MISSION: Southwest Research and Information Center is a multi-cultural organization working to promote the health of people and communities, protect natural resources, ensure citizen participation, and secure environmental and social justice now and for future generations

Documents on File re:
The Navajo Uranium Mining Experience
2016-1952
Listed chronologically from newest to oldest

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Compiled by
Chris Shuey, MPH
Southwest Research and Information Center
Revised August 23, 2016

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This selected bibliography was compiled from files, databases and experience of the professional staff of Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC), which has worked on Navajo uranium issues and with Diné communities affected by uranium mining impacts since the mid-1970s. Entries were selected for their relevancy to Navajo community concerns, Navajo Nation policies, and health and environmental effects of uranium development on Navajo lands. While the selections are representative of the available literature, they are by no means exhaustive of the information and data that exist in the public record. For instance, environmental monitoring data for specific mining and milling sites and pleadings in regulatory hearings on mine and mill applications are not included in this compilation. Neither are advocacy documents prepared by mining companies. Furthermore, the selections include papers, reports and articles that address impacts of uranium on non-Navajo constituencies, but are relevant to Navajo conditions and communities.

To facilitate review of this list by different audiences, the entries have been divided into the following three categories: Articles, Books and Policy Statements; Reports, Presentations and Testimony; and Published Medical, Scientific and Sociological Literature. Materials that are not available through library and retrieval systems can be obtained directly from SRIC, P.O. Box 4524, Albuquerque, NM 87106; 505-262-1862; or by sending a message to sric.chris(at)earthlink.net

This list is not static and will be revised and updated as new information becomes available and older materials uncovered. We may also prepare bibliographies that address specific issues, such as occupational exposures and the chemical toxicity of uranium. Readers are encouraged to make suggestions for changes to the list and recommend what other lists they would find useful in their community, medical, scientific and legal work.

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I. Articles, Books, Policy Statements

Recent News Articles on Navajo Uranium Issues. Compiled by Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC)

Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining-Concerned Citizens of T’iists’óóz Nídeeshgizh and Southwest Research and Information Center. Navajo Communities, Groups and Individuals Opposed to or Concerned About HRI’s Proposed Uranium ISL Mines and Any New Uranium Mining on Navajo Lands*; updated November 2003. (*Contains copies of correspondence, chapter resolutions and institutional statements concerning proposed uranium mining from January 1995 to November 2003.)

Shuey C. Building Community Capacity: Training and Assessment of Uranium Impacts in Diné Communities. Voices from the Earth, published by Southwest Research and Information Center, 4(3):6-8, Fall 2003.

Shuey C. Protecting the Westwater Aquifer: Why Uranium ISL Mining Threatens Navajo Drinking Water. Voices from the Earth, published by Southwest Research and Information Center, 3(4):6-7, Winter 2002.

Navajo President Opposes Uranium ISL Mining. Voices from the Earth, published by Southwest Research and Information Center, 3(3):2-3, Fall 2002.

Shuey C. A Clash of Values — The Navajos’ Uncompromising Opposition to Uranium Mining. Voices from the Earth, published by Southwest Research and Information Center, 2(4):5, Winter 2001.

Brooks R, Seth A. The Uranium Burden. Science for Democratic Action, published by Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (Takoma Park, Md.), 8:4, Sept. 2000.

Jones A. Uranium’s trail of tears. National Catholic Reporter, Nov. 19, 1999.

King L. Press Statement of Larry King, Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining Governing Board, June 17, 1999.

Benally TH. Navajo Uranium Mining History. (Self-published paper), Jan. 1998.

Why Navajo Resist New Uranium Mining. The Workbook, 22(2):52-62, Summer 1997.

Yazzie-Lewis E. Leetso: The Powerful Yellow Monster. Indigenous Woman, 1997:24-27.

Navajo Uranium Miner Oral History and Photography Project. Memories Come to Us in the Rain and the Wind — Oral Histories and Photographs of Navajo Uranium Miners & Their Families. Red Sun Press (Jamaica Plain, Mass.), 1997.

Eichstaedt PH. If You Poison Us — Uranium and Native Americans. Red Crane Books (Santa Fe, N.M.), 1994.

Navajo Nation Office of the President. Executive Order Moratorium on Uranium Mining. Dec. 9, 1992.

Shuey C. The Puerco River: Where Did The Water Go? The Workbook; XI:1-10, March 1986.

Taylor L. Uranium Legacy. The Workbook, VIII(6):192-207, Nov.-Dec. 1983.

Shuey C, Taylor L, Siskind J. Church Rock Revisisted: The Tailings Spill Three Years Later. Mine Talk, 2(1-2), Summer/Fall 1982.

Shuey C. Calamity at Church Rock. Saturday Magazine, Scottsdale Daily Progress; two parts: Feb. 14 and 21, 1981.

Shuey C. The Widows of Red Rock. Saturday Magazine, Scottsdale Daily Progress; two parts: June 2 and June 9, 1979.

II. Reports, Presentations, and Testimony

Fogarty J. A community-based perspective on the development of a uranium groundwater standard for New Mexico. Powerpoint presentation of testimony in the matter of the N.M. Environment Department’s petition to low the uranium-in-groundwater standard before the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission (Santa Fe, N.M.), Sept. 24, 2003.

Shuey C. Epidemiological Support for Proposed Revised New Mexico Uranium Groundwater Standard. Powerpoint presentation of testimony in the matter of the N. M. Environment Department’s petition to low the uranium-in-groundwater standard before the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission (Santa Fe, N.M.), Sept. 22, 2003.

Livingston J, Carlisle E, Shuey C. Church Rock Uranium Monitoring Program. Presentation to Navajo Abandoned Uranium Mines Collaboration Quarterly Meeting (Flagstaff, Ariz.), July 30, 2003.

Kayenta Uranium Educational Outreach. A compilation of information, references, annotations and contacts on uranium exposures and issues in Navajo communities. Compiled by Rene Benally, MS, in cooperation with the Navajo Abandoned Uranium Mines Collaboration, May 14, 2003.

Grey RM, Tsingine R, Yazzie MH. Navajo AML Reclamation Program. Presentation to Navajo Abandoned Uranium Mines Collaboration Annual Meeting (Albuquerque, N.M.), May 1, 2003.

Manning T. Eastern Navajo Health Board Environmental Health Research and Training Project. Presentation to Navajo Abandoned Uranium Mines Collaboration Annual Meeting (Albuquerque, N.M.), April 30, 2003.

Lewis J. Overview of NUAKHP: Why uranium exposium is a public health concern. Presentation to Environmental Health Training Program, Eastern Navajo Health Board (Crownpoint, N.M.), March 18, 2003.

Semken S. Rocks, Water, Metal: The Environmental Geology of Uranium. WERC Navajo Dryland Environments Laboratory, Diné College (Shiprock, N.M.), Dec. 2002.

Shuey C. The Navajo Uranium Experience: What We Know and Don’t Know. Presentation to Students and Faculty of UA-NAU Cancer Disparities in Native Americans Project, Northern Arizona University; Oct. 2, 2002.

SRIC. Data Supporting Selected Technical Concerns of Intervenors Regarding Groundwater Protection Issues in NRC Licensing of HRI’s Crownpoint Uranium Project. SRIC Info Handout, Sept. 2002.

Shuey C. Update on Uranium Public Health Projects in the Eastern Navajo Agency. Southwest Research and Information Center: Presentation to Navajo Abandoned Uranium Mine Task Force Meeting, Farmington, N.M., July 10, 2002.

Shuey C. Biomarkers of Kidney Injury — Challenges for Uranium Exposure Studies; A Critical Integrative Review of the Literature. Masters Professional Paper, University of New Mexico Masters in Public Health Program, June 13, 2002 (MPH Defense), and April 29, 2002 (paper).

Fogarty J. A Review of the Environmental and Public Health Effects of Uranium Mining in the Eastern Navajo Agency: Implications for Public Policy. Masters Professional Paper, University of New Mexico Masters in Public Health Program, March 27, 2002.

Shuey C. Crownpoint Uranium Project, Update. Southwest Research and Information Center, March 21, 2002.

SRIC. History and Facts About: HRI’s Crownpoint Uranium Solution Mining Project. July 25, 2001.

Malcewska-Toth B, Myers O, Shuey C, Lewis JL. Recommendations for a Uranium Health-based Ground Water Standard. Report to New Mexico Environment Department, Ground Water Bureau (Santa Fe, NM). Prepared by the University of New Mexico Community Environmental Health Program, Jan. 2001.

USEPA. Navajo Abandoned Uranium Mines Project — Project Atlas. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 (San Francisco), in cooperation with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District. Dec. 2000.

Diné College Uranium Education Program. Water Quality Education on the Navajo Nation (Tó Naalkaah Baa Hane’). Contributors: MC Bauer, PH Charley, F Morgan, LV Torres, M Walter. Diné College (Shiprock, N.M.), Oct. 2000.

Fogarty JD, Shuey C. Chronic Uranium Ingestion and Kidney Health in Navajo Communities: Rationale for an Integrated Biomedical and Environmental Health Research and Surveillance Project. Presentation to Navajo Nation Health Research Review Board (Window Rock, Ariz.), Aug. 28, 2000; revised, Sept. 6, 2000.

Shuey C.* Uranium Health and Environmental Research in Diné Communities. Presentation to Diné College Uranium Education Program 2000 Teachers’ Seminar, Gallup, N.M., July 11, 2000; revised July 13, 2000. (*Based on earlier version by JL Lewis, T Coons, M Downs, C Shuey, April 2000.)

Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining. Report to the Navajo Nation Council. ENDAUM (Crownpoint, N.M.), July 2000; 10 pages with 26 exhibits.

Bauer M. Uranium Education Program Annual Report: Needs Assessment Survey Findings. Spring 2000 Navajo Community Research Conference, Kayenta, Ariz. (Diné College, Shiprock, N.M.), April 2000.

Stern F. Letter to Underground Uranium Miners: NIOSH Study of Uranium Miners. Cincinnati: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Jan. 21, 2000.

UNM Mining and Health Effects Program. Uranium Millers’ Health Study: Update and Progress Report and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions. University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center (Albuquerque), January 2000.

Shuey C. Preliminary Public Health Assessment of Ambient Radon-222 Levels in the Church Rock, N.M., Uranium District. Albuquerque: Southwest Research and Information Center. Presentation to Navajo Abandoned Uranium Mines Technical Meeting, Aug. 19, 1999, and Dine College Uranium Education Project Workshop, Nov. 17, 1999.

Robinson WP. More than Radon in the Uranium Dust: An Overview of the Basis for Uranium Miners and Millers Exposed to Non-radioactive Hazards and Radioactive Hazards other than Radon Decay Products. Statement in Support of Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, Hearing on Uranium Workers Health Effects and Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments (Washington, D.C.), June 25, 1998.

USNRC. Final Environmental Impact Statement to Construct and Operate the Crownpoint Uranium Solution Mining Project, McKinley County, New Mexico. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NUREG-1508, Feb. 1997.

Robinson WP, Shuey C, Morgan R. Uranium Mining in Navajo Ground Water: The Risks Outweigh the Benefits. Comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Crownpoint Uranium Solution Mining Project. Southwest Research and Information Center (Albuquerque), Feb. 28, 1995.

Shuey C. Contaminant Loading on the Puerco River — A Historical Review. Puerco River Symposium, sponsored by the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Administration, Ft. Defiance, Ariz., Oct. 14, 1992.

Carter T. Site Inspection Summary for Puerco River, Arizona and New Mexico. San Francisco: Ecology and Environment, Inc., for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Oct. 14, 1988.

Shuey C, Morgan R. Summary of Surface Water and Ground Water Quality Investigations in the Puerco River Valley, New Mexico and Arizona, 1986-1987. Southwest Research and Information Center (Albuquerque), Dec. 1987; revised Feb. 1988.

Millard JB, Lapham SC, Hahn P. Radionuclide Levels in Sheep and Cattle Grazing Near Uranium Mining and Milling at Church Rock, NM. New Mexico Environmental Improvement Division (Santa Fe, N.M.), Oct. 1986.

Lapham SC, Millard JB, Samet JM. Radionuclide Levels in Cattle Raised Near Uranium Mines and Mills in Northwest New Mexico. New Mexico Environmental Improvement Division (Santa Fe, N.M.), June 1986.

Gallaher BM. The Puerco River: Muddy Issues Raised by a Mine Water Dominated Ephemeral Stream. Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Annual New Mexico Water Conference (Las Cruces, N.M.), April 5-6, 1983, 60-68.

Shuey C, Taylor LS. Unresolved Issues and Recommendations for Resolution Concerning the Church Rock, New Mexico, Uranium Tailings Dam Failure of July 16, 1979. Southwest Research and Information Center (Albuquerque), Aug. 1982.

Navajo Health Authority. Neoplasms Among Navajo Children. Grant Application submitted to Division of Health Improvement Services. Window Rock, Ariz., 1981.

Biological Assessment After Uranium Mill Tailings Spill, Church Rock, New Mexico. Memorandum to Director, Centers for Disease Control. U.S. Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control (Atlanta, Ga.), EPI-79-94-2, Dec. 24, 1980.

Goad MS, Nylander CL, Gallaher BM, Dudley JC, Perkins BL. Water Quality Data for Discharges from New Mexico Uranium Mines and Mills. New Mexico Environmental Improvement Division (Santa Fe, N.M.), July 1980.

NIOSH Study Group (VE Archer, et al.). The Risk of Lung Cancer Among Underground Miners of Uranium-bearing Ores. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Rockville, Md.), June 30, 1980.

Tso H, Shields LM. Navajo Uranium Operations: Early Hazards and Recent Interventions. Unpublished Navajo Nation report, April 1980.

SRIC. Uranium Mining and Milling — A Primer. A Report by Southwest Research and Information Center (Albuquerque). Published in The Workbook, IV(6-7):222-233, Nov./Dec. 1979.

Robinson WP. Testimony Before the House of Representatives Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, Hearings on the Causes and Implications of United Nuclear-Churchrock Tailings Dam Failure, Oct. 22, 1979.

Holaday DA, David WD, Doyle HN. An Interim Report of a Health Study of the Uranium Mines and Mills. Grand Junction, Colo.: Federal Security Agency, U.S. Public Health Service, Division of Occupational Health, and Colorado State Department of Public Health, 1952.

III. Published Medical, Scientific and Sociological Literature

Hoover, J., Gonzales, M., Shuey, C. et al. Elevated Arsenic and Uranium Concentrations in Unregulated Water Sources on the Navajo Nation, USA Exposure & Health (2016). doi:10.1007/s12403-016-0226-6​

Brugge D, Goble R. The History of Uranium Mining and the Navajo People. American Journal of Public Health; 92(9):1410-1419; Sept. 2002.

Brugge D, Benally T. A Desert of Tears: The Navajo Uranium Miner Oral History Project. The American Journal of Health Communications; 12-21, Summer 2000.

Rosen J, Mushak P. Metal and Radiation-induced Toxic Neuropathy (TN) in Two Navajo Sisters. Toxicological Sciences; No. 378 (abstract only); 54(1):80; 2000.

Gilliland FD, Hunt WC, Pardilla M, Key CR. Uranium mining and lung cancer among Navajo men in New Mexico and Arizona, 1969 to 1993. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine; 42(3):278-83, March 2000.

Samet J, Mapel DW. Diseases of Uranium Miners and Other Underground Miners Exposed to Radon. Chapter 98 in: Environmental and Occupational Medicine, WM Rom, ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven Publishers, 1998:1307-1315.

Dawson SE, Madsen GE, Spykerman BR. Public Health Issues Concerning American Indian and Non-Indian Uranium Millworkers. Journal of Health & Social Policy; 83(1):41-56, 1997.

Mapel D, Coultas DB, James DS, Hunt WC, Stidley CA, Gilliland FD. Ethnic Differences in the Prevalence of Nonmaglinant Respiratory Disease among Uranium Miners. American Journal of Public Health; 87(5):833-838, May 1997.

Madsen GE, Dawson SE, Spykerman BR. Perceived Occupational and Environmental Exposures: A Case Study of Former Uranium Millworkers. Environment and Behavior (Sage Publications, Inc.: Newbury Park, Calif.), 571-590, Sept. 1996.

Roscoe RJ, Deddens JA, Salvan A, Schnorr TM. Mortality among Navajo uranium miners. American Journal of Public Health; 85(4):535-40, April 1995.

Samet JM. Health Effects of Radon. ASTM Manual 15, Chapter 3. American Society for Testing and Materials (Philadelphia), 1994.

Wirt, L. Radioactivity in the Environment — A Case Study of the Puerco and Little Colorado River Basins, Arizona and New Mexico. U.S. Geological Survey (Tucson, Ariz.), Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4192, 1994.

Shields LM, Wiese WH, Skipper BJ, Charley B, Benally L. Navajo birth outcomes in the Shiprock uranium mining area. Health Physics; 63:542-51, Nov. 1992.

Dawson SE. Navajo Uranium Workers and the Effects of Occupational Illnesses: A Case Study. Human Organization; 51(4):389-397, 1992.

Van Metre PC, Gray JR. Effects of uranium mining discharges on water quality in the Puerco River Basin, Arizona and New Mexico. Hydrological Sciences Journal; 37(5):463-480, Oct. 1992.

Samet JM, Pathak DR, Morgan MV, Key CR, Valdiva AA, Lubin JJ. Lung Cancer Mortality and Exposure to Radon Progeny in a Cohort of New Mexico Underground Uranium Miners. Health Physics, 61(6):745-752, Dec. 1991.

Robinson WP. Uranium Production and its Effects on Navajo Communities Along the Rio Puerco in Western New Mexico. In: Proceedings of the Michigan Conference on Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards; B. Bryant and P. Mohai, eds. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1990.

Graf WL. Fluvial Dynamics of Thorium-230 in the Church Rock Event, Puerco River, New Mexico. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 80(3):337-342, 1990.

Lapham SC, Millard JB, Samet JM. Health implications of radionuclide levels in cattle raised near U mining and milling facilities in Ambrosia Lake, New Mexico. Health Physics 1989; 56(3):327-40.

Auld RM, Haubrich WS. Rapidly Rising Incidence of Gastric Carcinoma in Navajo Indians and Its Relationship to Uranium Mining. Gastroenterology (abstract only); 92:1301, 1987.

Ruttenber AJ, Jr., Kreiss K, Douglas RL, Buhl TE, Millard J. The assessment of human exposure to radionuclides from a uranium mill tailings release and mine dewatering effluent. Health Physics; 47(1):21-35, June 1984.

Samet JM, Kutvirt DM, Waxweiler RJ, Key CR. Uranium mining and lung cancer in Navajo men. New England Journal of Medicine; 310(23):1481-4, June 7, 1984.

Shuey, C, Robinson WP. Characterization of Ground Water Quality Near a Uranium Mill Tailings Facilityand Comparison to Standards. Proceedings of a Symposium on Water Quality and Pollution in New Mexico. New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources (Socorro, N.M.), Hydrologic Report 7:184-193, April 12, 1984.

Waxweiler RJ, Archer VE, Roscoe RJ, Watanbe A, Thun MJ. Mortaility Patterns Among a Retrospective Cohort of Uranium Mill Workers. Epidemiology Applied to Health Physics, Proceedings of the Sixteenth Mid-Year Topical Meeting of the Health Physics Society (Albuquerque), CONF-830101, Jan. 9-13, 1983.

Gottlieb LS, Husen LA. Lung Cancer Among Navajo Uranium Miners. Chest.; 81(4):449-452, April 1982.

Wiese WH. Birth Effects in Areas of Uranium Mining. International Conference on Radiation Hazards in Mining: Control, Measurement, and Medical Aspects (Golden, Colo), Oct. 4-9, 1981. Society of Mining Engineers (M Gomez, ed.) (page numbers unknown).

Archer VE. Health concerns in uranium mining and milling. Journal of Occupational Medicine; 23(7):502-5, 1981.

Wagoner JK, Archer VE, Gillam JD. Mortality of American Indian Uranium Miners. Proceedings XI International Cancer Congress (Bucalossi P, Veronesi U, Cascinelli N, eds.), 3:102-107; Excerpta Medica International Congress Services No. 351, 1975.

Holaday DA. History of Exposure of Miners to Radon. Health Physics, 16:547-552, 1969.

Wagoner JK, Archer VE, Lundin FE, Holaday DA, Lloyd JW. Radiation as the Cause of Lung Cancer Among Uranium Miners. New England Journal of Medicine; 273(4):181-188, 1965.

Lorenz E. Radioactivity and Lung Cancer: A Critical Review of Lung Cancer in the Miners of Schneeberg and Joachimsthal. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 5(1):1-15, Aug. 1944.

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