Lujan Grisham, Arizona governor push federal government to address uranium mine contamination

Apr. 9—Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and her counterpart in Arizona are calling on the federal government to be more proactive in the cleanup of hundreds of abandoned uranium mines, including by providing financial assistance and identifying a single point of contact to streamline the process.

Lujan Grisham and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs asked Brenda Mallory, chairwoman of the Council on Environmental Quality, in a letter Tuesday to identify an "operational lead" to collaborate with the two states and tribal communities on strategic decisions that involve multiple federal executive agencies.

"The lack of a single point of contact at the federal level means states are coordinating with multiple agencies and agency regions, which impedes the decisive action needed to bring meaningful change to these communities," they wrote. "In turn, our states will do the same, identifying a single point of contact for all executive agencies in our states to work with the federal government and Tribal leaders toward swift action on this longstanding injustice."

Lujan Grisham said in a statement a new governance structure "is needed to bring rapid and transformative changes to communities that have suffered for decades from abandoned uranium mining sites.

"New Mexico is committed to nimble decision-making while ensuring safe cleanup and disposal of these legacy wastes," she said.

New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney said in an interview "there are probably dozens of jurisdictions" involved in decision-making at the federal level.

"There is so much goodwill that has translated into so much bureaucracy that we are asking the federal government to appoint a single decision-maker," he said, noting New Mexico and Arizona plan to take the same approach.

"Those are three decision-makers, along with tribal leadership, as opposed to dozens and dozens and dozens of decision-makers," which would "make it as easy as possible to do as much work as possible," he said.

The letter states New Mexico and Arizona have more than 650 abandoned uranium mines combined but no funding for cleanup.

"Our country has a long history of uranium mining in support of national interests, especially national security, which is why it is incumbent upon the federal government to financially assist with clean-up," the letter states.

There is no federal program for cleaning up abandoned uranium mines, which "have posed significant and ongoing environmental risk to our residents for far too long," the governors' letter states.

"To address longstanding legacy uranium mining impacts and pollution, we must bring appropriate national attention to the issue and undertake a full and complete cleanup and restoration of our land and water," it says.

Kenney said there are Navajos who can trace their lineage back to people who died of cancers connected to the mines.

"The generational health issues that families have faced is a cause of action that we're finally moving to addressing," he said. "In order for us to go forward as a state, we really do have to acknowledge the past and for too long, the past has not been acknowledged."

Kenney said it wasn't until the Lujan Grisham administration that the state inventoried the more than 250 abandoned uranium mines across New Mexico and hired a uranium mining coordinator. His department, along with the Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, created an interactive dashboard on the reclamation status of formerly operating uranium mine and mill sites across New Mexico.

"I think the work we've done finally gets to the point that we can acknowledge the past but do something meaningful about it going forward in this moment we're in right now," he said.

The governors' letter estimates cleaning up abandoned uranium mines will require billions of dollars over the coming decades, which it calls an investment that will create jobs while improving public health and the environment.

"We have to pay for it as states, and we have to pay for it as the federal government," Kenney said.

The Navajo were "promised generational changes in terms of wealth and what they got was generational changes in terms of health, and this is the moment that the feds, along with our two states, can right the wrongs by investing in remediation and making people whole, finally," he said.

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.