THE NAVAJO COUNCIL CONTINUES TO DEBATE 91-14 WHICH WOULD NULLIFY AND RESCIND RESOURCES & DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE’S LEGISLATION THAT CREATED URANIUM SUBCOMMITTEE.
NAVAJO JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ATTORNEY DAVID TAYLOR
Attorney Carr has been working on uranium cleanup laws for numerous years with the US Environmental Protection Agency. Carr is also responsible for the Electronics settlement.
TRIBAL JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ATTORNEY CARR
attorney general opinion points out URI may enter said properties to conduct in-situ leach uranium mining and Delegate Tsosie said subcommittee legislation was to allow access over Navajo lands to do urainum mining on their land, which violates two navajo laws and agreement.
crossing section 17 before cleanup of uranium waste violates transportation and in-situ uranium violates uranium ban. and the extraction of uranium by URI on their property violates agreement with tribal justice department.
and so since RDC legislation creating Subcommittee violated two laws and agreement then it should go to the council.
DELEGATE LEONARD TSOSIE
you are wrong. there is no transportation of harzardous material and uranium mining. the DOJ are deceiving us. they have decided to be on one side. we have sponsor with two DOJ lawyers that are no objective.
and delegate yazzie no longer supports his chapter which approved what the subcommittee is doing.
and the tailings spill is part of the uranium legacy.
if you think uranium mining is worse, what is worse is losing regulatory oversight. if you vote yes for 91-14, DOJ is taking us over the cliff. what happens when we lose the case and can’t stop the trucks. look at BIA letter and agreement by former tribal chairman.
wat company simply saying is let us sit at the table and talk. what is delegate yazzie afraid of.
and the community people of church rock and red water pond are living in contaminated area.
and we are not doing across the reservation, just church rock. and there are navajo allotees that support URI’s demonstration project.
DELEGATE JONATHAN HALE
i dont live in area but we need to address health and we need to comprehend pain. i am sponsoring RECA amendments and listening to Birth Cohort Study, and there are people that are sick from uranium mining. it brings to question, who we are as people. sometime money takes the best of us. it comes down to lives or funds.
and whether underground uranium mining or in-situ uranium mining, it still uranium mining and so i must stand with Navajo people suffering from uranium mining.
DELEGATE ROSCOE SMITH
so how do we reconcile local community support for uranium mining?
