Gallup and Church Rock, N.M. —The public is invited to two important events Saturday, July 16 to learn more about New Mexico’s unique position in the nuclear fuel cycle and acknowledge some of the painful history.  July 16 is significant for many reasons including the fact that the nuclear age was ushered in with the world’s first atomic detonation at Trinity Site on July 16, 1945.

The first event, the “Uranium Legacy Remembrance Day” takes place outside of Church Rock at the largest radioactive spill site in U.S. history. “Making Waves,” the second event, will be held in the Calvin Hall on the Gallup campus of the University of New Mexico.

“In response to many things including the Las Conchas fire burning on and around the Los Alamos National Laboratory now, the 66th anniversary of the Trinity Site, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March and the 32nd anniversary of the Church Rock disaster (which also occurred on July 16), our community is organizing these two important events,” says Nadine Padilla, Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE). “The dangers of all things nuclear are forefront on minds worldwide. I’d like to thank Leona Morgan, Mike Butler, Teddy Nez, Robert Tohe and everyone involved for organizing these events. I hope the public can join us to learn more about these critical issues and help us find ways to protect our land and people from toxic uranium mining.”

URANIUM REMEMBRANCE DAY
Thirty two years ago onJuly 16, 1979 United Nuclear Corporation’s dam broke,in what is now known as the Church Rock disaster. More than 93 million gallons of liquid toxic waste were released into the Puerco River in Church Rock, N .M. Thousands of residents live with the lasting effects from this radioactive spill to this day. Teddy Nez and the Red Water Pond RoadAssociation have been working on remediation and healing from this catastrophe since that time.

In light of the renewed interest of uranium mining, the fires around Los Alamos and the recent disaster in Japan, the organizers felt it is especially important to host the event this year. The health effects of past mining and the Church Rock disaster will be remembered for many generations and is something the community is dealing with to this day. There has been no uranium waste clean-up in the past 40 years which impacts all of the areas around the spill including the Coyote Canyon, Standing Rock, Nahodishgish, Pinedale and Church Rock Chapters of the Navajo Nation.

Uranium Remembrance Day will start at 7 a.m. with a prayer at Teddy Nez’s home on Red Water Pond Road. People will then march to the site of the spill. Numerous elected officials and community leaders including Senator Lovejoy, Representative Ben Ray Luján and Clancy Tenley from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be speaking about the health and environmental effects of the uranium. The first commemorative march took place in 2009 on the 30th Anniversary of the spill. That event ended with a proclamation signing by the President of the Navajo Nation Joe Shirley reinstating the 2005 Diné Natural Resources Protection Act which bans uranium processing on the Navajo Nation.

MAKING WAVES
“Making Waves,” takes place Saturday, July 16, 5-7 p.m. at Calvin Hall on the UNM Gallup campus and will address t he full nuclear fuel cycle and the resulting radioactive contamination. The event is hosted by community leaders and residents from New Mexico and Arizona living near nuclear activities.

“We are organizing this event to educate the public about the dangers of uranium mining and nuclear industry in the Southwest,” says Leona Morgan, co-organizer of the event and the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining Coordinator. “New Mexico holds an important and unique place in the nuclear fuel cycle. Unfortunately the nuclear industry has wreaked havoc on Southwestern communities; from weapons development and storage to uranium mining, milling,enrichment and disposal for more than 60 years. There are hundreds of families in New Mexico who have suffered health and environmental effects from the nuclear cycle and nuclear proliferation.”

New Mexico is home to Los Alamos National Labs, Sandia National Labs, Uranium Enrichment Plant (URENCO), Kirtland Air Force Base (AFB), Holloman AFB, Cannon AFB, the Trinity Site, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Project. In addition, there are numerous active and abandoned uranium mines and mills in all Four Corners states; New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

“Making Waves” will include screenings of short films and a panel discussion. Panelists include Robert Tohe from the Sierra Club’s Environmental Justice (EJ) office and Laura Watchempino from the Pueblo of Acoma. Tohe’s department works with tribes and community groups to protect their resources from contamination. Watchempino has worked for her tribe protecting and managing tribal water resources. She served as attorney for Indian Pueblo Legal Services in New Mexico in the 1980s and is currently working on the designation of nuclear free zones to combat the proliferation of the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mining and processing to the long-term disposal of the toxic radioactive wastes generated. Watchempino states that every part of the cycle poses dangers to the surrounding water, air, soil, human health and other life forms.

Organizers of these events are currently addressing requests for permits for uranium mining in and around the Grants mineral belt and stand united that they should not be granted in the aftermath of the health and environmental devastation in New Mexico. These groups are committed to see the United States transition from dirty and unsafe energy sources into renewable energy and embrace a clean and safe future.

These events are organized by members of the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment. www.masecoalition.org

WHAT: Uranium Remembrance Day
WHERE: 29E Red Water Pond Road, (.5 miles west off end of. Rt. 566, 11.5 miles north of Church Rock)
WHEN: 7 a.m. Prayer; 8-10 a.m. March to site; 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Program
INFO: Teddy Nez, 505-879-2910, tntnez@yahoo.com

WHAT: Making Waves
WHERE: Calvin Hall, University of New Mexico – Gallup 705 Gurley Ave. Gallup, NM 87301
WHEN: Saturday, July 16, 2011, 5-7 p.m.
INFO: Leona Morgan, 505-879-8547, leona.morgan@yahoo.com

INTERVIEWS AND IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

CONTACT:
Jennifer Marshall, 505-231-1776
jennifer@jmarshallplan.com
www.jmarshallplan.com

You’re invited to learn more about the current uranium projects going on in the Four Corners area and to discover what you can do to protect our land, our water, our air, and our people.

The Making Waves event will feature two short films on environmental justice struggles in Japan and the Southwest, followed by a panel discussion with speakers from areas affected by the nuclear fuel chain.

see attached flier for more information

When: Saturday, July 16th
Where: Red Water Pond Road Community
0.5 miles West of the end of State Road 566, 11.5 miles North of rock
What: March from Red Water Pond Road to the site of the 1979 Uranium Tailings Spill 7-10 AM
Statements from elected officials and community groups and luncheon 10 AM
Screenings of short environmental justice films, followed by panel discussion Calvin Hall, UNM Gallup 5-7 PM

MAKING_WAVES_July16

Updates on the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico and a nuclear reactor plant threatened by flood waters in Nebraska.

After a dark legacy of radioactive contamination, plans to re-open uranium mines near sacred Native American lands raise fears for the environment and human health.

An open letter to President Obama is running in The New York Times today. The letter is a request to extend the mining claim moratorium in the Grand Canyon National Park and reads:

Dear President Obama:

Since the Grand Canyon received its first national protection under President Theodore Roosevelt, tens of millions of visitors have gazed in awe at its unspoiled beauty. But today this natural treasure it threatened. Thousands of uranium mining claims have been staked on national forest and other federal lands immediately surrounding the park, many within view of the canyon’s rim.

In 2009, your administration wisely called a two-year halt to these claims. But now you must decide whether to extend the moratorium for 20 years and, if so, how much of the land to set off limits. What hangs in the balance is not just the Grand Canyon’s splendor for future generations, but important wildlife habitat and the health of the Colorado River, which provides drinking water to millions.

Mr. President, please extend the mining claim moratorium and protect all 1 million acres of public land surrounding Grand Canyon National Park.

The ad is sponsored by the PEW Environment Group and signed by many public figures and environmental groups including actors Robert Redford and Edward Norton, filmmaker Ken Burns, Theodore Roosevelt IV, and former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. The letter also includes signatures from Jacqueline Johnson Pata, the executive director of the National Congress of American Indians and Richard Walema, Sr., vice-chairman for the Hualapi Tribal Council.

To see the ad in full, pick up a copy of today’s (Tuesday, June 7, 2011) New York Times or open the .pdf here:  060711 NYT Grand Canyon ad