#PBSNewsHour video from 2022: Residents in the #Southwest struggle with the health effects of #NuclearOre extraction

By Stephanie Sy, Lena I. Jackson, and Frank Carlson
Aug 8, 2022 6:30 PM EST

"Residents of the Southwest including many #IndigenousPeople have for years been exposed to high levels of radiation from #uranium extraction and refining, a toxic legacy from the #ColdWar's weapons program and nuclear power generation. Stephanie Sy reports in partnership with investigative news outlet ProPublica on a community’s fight for survival and to hold a company and government accountable."

Watch:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/residents-in-the-southwest-struggle-with-the-health-effects-of-nuclear-ore-extraction
#EnvironmentalRacism #NoUraniumMining #UraniumProcessing #NoNukes #NoWar #NoNuclearWar #NuclearWeapons #Genocide #Dine #NukingTheNavajo #RadiationExposure

#Billiman matriarch, niece remain strong in face of adverse health conditions caused by #RadiationExposure

By Donovan Quintero | Jan 9, 2025 |

WINDOW ROCK – "Since September, when she traveled to Washington, D.C., to tell House Speaker Mike Johnson to renew the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (#RECA), Maggie Billiman has had her gallbladder removed.

"Now she is awaiting more possibly devastating news about her liver. And if that wasn’t enough bad news, she said she was also told she has three cysts on her pancreas.

"'I just had surgery and I’m still in a lot of pain,' she said on Dec. 26, referring to her gallbladder removal surgery.

"A #downwinder victim, Billiman, and about 30 others from the #NavajoNation, #Laguna, and #AcomaPueblo tribes traveled to Washington, D.C., in September to advocate for the passage of Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s RECA legislation.

"For 17 years, from 1945 and 1962, the U.S. conducted nearly 200 atmospheric nuclear weapons development tests. Atmospheric nuclear tests are when nuclear bombs are exploded in the air, instead of underground or underwater.

"At the heart of the bombs involved #UraniumMining and [#UraniumProcessing], which was performed by tens of thousands of workers, like Maggie’s father.

"Maggie’s father, a member of the legendary Navajo Code Talkers Howard Billiman Sr., worked in the #UraniumMines.

"'My dad had died of stomach cancer, he was one of the #NavajoCodeTalkers, and he passed away,' she said.

"Her father worked at the #KennecottMine in Utah. He also worked at the #KingmanMine in Arizona in the 1950s through the 1960s, Maggie said.

"After the tests ended in 1962, many of the uranium miners and process workers initiated class action lawsuits claiming exposure to known radiation hazards."

Read more:
https://navajotimes.com/reznews/billiman-matriarch-niece-remain-strong-in-face-of-adverse-health-conditions-caused-by-radiation-exposure/
#NoNukes #NoWar #Downwinders #NukingTheNavajo #Dine #LagunaPueblo #Genocide #EnvironmentalRacism #NoUraniumMining #NoMiningWithoutConsent #HaulNo