LETTER
FROM US EPA REGION IX TO ELSIE MAE BEGAY
(The
US EPA tested for radiation at Elsie's homesite in January, 2000. She received
this letter nine months later after submitting a formal written request
under the Freedom of Information Act.)
September
5th, 2000
This letter
is in reference to Jeff Spitz's inquiry regarding the potential health
hazards associated with the hogan located near your home and who could
provide you with medical advice and screening.
When EPA performed
a radiation survey on your property in January 2000, we detected radiation
levels in the hogan near your home which far exceded EPA cleanup levels
Our current policy is to clean up sites to approximately 2 microrem per
hour (uR/hr) above background radiation levels, which are estimated to
range from 8 to 12 uR/hr in your area. In other words, we would consider
10 to 14 uR/hr to be an acceptable level. The levels that we measured in
the stone-floor hogan near your home ranged from 800 to 1,000 uR/hr. Given
that, we recommend that people stay out of that hogan. We also recommend
that the hogan be removed frcm the area so that no one is exposed to those
levels of radiaton. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) would
be able to remove the hogan if we receive such a request from you and the
Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency.
The best way
to obtain medical advice and screening would be to talk with your doctor
and with Indian Health Services (IHS). It is our understanding that Dr.
Susie John, who is with IHS in Tuba City, is knowledgeable about health
effects related to radiation exposure. Dr. John can be reached at (***)
***-2826. Also, you should know that your doctor can obtain information
from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) located
in San Francisco. The contact with ATSDR is Bill Nelson at (***) ***-2194.
If we can provide
you with additional information or if you have any questions, please feel
free to call me at (***) ***-2384 or Andy Bain at (***) ***-2l86.
Sincerely,
Sean P. Hogan,Chief
Private
Site/Dept. of
Energy Section
| YOU
CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Elsie's
situation is not unique in the Southwest. There are many Native and non-Native
families who live near abandoned uranium mines. They are not covered by
the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act which currently includes the following
individuals....uranium miners, millers, transporters, on-site atomic test
observers, downwind communities (including Monument Valley, Utah)
If
you would like information about current organizing efforts focusing on
the health concerns of families living near abandoned uranium mines, email
your comments or questions to this site.
If
you would like to make a contribution to Elsie and her family, please make
your check payable to her and send it to her directly at the address below.
THANK YOU.
Elsie
Mae Begay
PO
Box 360080
Monument
Valley, UT 84536 |
|
|
THE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HAS APPROVED BERNIE CLY'S CLAIM FOR COMPENSATION.
BUT THERE IS A CATCH...
Instead
Of $100,000, Radiation Victims Get IOUs
Former
uranium miners who qualify for federal payments to compensate for radiation-related
illnesses instead are getting IOUs (= I owe you) from the government. Several
former miners recently received letters saying they qualified for $100,000
payments each, but the money is not available now.
(Albuquerque
Journal, Aug. 15, 2000)
The
Justice Department has 242 approved but unfunded claims from former miners
or their families. They have waited for months, some since May, for the
government to fulfill promised, compassionate $100,000 payments - payments
that Congress has since boosted to $150,000. (The Daily Sentinel, December
10, 2000)
click
links to see
Petition Letter for IOU holders
IOU from Government
REP.
KENNEDY TO VISIT URANIUM SITES
Larry
Di Giovanni
Staff
Writer
WINDOW
ROCK - The itinerary has changed, but a Rhode Island congressman, one from
the Kennedy clan, is scheduled today to visit some abandoned and unremediated
Navajo uranium mines.
Weather
has changed the travel schedule for the visit of Patrick Kennedy, an environmental
advocate and Clean Air Act supporter who is another in a long line of Kennedy
Democrats. A small tribal passenger plane was scheduled to leave at 7:30
a.m. today from Window Rock airport, then rendez-vous with Kennedy in Kingman,
Ariz.
From
there, Kennedy was to board the tribal plane and fly with Navajo EPA Director
Derrith Watchman Moore and a small group to Kayenta, Ariz.
A
motorcade will take the entourage to the Monument Valley and Oljato Chapter
areas, where uranium mining fourished.
The
trip is expected to conclude around 5 p.m...
