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Representatives Call for Uranium Clean Up on Navajo Nation

New Mexico Congressmen Ben Ray Luján and Martin Heinrich are calling on the federal government to take urgent action to clean up hundreds of abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation.

In letters to the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and Indian Health Services, Lujan, Heinrich, Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva and four other House members say they are they deeply troubled by the federal government's failure to address the ongoing problem. They say the federal neglect is leaving future generations exposed to life-threatening radiation.

The mines, which were built to supply uranium for the federal government's nuclear weapons program, have sat dormant for decades. A recent New York Times article was critical of efforts by a multi-agency task force set up to remediate the mines.