Native American Miners Are The Forgotten Casualties Of The Cold War
For decades, Native American miners have worked the mines of the Colorado Plateau
. Soft, yellow uranium ore was drilled from the rock by the miners. This uranium was used to enrich the nuclear warheads that were later used to help win the Cold War in favor of America.Meanwhile, these American Indian miners have themselves become casualties of the Cold War as a result of their work. Many of them have died, or are dying, of cancer and other related diseases that results from being exposed to radiation in those mines. Many have lost family members and even those that have survived continue to fight for their life.
The arms of these miners are webbed with scars caused by dialysis. Many of the workers suffer from kidney failure, and being on dialysis is the required treatment. Workers were told the water in the mines was safe to drink, but science has since proven that it actually contained trace levels of radioactive materials.
1990 saw the passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act by the Congress. This law was created by the government to assist uranium miners and those who were affected directly by the uranium mining work that occurred during that time. It is important to remember that most of this work was strictly for the purpose of America's nuclear weapons program.
According to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, each underground uranium miner is given $100,000. The condition being that they experience one of six lung diseases linked to radiation exposure. While hundreds of miners have met all of the preconditions necessary to begin receiving payments, most have yet to see a single dime.
The act, as it was written, forces these miners to face conditions that are almost impossible to meet. One such requirement is that the paperwork required must be filled out in English. However, many of the Indian miners are illiterate in English and find the forms confusing.
At the Office of Navajo Uranium Workers, only 96 of the 242 Navajo miners who applied for compensation have received approval from the program. Since the law went into effect in 1990, the Justice Department has approved over 1300 claims from uranium miners. But that's only half the story - 1,316 claims have been rejected.
Another problem for many miners is that the government requires proof of constant exposure in the form of check stubs or similar documentation. Unfortunately, many of the miners have not retained these documents from the decades ago. In addition, it been shown that obtaining them through the authorities is also difficult.
The uranium mines first opened on and around the Navajo Indian Reservation in 1947. Jobs were scarce at that time so the new mine was a welcome opportunity for the residents of the reservation. People were happy to have the work despite the low wages and harsh conditions.
Radon is seen as one of the leading health hazards in the mines. This colourless, odourless radioactive gas occurred as uranium decayed. Most of the lung ailments which make miners eligible for compensation are thought to be caused by exposure to radon.
The current plan this fall is for former miners and tribal officials to lobby Congress to make changes in this compensation law to clear the way for these former miners to receive the payments due. The problem facing the government is that all Navajo miners think that they receive compensation not based on anything else but their work.
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