Native American communities were the most affected by radiation due to uranium mining, nuclear weapons testing, and nuclear facilities activities. These operations were carried out within native community lands beginning in the mid-20th century. They led to the release of chemical toxins and radiation linked to many health issues, including various cancers. Community members in these areas have been exposed to these toxins throughout their lives and continue to experience health and environmental impacts. Mainly affected communities include the Shoshone, Navajo, Hopi, and Utes, among others, who live in New Mexico, Utah, and Idaho.
The federal government has always created and preserved a trusting relationship with Native American tribes, protecting them from state and private interference. At the same time, Congress and the courts have limited the Native American governments’ ability to pass enforceable regulations to control non-Native Americans. Consequently, Native American governments lack a legitimate authority to protect their people against uranium mining, which has resulted in health and environmental hazards. Additionally, the federal government has seized tribal land for a variety of uses, such as natural resource extraction and military operations, including nuclear weapons testing. Some scholars term this an act of environmentally violent injustice. Many scholars have described how Native Americans have been victims of settler and toxic colonialism for centuries, resulting in social, political, economic, and ecological inequalities. Settler colonialism describes historical discrimination and the ongoing power structure used to dominate Native systems and societies.
Native American Health Problems Related to Uranium Exposure
Before 1971, the US government was buying all the uranium produced in the country for the creation of atomic weapons. The government gave incentives for uranium discoveries and guaranteed a market for the product. This resulted in extensive exploration and production, particularly during World War II and the Cold War. Most of the US uranium was discovered in the 1940s in the Midwest regions within New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah, essentially within the Navajo reservation in the Grants and Gallup area in New Mexico. Over 90% of the uranium mines and mills in the country were located on or near tribal lands, primarily across the Colorado Plateau, which houses Reservations of federally recognized Tribes. Uranium mines and mills were not regulated, and there were no safety measures in place to mitigate the health effects of exposure to heavy metals and radioactive chemicals associated with uranium mining.
Most of the mining occurred in the southwestern US, inhabited by Native Americans. Researchers discovered the adverse health effects of uranium and radioactive materials in the early 20th century, during the early stages of the mining industry’s development. As of the 1930s, European studies had already associated uranium mining with high rates of lung cancer. Despite the availability of such information, the US government never informed the Navajo miners of the dangers of uranium mining nor were they provided safety equipment.
The federal government believed that doing so would pose a risk to national security. The government argued that if employees realized that their jobs were dangerous, then the production and processing of uranium, considered vital during the Cold War, would end. As a result, affected uranium workers’ lawsuits against the federal government were dismissed.
In its defense, the government pointed to the need for research to discover the connection between working in the mines and illnesses such as cancer before taking steps that could negatively impact mining operations. Consequently, the Public Health Service (“PHS”) researched the extent of the relationship between mining and cancer. The PHS findings confirmed the connection between uranium mining and lung cancer in 1959.
In the 1960s, the Federal Radiation Council (“FRC”), which was launched in 1959, encouraged state or federal regulation related to uranium mining and processing. In 1967, the federal government began regulating ventilation and the exposure of miners to radioactive dust in uranium mines. The delay in implementing these regulations and the failure to inform miners about uranium mining and processing health risks placed the workers in a greater danger of exposure. The booming uranium industry at the time attracted thousands of workers from the native communities living near the mines, including miners, millers, ore transporters, core drillers, and later, remediation workers.
During the PHS health study, the miners who had lung cancer were referred to their regular doctors for treatment. However, they were never informed of the danger that their occupation posed to their health or the fact that their cancer was likely work-related. After the PHS concluded its research, the federal government directed the states to regulate the uranium mines. The states, however, failed to adopt the regulations. As a result, the FRC threatened to have Congress preempt state regulatory authority over uranium mines with new federal regulation. However, the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy (“JCAE”) called for more studies to determine the safest low threshold of ionizing radiation. The President approved the FRC’s proposed federal radiation exposure standards in 1967, drastically reducing radiation exposure in mines. The AEC commissioner admitted that the commission could have acted sooner.
In addition to work-related exposure, native communities were constantly exposed to radiation as they built houses with radioactive rocks from the mines. Tribes residing in the Northwest and Northern Plains have experienced similar plights as those in the Southwest. In particular, tribes in Washington, Wyoming, and the Dakotas have been affected. Native Americans in these regions have the highest rates of lung cancer in the country compared to Native Americans in other parts of the country and across all racial groups.
Mining in the past applied open-pit and underground techniques using explosives, equipment, and shovels. Rocks and dirt would be hauled away from the mines in uncovered trucks and taken to a milling site where the uranium would be removed using a chemical solution. Both mining and milling would then create large piles of radioactive rock and debris. Uranium milling also left tailing ponds of the waste containing radioactive material and the strong chemicals used to remove the uranium. The hazardous ponds surrounding the milling sites would leak into the ground, contaminating soil and groundwater.
Since there was no regulation in place, mine operators left behind tons of waste and abandoned mines that continue to contaminate soil and groundwater, affecting human and animal life. Cleanup efforts are ongoing, but are not as effective, with hundreds of federally recognized abandoned uranium mines in Navajo lands alone.
Due to the historical health and environmental impacts of mining, the Navajo Nation temporarily prohibited mining and enacted strict regulations on the transportation of radioactive materials on its lands. For instance, the Navajo Nation Natural Resources Protection Act of 2005 implemented a moratorium on new mining. We also have the Radioactive and Related Substances, Equipment, Vehicles, Persons, and Materials Transportation Act, which regulates and restricts the transportation of radioactive materials within the Nation.
Atomic Weapon Testing on Native Americans’ Lands
Apart from uranium extraction in Native American lands, nuclear weapons created from the uranium were tested on the same regions. Between 1951 and 1992, the US conducted atmospheric and underground nuclear tests, involving more than a thousand atomic weapons. Most of the United States’ nuclear weapons testing occurred at the Nevada test site on the Newe Sogobia, Western Shoshone lands about 65 miles north of Las Vegas. Persons exposed to radiation from the US nuclear weapon testing are referred to as downwinders.
The first nuclear weapons test was conducted at the Trinity Test site in southeastern New Mexico in 1945. The fallout mostly affected the surrounding communities, particularly residents of the Tularosa Basin in New Mexico. The Trinity Test site is also near the Mescalero Apache and Pueblo communities. These communities were not informed about the test and were not evacuated. The fallout spread across the area, contaminating the region’s natural resources, causing ash to fall for days. As a result, they suffered multigenerational health problems, including high rates of cancer, birth defects, and other illnesses that are affecting generations.
Underground tests were conducted throughout the entire period, while atmospheric tests stopped in 1962. Atmospheric tests released large quantities of radioactive materials into the air. Wind blew the fallout to the surrounding communities, such as Duckwater. The fallout included a radioactive isotope of iodine, which, when ingested, collects in the thyroid gland. The radiation released from the decaying iodine isotope damages tissues, increasing the risk of cancer and birth defects among pregnant women.
In 1979, the Department of Energy launched the Off-site Radiation Exposure Review Project (ORERP) to reconstruct the dose exposure from radioactive fallout. This program was initiated to counter a growing public concern and lawsuits against the government. It also helped determine compensation and support to be given to affected communities. However, several studies demonstrate that the ORERP findings were inaccurate as they underestimated the dose of radiation to affected communities.
The dose review took into account the typical lifestyles of the majority of white communities. For instance, it made assumptions about beef and cow milk, leaving out the hunting of game, a major source of food. Therefore, the dose reconstruction for native populations did not provide sufficient acknowledgment of health defects and related compensation.
Radioactive materials from aboveground nuclear weapons detonation go up to 50 miles into the atmosphere. The heavier particles land near the test site, while lighter ones may travel into the upper atmosphere and circulate for years before settling back. The particles that fall back down to Earth are called fallout. Fallout from over 40 years of about a thousand nuclear tests in the Native American lands led to the release of radioactive particles. These include hundreds of long-lived isotopes such as Cesium-137 and Strontium-90, as well as short-lived isotopes such as Iodine-131, Americium-241, Carbon-14, and plutonium. Short-lived radionuclides such as Iodine-131 have half-lives ranging from a few minutes to a few days, while the half-life of long-lived particles is approximately 30 years.
When released to the environment, these substances affected human and animal life, causing a variety of cancers and other illnesses. Iodine-131 in particular affects the thyroid gland. The fallout from the 1950s and 1960s can still be detected in the affected Native American reservations. However, the analysis of air samples has shown risk levels far below regulatory limits as radionuclides in the atmosphere have largely decayed away.
The number and size of weapon testing increased in the late 1950s and early 1960s, leading to the signing of the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963 by the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. This treaty led to a reduction in the creation of atomic weapons. However, aboveground weapon testing ended in 1980.
During nuclear detonation, people, plants, and animals are exposed to the fallout. People and livestock may eat contaminated plants and drink contaminated water. Eating this livestock further exposes humans to radioactive contamination. When people inhale or ingest radionuclides, they interact with internal cells and tissues. They can change cellular or DNA structure, initiating the development of cancer.
RECA Compensation to Native American Communities
If you were affected by radiation related to uranium mining or atomic weapon detonations, you can file a RECA claim for compensation with the Department of Justice. Congress passed the RECA in 1990 to provide compensation to thousands of people affected by radiation as related to nuclear weapon creation. By 1990, 410 lung cancer deaths had occurred in the Colorado Plateau study group consisting of 4,100 miners. The normal number of lung cancer deaths that would have been expected from such a group is 75. About the same time, affected uranium workers and individuals living downwind of nuclear testing sites filed lawsuits against the government, which were dismissed based on the doctrine of sovereign immunity.
The Act provides a lump-sum compensation of $100,000 to affected uranium workers and downwinders or their survivors, if they meet certain eligibility requirements. For you to be considered for compensation, you must file a claim with the Department of Justice and prove that you meet the specified criteria. Required evidence includes a diagnosis report of a covered illness, as well as uranium employment or the required physical presence in an affected area.
RECA compensation for uranium workers
Uranium workers can claim RECA compensation for lung cancer, kidney cancer, chronic respiratory illnesses, and nonmalignant kidney problems. Uranium workers include uranium miners, millers, ore transporters, core drillers, and remediation workers of mines and mills across the country. Eligible uranium workers must have worked in mines and mills in the country for at least one year between January 1, 1942, and December 31, 1990.
RECA compensation for victims of nuclear weapons testing
For your claim to be compensated, you must prove that you suffer from a specified illness. Diseases compensated under the RECA for downwinder claimants include all types of Leukemia except chronic lymphocytic leukemia- the initial exposure must have occurred after the age of 20 and the onset of the disease at least 2 years after initial exposure. Other cancers are compensated if their onset was at least 5 years after the first exposure. They include multiple myeloma, lymphomas (other than Hodgkin’s disease), and primary cancer of the thyroid, male or female breast, esophagus, stomach, pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary gland, urinary bladder, brain, colon, ovary, liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated), or lung.
You must also prove that you lived in an affected area for at least 1 year during the following specified periods:
- January 21, 1951, to November 6, 1962
- June 30, 1962, to July 31, 1962
- September 24, 1944, to November 6, 1962
Affected areas include the following states and regions:
- States of New Mexico, Utah, and Idaho
- Certain counties in the State of Nevada, including White Pine, Nye, Lander, Lincoln, Eureka, and that portion of Clark County that consists of townships 13 through 16 at ranges 63 through 71
- State of Arizona: the counties of Coconino, Yavapai, Navajo, Apache, Gila, and Mohave
Final Thoughts
As of July 2024, over $1B was paid out in compensation to affected downwinders, and approximately $700M was paid to affected uranium workers. The deadline for filing a RECA claim is December 31st, 2027. Contact our RECA lawyer, Hugh Stephens, on his cell phone at (716) 208 3525 for a free case evaluation if you think you or a loved one is eligible for compensation. You may also qualify if your loved one died of a covered illness following radiation exposure as a uranium worker or as a downwinder. Our fees are defined by the RECA, i.e., 2% for claims accepted at the initial filing and 10% if your claim is approved after a denial. We only charge you if your claim is approved.