Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy meets with Navajo Nation Council Speaker LoRenzo Bates, far right, President Russell Begaye, Vice President Jonathan Nez and Attorney General Ethel Branch in Shiprock, New Mexico, on August 12, 2015. Photo from Navajo Nation Council / Facebook

Two leaders of the Navajo Nation will testify at a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs field hearing on Friday.

President Russell Begaye and Navajo Nation Council Speaker LoRenzo Bates will discuss the Environmental Protection Agency and its response to the Gold King Mine disaster. Farmers and ranchers on the reservation were cut off from their water supplies due to pollution from the August 2015 spill.

“One issue that requires immediate attention is the compensation of farmers, livestock owners, and many other individual Navajo people who continue to be subjected to financial losses due to the spill,” Bates said in a press release. “Nearly nine months have passed since the spill occurred and not one single farmer, livestock owner, or others affected by the spill have been compensated for their losses.”

The hearing takes place at city council chambers in Phoenix. A live stream won't be available but the committee plans to post a video of the hearing on its website.

The witness list follows:

Panel I
The Honorable Ann Kirkpatrick
Representative – Arizona 1st District, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Panel II
By Subpoena: The Honorable Gina McCarthy
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.

OR

By Subpoena: The Honorable Mathy Stanislaus
Assistant Administrator, Office of Land and Emergency Management, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.

The Honorable Russell Begaye
President, Navajo Nation, Window Rock, AZ

The Honorable Herman G. Honanie
Chairman, The Hopi Tribe, Kykotsmovi, AZ

The Honorable Lorenzo Bates
Speaker, Navajo Nation Council, Window Rock, AZ

Clark Lantz, Ph.D.
Professor and Associate Head of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Committee Notice:
Field Oversight Hearing on “Examining EPA’s Unacceptable Response to Indian Tribes" (April 22, 2016)

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