The Effects of Nuclear Waste and

Industrial Development on
Indigenous People
Issues Facing Indigenous People

Racism
Forced assimilation
Cultural genocide
Forced removal of individuals from their
tribes and families (much of the time it’s
children who are removed)
Poverty/lack of resources-financial and
other
Environmental racism
Environmental Racism

The intentional or unintentional siting of

hazardous waste sites, landfills,
incinerators, and polluting industries
in or near communities of color.
 Exploitation
In many Native communities there is a
struggle to meet basic needs.
"There is nothing moral about tempting a
starving man with money."
– Keith Lewis from the Serpent River First
Nation in Ontario
He said this in reflection of his
impoverished community’s 50 years of
working in and living near uranium mines &
mills, and the health and environmental
catastrophe that has resulted.
All Our Relations: Native Struggles
for Land and Life

Nuclear Waste: Dumping on the Indians

Chapter Five
Nuclear Waste: Dumping on the Indians
“Much of the World’s nuclear industry has been
sited on or near Native lands” (p. 97)
“During the early and mid-1990s, the federal
government and the nuclear industry offered
seemingly lucrative deals to Native communities
willing to accept nuclear waste dumps on their
lands” (p. 100)
A few tribes and tribal organizations took the bait.
Now “…industry has increasingly targeted Native
lands…” (p. 100).
In a survey done on the proposed waste disposal
facilities on Native lands, it was found that over 70
different tribes were approached for the placing of
toxic waste dumps on their reservations (Angel,
1991).
Cases of Industrial Pollution on Native
Lands
In 1991 the Kaibab-Paiute Tribe rejected a
hazardous waste incinerator proposed by Waste
Tech.
On seven different occasions the Pine Ridge
Indians were approached by multiple companies
looking to build solid waste incinerators, landfills,
sewage sludge disposals, scrap tire “recycling”,
and multiple other solid and hazardous waste
dumps, they declined (Angel, 1991).
Other commercial industries such as milling and
mining are also huge issues.
70% of the world’s uranium comes from Native
communities
Cases of Industrial Pollution on Native Lands
On the Navajo reservation alone there are 1,000 abandoned
uranium mines (LaDuke, 1996).
“The Navajos…were warned about the dangers of
uranium…” (p. 97).
Both the Spokane and Yakima reservations have been
contaminated by the Hanford Nuclear site and by mine
waste from byproducts of nuclear experiments conducted by
the military (LaDuke, 1996).
In Western Shoshone territory in Nevada the U.S. and Great
Britain exploded 1,054 nuclear devices both above and
below ground (LaDuke, 1996)
The Penobscot people of Maine live along the Penobscot
River where 30 to 50 million gallons of dioxins are dumped
into the river each day, which are produced by the paper mill
industry (Grossman, 2008).
There are numerous other cases.
The Distance from Indian Reservations
to Industrial Facilities (Cain & Kelly).
Distance from Number of Sum Total of % of Total
Tribes to Reservations Effected Population
Facilities Reservation on
(miles) Population Reservations
5 16 182,720 23.3%

10 28 228,401 29.2%

25 71 315,123 40.3%

50 144 415,953 53.2%

100 245 535,441 68.5%

All (federally 567 781, 859 100%

recognized)
tribal lands
“It is estimated that over 72,000
different chemicals are used
regularly. Two thousand five
hundred new chemicals are
introduced annually-and of these,
only 15 are partially tested for
their safety” and none of these
chemicals has been tested for
intergenerational effects (p. 21).
 Exposure to These Toxic
Chemicals Often Result in:
Numerous types of cancer
Birth defects
Decrements in:
Brain functioning
Mental and psychomotor development.
Performance on academic achievement tests
Word comprehension and overall reading comprehension
IQ
Intellectual and behavioral function
Alterations in thyroid function (which disturbs the
“differentiation of normal human neural progenitor cells”)
Memory, retrieval of knowledge, and comprehension of
knowledge.
And many other health problems
 Conclusion
Environmental racism although a new
concept, is not a new issue. Health
problems resulting from chemicals such as
PCBs, dioxins, POPs, and radiation, etc.
are having increasingly negative effects on
the growth and development of native
youth, the future of all Native nations. The
implications of this are serious, if the mind
and body are negatively effected by these
substances Native youth’s cognitive
development will lag and they will perform
poorly on school tasks and in life tasks in
general.
 References
Angel, B. (1991). The toxic threat to Indian lands. A
Greenpeace Report. Retrieved October 22, 2008,
from http://
www.ejnet.org/ej/toxicthreattoindianlands.pdf
Cain, C. & Kelly, S. (n.d.) Mercury releases and
tribal lands, what’s in your backyard? Using GIS
to study mercury emissions. Retrieved October
22, 2008, from
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/conference/ei15/session2/cain.pdf

Grossman, R. (Producer/Director). (2008).

Homeland: Four portraits of Native action: the
Penobscot River [video recording]. Katahdin
production in association with
Orchard Pictures.
 References
LaDuke, W. (1999). All Our Relations: Native Struggles for
Land and Life. Cambridge, Ma: South End Press.
Jacobson, J.L. & Jacobson, S.W. (1996). Intellectual
impairment in children exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls
in utero. The New England Journal of Medicine, 335, 783-
789.
Lee, D., Jacobs, D. & Porta, M. (2007). Association of serum
concentrations of persistent organic pollutants with the
prevalence of learning disabilities and attention deficit
disorder. Journal Epidemiol Community Health, 61, 591-
596.
Newman, J., Aucompaugh, A., Schell, L., Denham, M.,
Decaprio, A., Gallo, M., Ravenscroft, J., J., Kao, C.,
Hanover, M., David, D., Jacobs, A., Tarbell, A., Worswick,
P., (2006). PCBs and cognitive functioning of Mohawk
adolescents. Neurotoxicology and Teratology, 28, 439-445.
 References
Ribas-Fito, N., Cardo, E., Sala, M., Muga, E., Mazon,
C., Verdu, A., Kogevinas, M., et al. (2003).
Breastfeeding, exposure to organochlorine
compounds, and neurodevelopment in infants.
Official Journal of American Pediatrics, 111, 580-
585.
Schell, L., Gallo, M., Denham, M., Ravenscroft, J.,
DeCaprio, A. & Carpenter, D. (2008).
Relationship of thyroid hormone levels to levels of
polychlorinated biphenyls, lead, p,p´-DDE, and
other toxicants in Akwesasne Mohawk Youth.
Environmental Health Perspectives, 116, 806-813.