The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a major contract in the long-term cleanup of abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation. The decades-long process aims to address public health risks and environmental threats.
Under the $65 million contract, the company Tetra Tech will develop cleanup strategies, assist in the final planning of the work and provide technical support to the EPA during and after the mine remediation. It’s the second such contract awarded by the agency, that’ll coordinate efforts with the Navajo Nation government as well as local communities and others.
“With this new contract EPA will be driving forward our close cooperation with Navajo Nation on reducing the risks of radiation exposure from abandoned mines,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman in a statement.
It also continues a program at Navajo Technical University to train tribal members in professional assessment and cleanup work of abandoned uranium mines. Tetra Tech has committed to using services and supplies from Navajo-owned businesses.
There are more than 500 Cold War-era abandoned uranium mines on and near the Navajo Nation, many of them near communities and homes. They’ve been linked to lung and bone cancer along with impaired kidney function from exposure to radionuclides contained in drinking water. So far, the EPA has entered into more than $1.7 billion in agreements and settlements, which will fund the cleanup of nearly half of the mines.
Over the course of four decades until the late 1980s, more than 30 million tons of uranium ore were extracted from Navajo lands.
