The Uranium Problem On Navajo Reservation - Research Paper Example

The Uranium Problem On Navajo Reservation Introduction The Navajo Reservation in America is inhabited by natives who face several problems within the society, including the environmental issues. The Uranium problem from the former mines has caused serious problems on the reserves, such as health, environmental and legal. The uranium issue on the Navajo reservation requires an interdisciplinary approach to resolve it because of the several disciplines affected by the issue. The uranium mines pose environmental problems to the society because of water, soil and air pollutions from the mines. The health of the inhabitants on the reservation is affected by the uranium mines that increase the cancer risk and associated health problems. In addition, the legal problems associated with the mines concern the state-corporate crimes, which motivated the need to engage in the mines for government and corporate profits at the expense of the local community. The uranium problem on the reservation has persisted for several decades without any solutions while the native inhabitants on the reserve are increasingly affected environmentally, economically, in terms of health, and legally by the crimes the government had engaged in. The uranium mines have made life unbearable for the natives and social ills within the reservation have been on the rise. It is, therefore, important that the problems on the reservation be addressed to ensure that the native community lives a meaningful life like any other individuals across the country. The Environmental Perspective on the Uranium Problem on Navajo Reservation The uranium problem on the Navajo reservation affects the environment on the reserve immensely. At the end of the World War I, mining of vanadium began around Navajo nation, and later uranium. The uranium extracted from the local mines on the reservation were heaped in containers and shoved to the side. After a while the significance of uranium increased and its extraction increased. The stacked uranium materials on the reserve were removed by affluent ventures, which had the ability to invest in the resources therein. Uranium mined on the reservation increased and so did the negative environmental effects it posed on the reserve. Unfortunately, neither were the native community on the reserve sensitized on the environmental consequences of the mines nor did the government take any measures to preserve the local environment from pollution. During 1950s, the environmental problems of uranium mining in Navajo Nation were brought to the attention of the government and the bureaucrats, but they ignored the warnings (Robinson, n.d.). Presently, the mines at Navajo nation are blocked and no mining activities take place but the contagion and pollution on the reservation remains within the area. It is approximated that 500 uranium and vanadium mines are deserted on the reservation. The deserted mines are yet to be cleaned up, leaving the reservation land contaminated with the mines. The deserted mines have no health hazard warnings placed on them. The uranium mines and ores are dangerous to human health, and the environment because of their high carcinogenic risks. The radioactive components of uranium minerals find their way into the soil and contaminate the environment. The uranium mines and the ores therein have been broken down by water and wind to form part of the soil. The contaminated uranium from the mines finds their way into the soil through erosion and other natural human actions. These uranium-contaminated soils find their way into the lakes and rivers to contaminate the water that inhabitants use. The other human activities like mining and milling relocated the contaminated uranium waters and soils around the natural environment increasing the rate of environmental pollution. The decaying process of the uranium on the reservation mines results in the release of radioactivity atoms that are dangerous to the environment. The radiations released from the decay process are also dangerous pollutants to the air around the Navajo nation. The gas particles are, therefore, contaminated by the dust particles with radioactive attributes (USEPA, 2008). The Legal Perspective on the Uranium Problem on Navajo Reservation The environmental problems that have persisted on the Navajo nation are as a result of state-corporate crime. This is because of the negative consequences and implications of the acts due to cooperation of the government and the private ventures to benefit from the mining activities at the expense of the local communities. State-corporate crimes are accomplished for the benefit of individuals involved in them. The acts of uranium mining on the Navajo reservation, which resulted in the present health, economic, social and environmental problems, are crimes involving corporate and government criminals. The government engaged with private influential business elites to propagate the problems faced by the Navajo natives. The American government and the private business organizations involved in uranium mining did not take precautionary measures as well as warnings given to them to mitigate the negative consequences and implications that the uranium mines would have on the nation. Instead, the government had deep rooted interests in the mineral resources and energy on the reservation. The importance of uranium during the World War II was increasing, and this was an opportunity for the government and corporate organizations to make some profits out of the business (Nielsen & Silverman, 2009). As expected, the mining activities did not benefit the indigenous communities around the region. A few government officials took the opportunity to enrich themselves at the expense of the poor aboriginal Indians residing on the reserves. According to Robyn (2010), state-corporate crimes entail illegal or social hazardous acts in which the institutions of political governance engage in direct or indirect associations with economic corporations. The government together with Vanadium Corporation of America and Kerr-McGee took advantage of the economic conditions of the indigenous people around Navajo to benefit economically from the resources in the area. The social harms on the reservation increased because the government engaged in criminal activities during the uranium mining to enrich themselves. The government helped to propagate the social ills in form of exploitation of the struggling natives. Consequently, the unemployment rate has kept growing, the economic wellbeing of the community have deteriorated in terms of substandard infrastructure and healthcare. Substance abuse and violence rates are on the rise because of the ineffective way in which the government used the economic resources on the reserve to resolve the challenges and the needs of the society. Ultimately, the rewards and the benefits that the community has derived from the mines are minimal as opposed to the economic, social and environmental injustices from the exploitation. The 1872 Mining Law permitted several mining corporations to operate within the nation without accountability measures. The government failed to contemplate on the consequences of mining process on the natives. As such, no plans or strategies were established in law to deal with the effects of uranium on the environment (Robyn, 2011). The government has discovered the social harms that uranium mining would cause the inhabitants on the reservation. Further, the medical community in the country had informed the government on the dangers of uranium on the environment around the mines and the inhabitants. Despite the warnings the medical community raised, the government overlooked the calls and saw no cause for alarm. During the legal battles to compensate the uranium workers affected by the mines, the government was faulted for hindering the compensation process because of the guidelines it imposed. The process involved bureaucracies that wasted time (Brugge & Goble, 2002). The Health Perspective on the Uranium Problem on Navajo Reservation The effects of the uranium mining on Navajo nation have extended up to the health of the inhabitants. Diseases that deteriorated the health of the mine workers, their families and the present inhabitants have raised health issues with the uranium mining on the reservation. The increased prevalence of cancer ailments within the reservation had made the health effects of the mines a necessary issue that needs resolution. The public health service physicians across the country had warned the government and the mining corporations against the negative health implications that uranium had on the inhabitants. The stacked uranium extracts and wastes were considered by the Atomic Energy Commission to be harmful when they were blown to the residential places, settling on water and filling the atmosphere (Nielsen & Silverman, 2009). People working on the mines were exposed to harmful carcinogenic radiations, which would affect their health in form of ailments like cancer and respiratory infections. The working conditions in the uranium mines were deplorable such that despite the warnings from the medical community that the mines were high risk cancer agents, the mine workers were never accorded protective clothing to shield them against the harmful radiations, which would affect their health. Furthermore, they were never given proper education and awareness on the negative effects of uranium on their health. In return, they carried their uranium contaminated clothes, soil from the mines and personal effects to their homes and exposed their families to increased risk of cancer contamination. Occupational safety and health management was not placed into consideration during the mining process. The radioactive uranium minerals found their way into the human system either through respiratory inhalation or ingestion via contaminated drinks or foods. Direct exposure to the mine ores for the mine workers also resulted in penetration of the radioactive atoms into the body and led to cancer of the lungs, liver and throat among others. After decaying of the uranium element, gamma rays have remained in the abandoned mines, the water catchments and soil on the Navajo reservation for a long time. The mines emitted dusts and alpha atoms into the atmosphere of which the native community inhaled, causing respiratory diseases, including damages to the lung tissues because the dust particles and alpha atoms can be lodged therein (Dawson, 1992). The radioactivity attribute of uranium implies that during its decay it emits beta particles into the atmosphere. These particles have affected the health of the native community in that beta particles have the potential to cause damage to the living tissues and cells of people in close proximity with the particles. The contaminated shoes and clothes that the mine workers carried home spread radon to their homes. Radon gas, thus, were trapped within the homes of the mine workers where it built up. The inhabitants on Navajo reservation are exposed to increased radiation levels present in drinking water. Lung and bone cancer are among the health problems inhabitants on the reservation face. The radiation levels were ignored up to 90 times the permissible limits (Nielsen & Silverman, 2009). The compensation provision excluded lawsuits against employers on occupational health and safety hazards. Nevertheless, the miners were never compensated under the provision as claimed. The government later made efforts to compensate the affected natives who worked on the mines. In the compensation procedures, the committee acknowledged that the uranium mine workers experienced health effects such that they enlisted respiratory and cancer related ailments as some health problems, which arose from the mining activities. Integrative Conclusion The social ills and the harms that the inhabitants on the Navajo reservation experience were contributed by the state-corporate crimes and led to multidisciplinary issues, including health problems, negative social and environmental effects. The government committed the criminal acts because of a motivation to enrich individuals within the government and corporate organizations at the expense of the native Navajo community. During the mining process, the medical community in America raised public health concerns besides the occupational health and safety of the mine workers against the negative effects of radioactive uranium of which the government ignored. The economic benefits at stake for the government encouraged it to ignore professional health and environmental warnings it was given. The health, legal and environmental warnings were ignored, leading to the increase of the problems because the government and corporate organizations involved argued that reports on negative health effects would have led to general panic, and subsequently the indigenous people working in the mines would have deserted their responsibilities. As a result, the profits would have decreased (Barton & Lane, 2012). In countering the possible warnings that would have interfered with their business prospects, the government and the involved corporate companies promised the economically depressed area employment and royalties, and this contributed to the approval of the mining activities. The negative implications caused by the uranium mining activities in Navajo nation were enhanced by the need for the mining corporations to save money by not enforcing the safety regulations at the sites. The government and the private corporations disguised the natives that they were helping them economically, presenting themselves to the public as doing right yet they were acting on the contrary. The problems experienced by the natives residing on the Navajo reservation are multidisciplinary though they were caused by a common event. A single discipline approach resolution to the problem would not be appropriate because of the overlapping problems that require expertise from various fields (Newell, Szostak, & Repko, 2012). For the challenges and problems faced by the Navajo natives, the health problems have to be resolved, the legal loopholes and criminal acts that the government engaged in must be punished and compensations be given to the affected people. In addition, the environmental agencies must also come in to help preserve and reclaim the surrounding environment to make the reservation a better place to reside in. If a single discipline approach is preferred, the other overlapping issues would persist and probably the resolved problem may never end. To avoid a recurrence of such types of crimes in future, the companies with mining interest in the country should take appropriate measures to address the environmental and health effects of their actions. The occupational health and safety standards must be enhanced for the miners to be safe. Moreover, the involved stakeholders should initiate awareness campaigns on the environmental and health dangers of the minerals mined, and be responsible for oversight authority to protect the vulnerable communities from such exploitations and crimes. References Barton, D., & Lane, L. (2012, October 09). Addressing Uranium Contamination in the Navajo Nation. Retrieved Decemer 6, 2012, from http://www.epa.gov/region9/superfund/navajo-nation/ Brugge, D., & Goble, R. (2002). The History of Uranium Mining and the Navajo People. American Journal of Public Health, 92 (9), 1410–1419. Dawson, S. E. (1992). Navajo Uranium Workers and the Effects of Occupational Illnesses: A Case Study. Human Organization, 51 (4), 389-397. Newell, W. H., Szostak, R., & Repko, A. F. (2012). Case Studies in Interdisciplinary Research. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. Nielsen, M. O., & Silverman, R. A. (2009). Criminal Justice in Native America. Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona Press. Robinson, B. (n.d.). Environmental Justice for the Navajo : Uranium Mining in the Southwest. Retrieved Decemer 6, 2012, from http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/sdancy.html Robyn, L. (2010, April 17). State-Corporate Crime on the Navajo Nation: Human Consumption of Contaminated Water. Retrieved Decemer 6, 2012, from http://indigenouspolicy.org/ipjcms/Articles/VolXXINo2/StateCorporateCrimeontheNavajoNation/tabid/140/Default.aspx Robyn, L. (2011). State-Corporate Crime on the Navajo Nation: State-Corporate Crime on the Navajo Nation: A Legacy of Uranium Mining. Journal of the Indigenous Studies Network, 22 (3). USEPA. (2008, June 9). Health and Environmental Impacts of Uranium Contamination in the Navajo Nation: Five-Year Plan. Retrieved Decemer 6, 2012, from http://www.epa.gov/region9/superfund/navajo-nation/pdf/NN-5-Year-Plan-June-12.pdf Read More