February 1, 2022
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Chris Nordstrum
(415) 601-1992
Chris.Nordstrum@nmlegis.gov
SANTA FE – New Mexico State Senators Jeff Steinborn (D-Las Cruces), Shannon Pinto (D-Tohatchi), and Representative Debra M. Sariñana (D-Albuquerque), have introduced the Uranium Mine Cleanup & Reclamation Act. This legislation (Senate Bill 89) stems from recommendations presented to the Radioactive & Hazardous Materials Interim Committee during a hearing held in Gallup in September 2021. Senator Steinborn serves as Chair of the committee.
According to latest estimates from the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of New Mexico, there are approximately 1,100 uranium mining, milling, and exploratory drilling sites in New Mexico. Additionally, the BBER found extensive groundwater contamination surrounding many of these extraction sites, most on or adjacent to tribal communities. At the industry’s peak, New Mexico accounted for nearly half of all uranium ore extracted in the United States. There are currently no active uranium extraction sites in New Mexico, with the last shipment of uranium departing the state in 2002. Hundreds of these mines now sit abandoned, with little or no way to identify and hold accountable the parties responsible for the environmental damage.
Senate Bill 89 directs the New Mexico Department of Environment to take an active and urgent role in coordinating efforts to clean up and reclaim former uranium mine and mill sites. With mining sites spanning across multiple jurisdictions and in close proximity to numerous cultural and spiritual landmarks, the state will be tasked to collaborate with federal, local, tribal, and private stakeholders. SB89 also charges the Department of Environment to identify how existing curriculum and training programs from New Mexico’s public and tribal colleges and universities can play a role in reclamation efforts, as well as how existing industries can retool employees with the skills needed to take part.
“It has been 20 years since the final shipment of uranium left New Mexico, and yet we still don’t have a plan of action to address these scores of abandoned mines,” said bill sponsor Senator Jeff Steinborn. “Communities have had to live alongside these contaminated lands for generations. This bill will help to finally start to resolve this sad long-standing environmental legacy in our state.”
“The time is now to fund uranium cleanup across our state,” said Representative Sariñana. “We cannot put it off any longer, the health and wellbeing of some of our most fragile communities impacted by uranium spills and run-off is in jeopardy.”
“Historically, our Indigenous people and local communities, overwhelmingly bore the brunt of the environmental, health, and economic damage inflicted by uranium mining,” said Senator Shannon Pinto. “This legislation not only acknowledges this harmful lasting legacy, but also lays out a framework to collaboratively address the ongoing risk to our collective public health and the climate, in partnership with local communities, Indian Pueblos, Tribes, and Nations. Let us move forward the continuation of healing our communities and lands.”
Representative Sariñana has also introduced the same legislation in the House of Representatives as House Bill 164. HB164 is scheduled to be heard in the House Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Committee on Thursday February 3.
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