According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, "nearly 30 million tons of uranium ore were extracted from Navajo lands" between 1944 and 1986, leaving over 500 abandoned uranium mines on Navajo Nation. The Diné people were hired to work in these mines and a lot of them lived within a dangerous proximity to these sites. The problem with uranium mines is that it’s not just a hole in the ground and with transportation trucks but a much larger production of several locations of processing facilities stretching across acres of land. Working with Uranium is extremely dangerous and continuous exposure can be lethal.
The Review of Worldwide Practices for Disposal of Uranium Mill Tailings by the Australian Government states that the potential environmental and health hazards that may arise from dispersal of, or public exposure to, uranium tailings are:
- Gamma radiation (ionizing radiation)
- Contamination of food and water by dust and particulate matter
- Contamination of ground and surface water
- Radioactive gas
- Physical impact in waterways and on vegetation
- Products of acid rock drainage in ground and surface waters