL uranium mines into our faucets.”

The State (United States government) responded to community members by stating they have met their responsibilities for engagement and consultation, detailing the “many ways the U.S. government is addressing concerns related to uranium mining.” After representatives from BIA, NRC and EPA spoke, Commissioners asked questions of both sides and gave each side 12 minutes for rebuttal.

The entire 90 minute long hearing can be viewed at this link [our hearing begins at 02:57:13]:

Post-Hearing Press Conference

*Watch the Post-Hearing Press Conference here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C35qXDIPaxz/

After the hearing, participants held a press conference where they shared how important the hearing was to their families and communities, and how they felt the U.S. government and IACHR commissioners responded to their concerns.

Eric Jantz said, “The Commissioners asked very probing and insightful questions of both the community groups and the U.S. government. Predictably the U.S. government response was underwhelming, in particular the Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave its usual propaganda spiel that we’ve heard for the last 25 years. I believe with commission engagement that we will be able to have some productive results from this and I’m encouraged by how well the commission understands this really important issue.”

Edith Hood said, “I was here back in 2007 for the Waxman hearing and years later I’m still here trying to say ‘clean up the mess’ and nothing has been done. They do a good talk but nothing has been done.”

Teracita Keyanna said, ”Our voices are not being heard. We are tired of the government’s bullshit. It’s too much, we’ve been dealing with this for far too long. This happened before I was born. Now I’m still dealing with it and my children are dealing with it. We need to make it clear that the government’s rent is due. They need to start apologizing and acknowledging they did wrong.” 

Carletta Tilousi said, “Today the commissioners asked very smart questions. The U.S. of course said they’ve been working hard consulting tribes. I’ve been a leader for 20 years and I have not seen a single response from any state or fed agency to my tribe on our pleas to stop pinyon mine. They keep permitting it over and over again. We are concerned about our water but we are also conceited about our neighboring tribes and communities. The mine at Pinyon Plain Mine is going to the mill at Ute Mountain Ute. So it was important my tribe was here supporting our neighboring tribes. What really upsets me is that people are dying, We are dying, we are burying our people.”

Anferny Badback said, “This is my first time stepping out of my comfort zone coming to a meeting like this. I’m the 4th member of my family to step up against the uranium mill. I’m touched and pleased by the questions asked by the commissioners. I’m glad I came out here with my mom. Thank you guys for supporting me to voice my opinion and keeping me strong. Thank you for standing behind us. I hope we can get more support. We have a spiritual walk at White Mesa that we hold in October annually and I’m inviting anyone that’s willing to come out.”

Yolanda Badback said, “I’m really touched by some of the answers we got. My family has been fighting the mill for a long time. I’m training my son to carry on and to continue the fight. We want the mill cleaned up or removed. This mill is the only active uranium mill in the nation. Everybody wants to get rid of their waste and it’s going to come to this mill. Thank you for inviting us to come to this hearing, it really means a lot to us. Take it back to your reservations and let people know what we are dealing with.” 

Big Wind Carpenter said, “I’m a two-spirit member of the Arapaho Tribe and a water protector. My mom’s house is a mile away from tailings ponds and our groundwater is radioactive. What we saw today from NRC, we saw window dressing and lip service. It was good to see Commissioners ask the hard questions and get answers that we’ve been asking for generations. It’s important because there are several proposed projects planned for Wyoming including Terra Power by bill gates. To build this nuclear power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Why are they investing in Wyoming? Because we have the least regulations. When they poison our land, when they poison our water, then they offer us money, jobs, per capita payments. Those things will never solve the problems in our communities. We need to stop uranium from being processed and mined in our communities, for all our ancestral homelands, in the entire United States. This is not a solution for our energy sources.” 

Tonia Stands, Oglala Lakota, said, “Comeco is a mining company that impacts many Indigenous communities. We run every year come summer solstice in a spiritual run in the Black Hills to keep our connections with the Black Hills. We were taught by the prophecy that if we save the silent relatives, including the plants and the wildlife, that will also protect us too. The relatives that come up to these pounds and drink the water and eat the grass. ISL is a sugar coated term, it’s really aquifer mining. We are in the era of radioactive ceremonies.”

Dr. Virginia Necochea, Executive Director of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, said, “Thank you for traveling here and for your commitment. It doesn’t end today, we will continue on this journey bonded through our roots and ancestors, our fight to defend Mother Earth and our communities and our children. I wanted to thank everyone who supports the work because we don’t do this work alone. We continue to ask our public and supporters to please continue to stand with us. The NMELC will continue to walk alongside you and your families and your communities on this journey. It’s our privilege and honor to be here today.”

While the delegation was in DC, several meetings were set up with officials who play important roles on uranium mining and clean-up issues. We met with Rep. Melanie Stansbury and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez and staff for Sen. Martin Heinrich, staff at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Navajo Nation DC office, and with IACHR Commissioner Arif Bulkan who is the Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights. 

NMELC is working with Red Water Pond Community members and MASE to follow-up on these meetings and will continue to build upon the momentum the IACHR hearing has created on this critical environmental justice issue.

Media CoverageMedia coverage of the hearing includes extensive articles in Inside Climate News by Noel Lyn Smith and in Censored News by Brenda Norrell, plus NM Political Report, KUNM, CCNS’s Nuclearactive Blog and Podcast on NPR, Gallup Independent, E&E, and Unicorn Riot.