Church Rock uranium mill spill

The Church Rock uranium mill spill occurred in the U.S. state of <a href="/facts/New_Mexico/wosJCGaW">New Mexico</a> on July 16, 1979, when <a href="/facts/United_Nuclear_Corporation/SGKFClSS">United Nuclear Corporation</a>'s <a href="/facts/Tailings/g7TtDIJR">tailings</a> disposal pond at its <a href="/facts/Uranium_mining/PtNQDk6L">uranium mill</a> in <a href="/facts/Church_Rock%2c_New_Mexico/R0bQ3rYr">Church Rock</a> breached its dam. The spill remains the largest release of radioactive material in U.S. history, having released more radioactivity than the <a href="/facts/Three_Mile_Island_accident/TWPp30Iq">Three Mile Island accident</a> four months earlier.
The mill, which operated from June 1977 to May 1982, was located on privately owned land about 17 miles (27 km) northeast of <a href="/facts/Gallup%2c_New_Mexico/70cIjcvh">Gallup, New Mexico</a>, and was bordered to the north and southwest by Navajo Nation Tribal Trust lands. The milling of <a href="/facts/Uranium_ore/SK1PlbP1">uranium ore</a> produced an acidic slurry of ground waste rock and fluid (tailings) that was pumped to the tailings disposal area. The breach released more than 1,100 short tons (1,000 t) of solid <a href="/facts/Radioactive_waste/MjYh5tlu">radioactive mill waste</a> and 94 million US gallons (360,000 m3) of acidic, radioactive tailings solution into the <a href="/facts/Puerco_River/9oCutbd1">Puerco River</a> through Pipeline Arroyo. An estimated 1.36 short tons (1.23 t) of uranium and 46 <a href="/facts/Curie_(unit)/LeS60aVv">curies</a> of <a href="/facts/Alpha_radiation/rCsHNIUE">alpha</a> contaminants traveled 80 miles (130 km) downstream to <a href="/facts/Navajo_County%2c_Arizona/NLWM3402">Navajo County, Arizona</a>, and onto the <a href="/facts/Navajo_Nation/YQ3R7k1o">Navajo Nation</a>. In addition to being radioactive and acidic, the spill contained toxic metals and sulfates. The spill contaminated <a href="/facts/Groundwater/JYM2IDS2">groundwater</a> and rendered the Puerco unusable to local residents, mostly Navajo peoples who used the river's water for drinking, irrigation, and livestock. They were not warned for days of the toxic dangers from the spill.
The <a href="/facts/Governor_of_New_Mexico/yxrQh0UV">governor of New Mexico</a>, <a href="/facts/Bruce_King/BTKbcIrq">Bruce King</a>, refused the Navajo Nation's request that the site be declared a <a href="/facts/Disaster_area/MHHEMPoL">federal disaster area</a>, limiting aid to affected residents. The nuclear contamination event received less media coverage than that of <a href="/facts/Three_Mile_Island_accident/TWPp30Iq">Three Mile Island</a>, possibly because it occurred in a very rural area not served by major media. The spill also happened in Native American country, among a community who reportedly did not have their concerns addressed by medical authorities.
In 2003, the Church Rock <a href="/facts/Chapter_house_(Navajo_Nation)/rBAoQ4Pk">Chapter</a> of the Navajo Nation began the Church Rock Uranium Monitoring Project to assess environmental impacts of abandoned uranium mines; it found significant radiation from both <a href="/facts/Background_radiation/LEBeDkGg">natural</a> and mining sources in the area. As of 2016, the EPA <a href="/facts/National_Priorities_List/Klf06qmh">National Priorities List</a> included the Church Rock tailings storage site, where "groundwater migration is not under control."

Church Rock uranium mill spill open-in-new

Church Rock uranium mill spill