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Zephyr Newspaper Summer 2002
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Around the Bend Again Ken Sleight The history of the White Mesa uranium mill in San Juan County has been a gragic and turbulent one. It all started when one corporation, Energy Fuels Nuclear, Inc.,, back before 1979, set its eyes on White Mesa with the intent to build a uranium mill. The backdrop of this is the history of the injustices to the Indian people. Decisions were being made without their involvement, and their constitutional rights were continually trampled upon. In this, the federal agencies have not lived up to their legal responsibilities. Energy Fuels quietly, it seems, began manipulating their way toward locating and building a uranium mill on the aboriginal lands of White Mesa. They finagled a land exchange with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The transfer was consummated even though there was an immense concentration of archeological sites with standing masonry architecture in the area. Why? Since Energy Fuels depended upon federal licensing, federal regulations became immediately applicable to them. A cultural resource inventory had to be conducted, and Division of History quickly obliged them. Archeological surveys of portions of the Department of the Interior and the Utah State Antiquities Section of the State the entire project site were conducted between the fall of 1977 and the spring of 1979. 121 sites were recorded and all had an affiliation with the San Juan Anasazi. All but 22 of the sites lay within the mill project boundaries. In the spring of 1978 twenty sites were located in the area to be occupied by the tailing cells 2, 3, and r. Of these sites, twelve were deemed by the State Archeologist to have significant National Register potential and four with possible significance. An additional 45 archeological sites were found in the fall of 1978 after another surface study. Laural A. Casjens and Gregory L. Seward prepared an archeological report in February 1980. They reported finding two hundred and sixteen prehistoric and only two historic sites. Prehistoric human habitation on White Mesa was almost exclusively Anasazi. The historic site included a Navajo sweat lodge and an earthen and masonry dam that would be negatively affected by the mill project. It was apparent that additional fieldwork needed to be done. The Secretary of the Interior determined the area eligible for inclusion in the National Register as the "White Mesa Archeological District." (But in searching the National Register there is no mention of the District being included.) Energy Fuels by now owned or controlled the surface area of the project site. The company on Feb 6, 1978; applied to the NRC for an :NRC Source Material Licenses." Another 333 acres would serve as the tailings disposal site during the coming years. The company's total surface area of the project site was to cover 1480 acres. In May 1979, the NRC approved the final EIS and a license was awarded Energy Fuels. Construction of the mill started the following month. The company made ambitious plans to mine uranium near the Havasupai reservation near the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Tribal leaders rebelled and fought hard as it threatened their sacred Red Butte, and an international protest erupted. Even so, the federal government approved the mine. Energy Fuels had a tough time of it financially. In 1984, the company formed a limited partnership with Union Carbide Corporation. Ten years later the partnership dissolved and Energy Fuels re-acquired;; 100% of the White Mesa mill. The state of financial affairs in early 1995 forced Energy Fuels into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. So that set the stage for the advent of International Uranium who bought the bankrupt company. The new company was expected to abide by all past federal and state regulations that had been placed on Energy Fuels. However, thumbing its nose at the laws and the people, it proceeded to build a full-scale nuclear waste dump far removed from the original purposes of a uranium-refining mill. It prepared no EIS. The EIS of 1979 was woefully and shamefully inadequate as an environmental document and once prepared, it was as quickly ignored. Federal statutes and directives require that mitigating measures be taken to protect historic and prehistoric cultural resources, either through programmed avoidance of sites or, where that is unreasonable, through excavation by professionally qualified archeologists. Through the years, Congress has passed a number of legislative Acts to assure the protection of places of antiquity such as White Mesa. The Historic Sites Act was enacted in 1935, to preserve historic and prehistoric properties of national significance. It gave the Interior Department authority to make historic surveys and to protect historic properties. It established the National Historic Landmarks Program. In 1966 Congress passed the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). This Act established a Federal policy of agency in cooperation with Tribes, States, and local governments to protest historic sites and values. It authorized the National Register of Historic Places and created the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. It also lay down the criteria for evaluation of properties to be nominated. In 1969, Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that applies to all proposed major Federal actions that may significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Of major importance was the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA). This Act seeks to protect and preserve traditional Native American spiritual beliefs and practices by providing access to ancient sites for Native peoples. The agencies are directed to confer with Native traditional religious leaders in a joint effort when their archeological resources are affected or where procedures are offensive to them and their religious practices. The Archeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) was passed in 1979 with its subsequent amendments in 1988. It states that archeological resources, including graves, found on public and Indian lands were part of America's heritage and were protected from unauthorized taking. So with all of these laws in place, one wonders who the uranium company was ever able to build their mill. It's a complicated mess and a tragedy. It was anticipated that the NRC would enter into a Memorandum of Agreement under the law to ensure adequate mitigation of the impacts to the cultural resources on White Mesa. J. Phillip Keene III, Utah's Historical Preservation Officer, wrote that the agreement would satisfy the necessary mitigation under the review procedures. Many historical and cultural sites, including burial sites, have been excavated or destroyed. To mitigate this, it has been suggested that if burials were found, archeologists would need only go out there and dig the Indian's ancestors up and move them to a cemetery or another location. However, it is difficult or impossible to know where the unmarked burial sites might be, and it would be an outrage to the Indian people. The desecration of Indian sacred sites is a violation of their religious freedom rights. Much more needs to be done. There needs to be additional documentation concerning the eligibility for the "Earth Dam," "Range War Site," "Kumen Jones Home," "Posey War Sites," the "White Mesa Community," and the Westwater Canyon" cultural sites. It is a bit ironic in speaking consistently for the preservation of these sacred Native American sites. If Congress approves the sale of 1,640 acres of sacred land at martin's Cove in Wyoming to the Morman Church, I would think that the sacred lands on White Mesa could be protected as well and even transferred back to the Native American people. It is important that indigenous people have a say toward protecting their traditional and natural laws. The permanent protection and preservation of these sacred sites are essential to their spiritual and religious practices. We need to press for better communication and cooperation among the agencies that are responsible for the joint administration of the laws. As Indian people assert their constitutional and legal rights, white people must reexamine their own past injustices. Federal laws and regulations must protect all prehistoric and historic sites at White Mesa, and all significant sites should be avoided by any future development. There needs to be greater restrictions on corporate use of the lands. We need more effective monitoring of archeological conditions. We need a national cultural heritage law that protects significant resources that lie within the boundaries of private ownership of land. Work at the White Mesa mill should be halted until broad new studies are accomplished. Of special import, the nuclear wastes now being dumped at White Mesa must stop and the waste already dumped there must be transported elsewhere. A nuclear waste dump kills the spirit and any sense of reverence to this sacred area one may have had, but access to the area to worship must be assured. A new and timely EIS should now be prepared. It should include an intense examination and treatment of the evidence concerning burial or sacred sits, historic occupation sites and the impact on the village of White Mesa itself. The treatment of these subjects was extremely limited in the old EIS. Our great responsibility rests in protecting our environment and our heritage. This includes the protection of gravesites, known or unknown. Establishing a nuclear waste dump over hallowed land is a treacherous act. As I see it now, our greatest hope is the International Uranium Corporation ceases to operate at White Mesa. Kaput!
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