ANTI-URANIUM MAPPING PROJECT

The Anti-Uranium Mapping Project

Church Rock Uranium Mill Spill of 1979

Navigating through the virtual landscape of Google Earth, trying to find my aunt's house on the Navajo Nation after 15 years away, I toggled through aerial views of highways from memory. What I discovered wasn’t just the path home to my family, but a nearby scar marring the landscape—a coal mine, stark against the backdrop of my heritage. This jarring encounter was the catalyst for the Anti-Uranium Mapping Project, born out of a quest for connection and a shocking revelation. So began my journey to expose the hidden truths of extractive mining practices and to confront the devastating aftermath of uranium mining through photography, interviews, and an online interactive mapping project.

The Anti-Uranium Mapping Project’s first narrative series focuses on the largest release of radioactive waste in United States history, The Church Rock Uranium Mill Spill of 1979, revealing the long-term impacts of unchecked corporations on Indigenous communities. Located on the Navajo Reservation, the United Nuclear Corporation operated one of the largest uranium mines in the U.S. in 1968, where toxic waste was stored in unstable tailings ponds. In July of 1979, one of the tailings dams breached, releasing 1,100 tons of radioactive waste and 94 million gallons of contaminated water into the Puerco River. The spill, more radioactive than Three Mile Island, devastated the local Navajo population, whose health continues to be impacted today. Despite selective clean-up efforts, the legacy of contamination remains. This exhibition on Church Rock is just a glimpse into what indigenous communities face when mining corporations without proper regulations encroach on Native lands. 

The project’s objective extends beyond the dissemination of information; it aims to foster meaningful connections by integrating Impact Storytelling and Counter Mapping. Impact Storytelling, which operates at the intersection of arts, culture, advocacy, and media, is designed to drive social change. Counter Mapping, meanwhile, empowers communities to produce their own maps, challenging the narratives created by state, administrative, or corporate entities. Together, these tools offer a dynamic platform for groups to contest imposed narratives and amplify representation in the fight against spatial injustices, particularly concerning legal claims to land and resources threatened by state or corporate exploitation.