The Empire 316

Anderhalf jaar geleden was ik hier, vlakbij Tuba City, waar de Navaho en Hopi Indianen leven. Het is gebied waar uranium wordt gedolven en gedumpt, zoals ik zag en zoals u op de bovenste foto van me kunt zien.

'Hopi springs still in danger
By CYNDY COLE

Sun Staff Reporter

Sunday, December 02, 2007

After years of unsuccessfully petitioning various federal agencies to remove radioactive waste at a dump near Tuba City, Hopi officials now say any cleanup might come too late.A plume of contaminated water has migrated to within one-third mile of a spring the Hopi village of Lower Moencopi uses for drinking water, new data shows.But the EPA does not consider the dump an emergency cleanup site, and at this point, village drinking water is still safe, according to EPA standards.That could change very soon, however. Two out of three testing wells -- those located closer to the dump -- are registering levels of radioactive water slightly above what is federally considered safe in drinking water, according to hydrogeologist Mark Miller, a consultant contracted by the tribe.One of those wells sits at the same elevation as the spring used by Lower Moencopi."This is a major concern of ours," said Bill Havens, special assistant to Hopi Chairman Ben Nuvamsa.The contaminated water has reached the canyon used to water nearby crops, raising health concerns about potentially tainted corn, beans and melons."It's close enough to the water that we irrigate with from Pasture Canyon that we need more conclusive data and some action to start doing something about the cleanup," said Lorena Naseyowma, assistant community services administrator for Lower Moencopi.
http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2007/12/02/news/20071202_front%20page_23.txt