Two films show effects
of uranium mining
Friday Film Pick: Don't Mine Me & Uranium
Continuing with our new initiative of highlighting at least one Indiegogo project each month, one of this week’s Friday Film Pick is Don’t Mine Me – a doc looking at the history of uranium mining on a Navajo Indian Reservation in the US. Since you can only watch the trailer for this film and read about it as it continues production (with generous donations from supporters), I’m including a second film from 1990 that looks at uranium mining in Canada, called Uranium (trailers after jump).
About Don’t Mine Me (from the Indiegogo page):
Don’t Mine Me is a documentary about the history of uranium mining on the Navajo Indian Reservation in the Southwest United States. At the end of WWII, the United States encouraged uranium mining production. Several large uranium deposits were found on the Navajo Reservation and many Navajo men were employed to work these mines. Disregarding the known health risks resulting from exposure to uranium, the United States failed to inform the Navajo workers about the dangers and to regulate the mining to minimize contamination. Several mine workers and families on the reservation have suffered with numerous amounts of health problems, some even fatal, from environmental contamination. For decades the government failed to improve conditions and to inform workers of the dangers.
The effects of uranium mining still exists on the Navajo reservation today and still haunts hundreds of Navajos a year. The health and environmental risks are extremely severe, not only contaminating the men who work in the mines, but numerous Navajo’s in the surrounding areas as well through contaminated groundwater. Approximately 15,000 people on the Navajo reservation live without running water and rely on this groundwater from the wells for everyday life. Although people are finally starting to recognize the severity of the situation, it is still a matter of questioning the humanity of the United States Government and their blatant disregard for an entire group of people.
Visit this Don’t Mine Me‘s page and consider donating at Indiegogo, and visit the project’s site here.
The second film is a 1990 NFB doc by the incredibly productive and committed filmmaker Magnus Isacsson, simply titled Uranium. From the film’s NFB page:
This documentary looks at the hazards of uranium mining in Canada. Toxic and radioactive waste pose environmental threats while the traditional economic and spiritual lives of the Aboriginal people who occupy this land have been violated. Given our limited knowledge of the associated risks, this film questions the validity of continuing the mining operations.
You can download the film for a small fee here.