From Deseret News archives:
Compensation elusive for most Navajo radiation victims
Lung diseases blamed on work in uranium mines
He had been born and raised in the redrock canyons. He had married and raised his family here on Navajo tribal lands, his lands.
Maryboy enjoyed his job, not worrying much whether the mines were ventilated or if the water inside the mines was safe to drink. Like the other miners, he believed the government and industry officials who promised there were no dangers.
Trust came easy, and with poverty running rampant on the reservation, John Bill was just glad to have a job that could provide the basics of life for his wife and seven children.
John Bill was 51 when he succumbed to lung cancer in 1977.
"All of a sudden he got sick," said his son, San Juan County Commissioner Mark Maryboy. "He certainly didn't expect to die so early."
The Navajo Uranium Radiation Victims Committee estimates 400 Navajo miners have already died of lung diseases caused by working in the 1,100 mines on tribal lands in the Four Corners area. Maryboy believes many times that number are sick and dying, all because the government decided Navajos were dispensable.
"Definitely, the government discriminated against us," he says. "The government knew the effects of radiation, but with the Navajo people, with any minority, they didn't see the need to provide the necessary equipment to protect them. And now you see suffering everywhere."
Maryboy, who also serves in the Navajo legislature, is one of many who now champion the cause of government compensation for Navajo uranium workers, not just those in Utah but those throughout the region who answered the siren call to work in the mines. Another is Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who last year pushed through amendments to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act that allows more uranium miners to qualify for compensation.
"The next battle is for appropriate funding for the trust fund," Hatch said. "It's currently broke."
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My Husband was a uranium mine worker in the 70's in New Mexico and...
Kathy | July 19, 2008 at 7:18 p.m.
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