18. The Legacy of Uranium Mining and Nuclear on Indigenous Peoples Land

Leona Morgan (Diné/Navajo, she/her) is an indigenous community organizer and activist who has been fighting nuclear colonialism since 2007. Her work includes stopping: new uranium mining, transport of radioactive materials, and nuclear waste dumping in the Southwestern United States.

Uranium mining in New Mexico was a significant industry from the early 1950s until the early 1980s. New Mexico has the second largest identified uranium ore reserves of any state (after Wyoming). Although uranium has not been mined in the state since 1998, it left behind a legacy of contamination. New Mexican uranium miners and people nearby have had abnormally high rates of lung cancer, from radon gas in poorly ventilated underground mines, contaminated water, and other serious health effects.

The legacy of uranium in New Mexico, shows the decades of indifference from uranium companies and the federal government to the health and lives of people who’ve lived near uranium mines and mills. This deserves to be more widely known, especially the disproportionate effects on Indigenous populations and the communities that live in the region. And now New Mexicans are dealing with nuclear waste and storage in their communities.

With Leona we talk about her family history that brought her to this work, nuclear issues NM faces, uranium mining, what locals think about nuclear, and what she’s looking forward to in the future.

Contact and connect with Leona: leona.morgan.nm@gmail.com

Legacy of Uranium mining: https://nmindepth.com/2022/the-toxic-legacy-of-uranium-mining-in-new-mexico/

https://www.propublica.org/events/new-mexicos-death-map-uranium-and-nuclear-energy-in-the-us