Community Involvement Plan: Cove Area Abandoned Uranium Mines
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COVE AREA ABANDONED URANIUM MINES COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT PLAN 2016 INTRODUCTION Navajo Nation was the site of widespread dialogue regarding EPA’s Cove Chapter activities uranium mining from 1944 to 1986. While is participatory, vibrant and meaningful. Tis uranium mining no longer occurs within Navajo document outlines specifc outreach activities Nation, the legacy of uranium contamination to address community concerns and to meet the remains. More than 500 abandoned uranium following goals in the Cove Chapter: mine (AUM) claims, as well as homes and drinking water sources with elevated levels of • Provide community members with accurate, radiation, are spread throughout Navajo Nation. timely and understandable information about Several of these AUM claims are located in EPA abandoned uranium mine activities the Cove Chapter, a remote and isolated area that is considerate to their communication surrounded by the Lukachukai and Carrizo preferences and culture. mountains in northeast Arizona. Te Cove • Coordinate with community members and community is part of a larger area the United tribal leaders to ensure that EPA understands States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) community concerns and considers calls the Northern AUM Region. Te Northern community goals in its decision-making Community meeting participants discuss sampling AUM Region is only a portion of Navajo Nation’s process. results with EPA. Northern Agency and includes Aneth, Red Mesa, • Work with consideration of Dine Fundamental Teec Nos Pos, Beclabito, Sweetwater, Shiprock, Law and Navajo traditional ways of life. EPA also requested the assistance of EPA’s Red Valley, Sanostee, Round Rock, Cove and Technical Assistance Services for Communities Lukachukai Chapters. To put this plan together, EPA and NNEPA (TASC) program during the interview process. conducted a series of interviews with community EPA requested the TASC program conduct Under the federal Superfund program, EPA is members, local tribal ofcials and other a Technical Assistance Needs Assessment working with Navajo Nation Environmental stakeholders in the Cove community from (TANA) to beter identify community needs Protection Agency (NNEPA) to oversee March 2015 to September 2015. EPA and related to beter understanding and participating uranium mine assessments and cleanups on NNEPA conducted interviews in individual in the cleanup process. TASC contractors Navajo Nation. Tis Community Involvement and group setings. Information from those assisted EPA with community meetings, Plan is a guide for community members and interviews, along with information from discussions and follow-up activities. TASC then EPA, to ensure that information sharing and EPA experiences in the community and from formulated recommendations, provided in this additional reports, were used to prepare this document’s appendices, based on technical Community Involvement Plan. assistance needs identifed during this process AUM: Abandoned that could be fulflled by EPA and other involved uranium mine entities, with support from the TASC program where appropriate. EPA and community member discuss location of past mining operations in the distance. Community Involvement Plan 2 View of Cove Valley from Buffalo Pass overlook on Route 13. 3 Cove Area Abandoned Uranium Mines COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT PLAN ORGANIZATION 5 THE COMMUNITY This section provides a brief community profile and identifies issues and concerns raised during the community interviews. 13 THE COMMUNITY This section explains EPA’s plan for addressing the issues INVOLVEMENT and concerns identified in the interviews, and outlines ACTION PLAN opportunities for community members to provide input during EPA’s process. 21 APPENDICES The appendices include information about: • EPA’s Superfund Process on Navajo Nation • Glossary • List of Acronyms • Technical Assistance Needs Assessment ADOBE STOCK IMAGE NOTICE Recommendations • Uranium and Radiation Resource List This document contains Adobe Stock images that may not be used elsewhere without permission from Adobe Stock. Readers may not access or download Adobe Stock images from this document for any purpose and must comply with Adobe Stock’s Terms of Use, which require users to obtain a license to the work. THE COMMUNITY COMMUNITY PROFILE Te Cove community is located in a remote and uranium collapsed in the mid-1960s, the mines Community Overview isolated area, surrounded by the Lukachukai and were abandoned, leaving behind radioactive Carrizo Mountains. Te Chapter House is about uranium waste rock debris and exposed Cove Chapter residents live near the Chapter 42 miles from U.S. Highway 491 and 10 miles protore (unenriched mineral material). EPA House or in rural locations. Many residents drive west of Red Valley, Arizona, on Navajo Route 33. in cooperation with NNEPA and the Cove long distances to reach stores and regulated water Te community is part of the larger Northern community is in the process of investigating hauling points. AUM Region, located on the eastern side of and eventually addressing the risk that the Cove Navajo Nation, which includes the areas of Mesa AUMs pose to the community. EPA is Some community members in the area own Navajo Nation roughly between Tsaile, Arizona, conducting these activities under authorities and graze sheep, catle and horses near their and White Mesa, Utah. Tis region includes 11 granted in the Comprehensive Environmental homesites and sheep camps. Most of the land Navajo Nation Chapters: Aneth, Red Mesa, Teec Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of in the area is used for grazing and farming, Nos Pos, Beclabito, Sweetwater, Shiprock, Red 1980 (CERCLA) 104(a), also known as the though to a lesser degree now than in the past, Valley, Sanostee, Round Rock and Lukachukai as Superfund law – removal actions in response due to various factors including concerns over well as Cove. to the release of a hazardous substance in the contamination. Various plants are also used for environment. medicinal and traditional purposes. Te Northern AUM Region is part of Navajo Nation’s larger Northern Agency. Te region lies within Navajo and Apache counties in Arizona, San Juan County in Utah, and San Juan and McKinley counties in New Mexico. Te Northern AUM Region borders other Navajo Nation Chapters as well parts of Colorado’s western and southern state lines. From the late 1940s through 1967, uranium ore near the Cove Mesa area was mined from the mesas and clif faces. Ore bodies at or near the surface were mined as open pits; buried ore bodies were mined through excavation into the mountainside. Afer the price of Navajo Nation Seal - Home of Cove Veterans. 5 Cove Area Abandoned Uranium Mines Cove Community Economics Vision Statement According to the Navajo Nation Division of Economic Development, most jobs on Navajo Our vision for the community Nation are in the government and service of Cove Chapter is simple. Cove sectors (including schools, hospitals, and hotels will be recognized as a safe and and motels). Additionally, many activities of desirable community that preserves the Navajo Nation economy are unreported, its uniqueness and special qualities such as selling arts & crafs or food at food stalls. consistent with our Navajo way of life. Regardless of whether unreported economic We cherish our people and the land activities are not considered in employment that we live on. We share a sense of calculations, the actual unemployment rate for place and take pride in our established the Navajo Nation is substantially higher than 2 and emerging family clustered the U.S. national average. homesteads. We are proud of our heritage and culture. While economic information is not collected specifcally for the Northern AUM Region, the Our community enjoys a rich fabric of government and service employment sectors valley and woodland areas, interwoven are visible in the region. Tourism is also a visible with environmental resources, grazing, part of the economy. Te region features the Welcome sign to the Cove area. open space and the vast mountains, Lukachukai and Carrizo Mountains as well as a all representing a heritage of natural desert landscape that includes mesas, arches and Te languages spoken in the Cove community beauty. Our Chapter house serves and sandstone outcrops. Bringing visitors to the area are primarily Navajo and English. According to ties together the entire community. is a major interest of the Cove Chapter. the 2009-2013 American Community Survey, Te Cove Chapter conducts meetings more than half of community members in Cove monthly to keep residents informed; Chapter (over 64 percent) speak a language residents have a forum to express Demographics other than English at home. Around a quarter their opinions to their Navajo Nation of community members in Cove (26 percent) Council Delegate or to decide on According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 430 people report speaking English “less than very well.” maters concerning their Chapter. live in Cove. Tose living in the community are primarily Native American – many Chapters in Our plan is nothing less than the the region have Native American populations COMMUNITY CONCERNS best of the past merged with the best that are above 95 percent. AND PREFERENCES of the future, creating a community where we can lead healthy productive To beter understand the community, its lives in harmony with our beliefs and culture and concerns, EPA and NNEPA environment. Tis vision holds true to interviewed community members, local ofcials 2 Navajo Nation Division