The Environmental Protection Agency is working with the Navajo Nation to identify and clean up uranium sites on the reservation.

Of the 113 structures tested so far, 27 contained high levels of radiation. The EPA has spent nearly $8 million to replace the homes for the families affected.

"In these situations, you have contamination in somebody’s yard or in their house," Harry Allen, an EPA emergency response official, told The New York Times. "To us, that is somewhat urgent."

The contamination comes from uranium mines on the reservation. The tribe has outlawed the practice, citing negative impacts on the health of its members and the environment.

Get the Story:
Uranium Contamination Haunts Navajo Country (The New York Times 7/27)

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