Political Issues on the Navajo Nation from Uranium Mining Once
the dangers of uranium mining gradually became clear, a few
Navajo began to ask for accountability from the government.
Throughout the 1970's, a few people struggled both to put
controls on operations in the mines and to help Navajo victims
of radiation exposure find some compensation. In December 1978,
one hundred Navajo joined with Friends of the Earth to file suit
against six federal agencies, demanding a regional study of the
impacts of uranium mining. The case was eventually rendered moot
since the uranium activity at that time stopped due to a decline
in uranium prices ([Ali, 2003] ). Harry Tome, a Dineh from Red
Rock chapter, worked throughout the decade to bring relief to
Navajo miners. Toward the end of the eighties, former U.S.
Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall intervened, and the
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act was signed to law in 1990.
The remediation programs for the mines are still far from over
([Ali, 2003] ). An importan