CHURCH ROCK URANIUM MILL SPILL

Church Rock, NM
July 16, 1979

American Journal of Public Health
Volume 97, Issue 9
Sep 2007, Pages 1540-1717

In 1968, 27 km northeast of the city of Gallup in the town of Church Rock, NM (a rural chapter, as the towns of the Navajo Nation are known), United Nuclear Corporation began mining the largest underground uranium mine in the United States.28 Residents in proximity to the mine site area were almost entirely Navajo and relied on the nearby Puerco River as a watering source for their livestock.29 In addition, local medicine men derived remedies from the native plants that grew along the riverbank, and children played in the river during hot summer months.30

Less than 10 years after the initiation of mining, United Nuclear Corporation was licensed by the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Division to operate the Church Rock Mill, which enabled the company to produce more than 2 million pounds of uranium oxide (U3O8) annually—enough to supply annual reload fuel to approximately 5 nuclear power plants. The mill and disposal complex were in an area used primarily for livestock grazing and employed more than 200 Navajo workers.28

Wastes from the ore extraction process, consisting of wet sand and mill liquids, were disposed of in 3 lined lagoons.30,31 Earthen dikes separated each cell and a 50- to 75-foot-high earthen impoundment surrounded the complex. This earthen dam had been identified by United Nuclear Corporation’s own consultant, in addition to state and federal agencies, as being built on geologically unsound land. According to these groups, the soil under the dam was susceptible to extreme settling that was likely to cause cracking and structure failure. In fact, large cracks were observed on the dam in 1977, but were not reported to the appropriate authorities.28

In the early morning hours of July 16, 1979, less than 4 months after the highly publicized release at Three Mile Island,32 the earthen dam at Church Rock Mill failed (Table 1). The amount of radiation released at United Nuclear Corporation was larger than the release at Three Mile Island. The 6-m-wide dam breach sent approximately 1100 tons of radioactive mill waste and 95 million gallons of mine process effluent down Pipeline Arroyo and into the North Fork of the Puerco River.33 This tremendous flow of water backed up sewers, affected 2 nearby aquifers, left pools along the river, and transported contaminants 130 km downstream to a point near Navajo, Arizona.34

A United Nuclear Corporation employee identified the dam breach around 6:00 am, at which time discharge to the disposal complex was suspended. A temporary dike was constructed in front of the breach, which stopped the flow of residual tailings by 8:00 am. United Nuclear Corporation contacted the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Division, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Gallup city officials were contacted, and news of the spill was broadcast on local radio stations. In accordance with a state contingency plan, Navajo employees of United Nuclear Corporation were dispatched to personally notify Navajo-speaking residents downstream.28

Within weeks, signs were posted in New Mexico and Arizona that warned against the use of water for human or livestock consumption. Water, soil, and air samples were taken and revealed a spike in radioactivity immediately following the spill, followed by a rapid decline attributed to evaporation of spill liquids and heavy precipitation in August and October of 1979.28,30 Some contaminated water wells were closed by the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Division, which prompted United Nuclear Corporation to supply bottled water and to dig new wells for livestock watering. Local veterinarians and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that sheep and goats that ingested water from the Puerco had elevated levels of radiation in their tissues.29 Six Navajo individuals were sent to Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in attempts to address human exposure to radionuclides from the spill. Test results demonstrated no acute effects in these individuals, and it was reported 7 months later in a local newspaper that there was no significant danger to human health from the spill.30

In August 1979, the chairman of the Navajo Tribal Council’s Emergency Services Coordinating Committee sent a telegram to the Governor of New Mexico requesting that he declare a state of emergency and that McKinley County be declared a disaster area. The request was denied.30 It was the first of many denials for assistance, which resulted in significant downplay of a nuclear release.

United Nuclear Corporation manually removed 3500 tons of sediment from the Puerco River to a distance of 16 km downstream, estimated as only 1% of the spill material.28 It was projected that the company was losing more than $200 000 per day in yellowcake production while milling was suspended. In his testimony to Congress on October 22, 1979, David J. Hann, the executive vice president and chief operating officer of United Nuclear Corporation, expressed his concern about the denial of permission to reopen the Church Rock Mill facility and stated that continued delay “will force us to reduce our workforce substantially, resulting in severe hardship to the local community.”28 Less than 2 weeks later, on November 2, 1979, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission permitted United Nuclear Corporation to resume operation with discharge allowed into the central tailings cell and burrow pits (unlined ponds),29 a process that led to widespread groundwater contamination and placed the United Nuclear Corporation Church Rock Mill on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List in 1983.31 In 1982, United Nuclear Corporation announced temporary closure of the mill because of depressed uranium market conditions, and it never reopened.32

Loss of jobs to the Navajo people would be only 1 of many consequences. It is still unclear how many individuals suffered adverse health effects from the Church Rock spill. With the exception of the 6-person human exposure assessment carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,33 the various exposure pathways and related human health outcomes associated with this spill have yet to be characterized. The Centers for Disease Control study addressed only inhalation of suspended tailings and ingestion of livestock, ruling out other exposure pathways such as consumption of vegetables, ingestion of river water or groundwater, and inadvertent ingestion of contaminated sediment. This assessment failed to incorporate not only all potential exposures but also radiation types.34 A number of subsequent studies carried out in the Puerco River basin have identified contaminated groundwater from the spill as well as downstream transport and deposition of radionuclides from the Pipeline Arroyo areas, suggesting that exposure will continue to occur through these pathways in the future.3537

Like Sequoyah Fuels Corporation, the Church Rock spill occurred in a low-income, rural, American Indian area, albeit closer to a substantial secondary city, Gallup, NM, which has large Hispanic and White populations. Because the spill happened in the immediate aftermath of nationwide coverage of the Three Mile Island release, the muted coverage and response is particularly striking. It is not clear that there was acute harm from the Church Rock spill, so like Three Mile Island, the main concern is the development of disease over time after exposure. Compared with Sequoyah Fuels Corporation, the Church Rock spill contained more radioactivity because the tailings included radium, thorium, and other uranium decay products that have relatively high specific activities. In contrast to Three Mile Island, the population near Church Rock was already chronically exposed to uranium mine and mill waste through both occupational and environmental routes and continues to be exposed today.38

A series of local struggles and public health studies have refocused local attention on the Church Rock area as well as the entire Eastern Navajo area. The struggles revolve around proposals to restart uranium mining with in situ leach methods. In response, the Navajo Nation voted to ban all uranium mining, a resolution that is currently being challenged by mining companies.39 The studies are community based and involve a collaboration among Eastern Navajo communities, the Southwest Research and Information Center, the University of New Mexico, and others. The focus of research is the health impact of environmental uranium exposure (oral communication, J. Lewis, PhD, University of New Mexico, and C. Shuey, MPH, Southwest Research and Information Center, March–June 2006). Source: Doug Brugge, Jamie L. deLemos, and Cat Bui:The Sequoyah Corporation Fuels Release and the Church Rock Spill: Unpublicized Nuclear Releases in American Indian CommunitiesAmerican Journal of Public Health 97, 1595_1600, https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2006.103044


Larry King, pictured seated at his kitchen table, was working at the uranium mill when United Nuclear Corporation’s tailings pond in Church Rock breached its dam and 94 million gallons of toxic waste leaked into the Puerco River which runs along his family’s property line. This was the largest uranium tailings spill in recorded U.S. history. Communities living along the Puerco River and surrounding areas have lost loved ones, livestock, and access to clean water. There have been no studies on the health impacts, and those impacted have not received any form of compensation. Uranium miners, who were exposed to radiation and developed cancer after the Federal Government's uranium procurement for atomic weapons ended in 1971, are currently not eligible to receive benefits from the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act.

The following slideshow of images serves as my visual exploration of the environmental scars left behind by uranium extraction, such as contaminated water sources, abandoned mine sites, and devastated ecosystems. The images also highlight the resilience of the Navajo Nation and other Indigenous communities facing these enduring legacies.

Through this work, I explore who is responsible for cleaning up these toxic legacies and advocate for accountability. My photos are a blend of storytelling and activism, creating space for the resilience of those most affected while mapping the ongoing struggle for justice and environmental healing.

Using Format