Uranium Legacy Remembrance and Action Day - Navajos Remember Church Rock Spill
On the morning of July 16th 1979, in Church Rock, NM an earthen dam that held the wastes of a uranium mill failed. It released ninety-million tons of liquid radioactive waste and 1,100 tons of solid mill wastes into the Puerco River contaminating its waters as far as Arizona.
Yesterday, commemorating the 30th Anniversary of the spill, Navajo community members, friends and supporters walked the route along SR 566 for Uranium Legacy Remembrance and Action Day.
We were blessed with overcast clouds that helped shelter us from the rising morning heat. Spirits were high as we connected with old friends and met new ones. With each stop and with each speaker’s story, the disaster was brought to life for all attendees.
These communities are still affected by the largest release of radioactive waste in U.S. history, and yesterday’s walk reaffirmed the Navajo Nation’s commitment to ban uranium mining on their land and to gain remediation for the degradation and damage past uranium mining has caused.
