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The Navajo Nation stretches roughly from Tuba City, Arizona in the west, to Farmington, New Mexico. Four major disposal sites have been created to maintain remnants from mining and mill processing plants. Shiprock, Mexican Hat, and Tuba City all have disposal sites in their immediate proximity. Clean-up efforts have yet to reach many mines especially in places like Church Rock, NM. Click thumb-nails to read more.
The environmental devestation sustained by the Dinetah region is immeasurable. Though less publicized, the nuclear impact caused by uranium mining is comparable to the accident of Three Mile Island. Waste from processing plants contaminated underground water and radiated surrounding land. Residents brought up families, raised livestock, drank water, and ultimately thrived in these contaminated areas without knowing better. Federal compensation for exposure to uranium arrived eventually in 1990, but it did not reach far. Individuals were only given money if they were able to identify themselves as miners. Meanwhile many had already died from illness cause by radiation exposure. Unless their families could provide official documentation proving the deceased had been a miner, they were overlooked.