LUKACHUKAI, Ariz. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed plans this week to include the Lukachukai Mountains Mining District, located on Navajo Nation, on the Superfund National Priorities List. This move aims to safeguard public health by addressing contamination risks posed by the site, joining other areas deemed crucial for environmental and human health protection.
The EPA is adding five sites and proposing to add three sites to the Superfund National Priorities List. The NPL is a list of known sites throughout the United States and its territories where historic releases of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants pose significant threats to human health and the environment.
“This is historic for the Navajo communities of Cove, Lukachukai, and Round Rock, and the whole Navajo Nation,” said Cove Chapter President James Benally. “It’s reassuring to know the Superfund designation will expand the remediation of the abandoned uranium mine sites on our sacred mountain. We fully support the NPL listing, on behalf, our grandchildren, and generations to come, and the environment.”
Updating the National Priorities List is a critical component of EPA's approach to protecting human health and the environment from contamination, including in communities overburdened by disproportionate environmental impacts, according to EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan.
“Cleaning up contaminated land and groundwater and returning them for productive use to communities, especially those which have borne the brunt of legacy pollution, is a win for public health and local economies,” he said.
The Lukachukai Mountains Mining District is one of five sites added to the National Priorities List and is located in communities historically overburdened by pollution. The site raises potential environmental justice concerns based on income, demographic, education, linguistic, and life expectancy data. By taking action to add this site to the National Priorities List, EPA is working to protect communities in the greatest need.
The Lukachukai Mountains Mining District (LMMD) site is located primarily in the remote Cove, Round Rock, and Lukachukai Chapters of the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona. The site includes a hundred mine waste piles from former uranium and vanadium mines. Waste from these piles contains radium 226, uranium and other metals. The waste has migrated downstream in washes and surface water and may have impacted groundwater. Many Navajo families reside on the Lukachukai Mountains and use the land for livestock grazing, recreation, and hunting. It is a sacred area of the Navajo Nation, providing plants for traditional medicinal and ceremonial uses. The mountains provide habitat for several sensitive species, including the federally threatened Mexican spotted owl.
“Adding the Lukachukai District to the National Priorities List is a significant milestone in EPA's work to address uranium contamination on the Navajo Nation,” said EPA Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “The District’s cleanup will now be eligible for federal funding through the Superfund program, enabling EPA to provide additional resources to protect the health of the Navajo people.”
President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has invested $3.5 billion to accelerate EPA’s work to clean up NPL sites. The law also reinstated the Superfund chemical excise taxes to help clean up such sites, making it one of the largest investments in American history to address legacy pollution. Due to this historic funding, EPA has been able to provide as much funding for site cleanup work in the past two years as it did in the previous five years.
National Priorities List
The National Priorities List includes sites with the nation’s most serious uncontrolled or abandoned releases of contamination. This list serves as the basis for prioritizing EPA Superfund cleanup funding and enforcement actions. Only releases at non-federal sites included on the National Priorities List are eligible to receive federal funding for long-term, permanent cleanup.
Before EPA adds a site to the National Priorities List, a site must meet EPA’s requirements and be proposed for addition to the list in the Federal Register, subject to a 60-day public comment period. EPA may add the site to the National Priorities List if it continues to meet the listing requirements after the public comment period closes and the agency has responded to any comments.
Superfund cleanups provide health and economic benefits to communities. The program is credited for significant reductions in both birth defects and blood-lead levels among children living near sites, and research has shown residential property values increase up to 24 percent within three miles of sites after cleanup.
More information about Navajo Nation uranium mine cleanup can be found at: epa.gov/navajo-nation-uranium-cleanup.
Information provided by the EPA.
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