Energy firm to help Navajo Nation on uranium

An energy company that was in a right-of-way dispute with the Navajo Nation will now help the tribe seek the cleanup of uranium on the reservation.

El Paso Natural Gas Co. filed a lawsuit against the Department of Energy and other federal agencies to seek the cleanup of an old processing mill the company used the operate. The federal government was the sole customer of the mill, which the tribe says was never properly reclaimed.

El Paso also plans to lobby Congress for federal funds and to take action on two sites on the reservation where radioactive material has been found.

The Navajo Nation has banned uranium mining on the reservation and has been pressing the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up more than 1,000 uranium sites.

Get the Story:
Company joins Navajo fight for uranium cleanup (The Los Angeles Times 5/17)
pwday

Relevant Links:
Indigenous World Uranium Summit 2006 - http://www.sric.org/uraniumsummit
Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining - http://www.endaum.org

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