Remembering the Largest Radioactive Spill in US History
The Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE) - a coalition of community groups affected by uranium mining and committed to renewable energy development - announces the Commemoration of the Church Rock Uranium Tailings Spill on July 16, 2009 in Church Rock, NM.
- 7-11 am - Prayer Walk on Hwy. 566 in Remembrance of Communities Affected by the July 16, 1979 Tailings Spill
- 11 am - Noon - Commemoration Proclamation and Reaffirmation of the Navajo Nation’s Uranium Mining Ban
- 12:15 - 2:30 pm - Luncheon at Churchrock Chapter
- 5 - 9 pm - Uranium Films and Panel Discussion at Calvin Hall, UNM Gallup Campus
For details on the event please see PDF of Flyer
The Church Rock Spill occurred when an earthen tailings dam failed on the morning of July 16, 1979. The mill’s radioactive fluids spilled into the Puerco River in New Mexico and traveled downstream to Chambers, Ariz. More radiation was released in the spill than in the Three Mile Island accident, and the spill ranks second only to the 1986 Chernobyl reactor meltdown in the amount of radiation released. For more information on this event see Southwest Research and Information Center report.