Enron
prosecutor takes on Navajo uranium cleanup
The tribe hires John C.
Hueston to press the U.S. to remove toxic material from
its land.
By Judy Pasternak, LA Times Staff Writer
February 25, 2007
The Southern California lawyer who successfully
prosecuted top Enron executives has been hired by the
Navajo tribal government to seek a full cleanup of the
old uranium mines contaminating the country's
largest reservation.
John C. Hueston, who gained fame for
his questioning of Enron founder Kenneth L. Lay, contacted
the tribe in November after reading articles in The
Times about the poisoning of the Navajo homeland as
the government mined uranium for use in nuclear weapons.
The reports detailed how residents had been exposed
to radiation and toxic heavy metals in their air, water,
soil and even the walls and floors of their homes.
The tribe retained the former federal
prosecutor Thursday to coordinate an effort to finish
the cleanup and eventually to help Navajos made ill
by exposure. Hueston, whose wife is Navajo, recently
returned to private practice at Irell & Manella,
which is based in Los Angeles and Newport Beach.
"There's a sense of urgency now,
of no more excuses," Hueston said, pledging to
work toward "a historic settlement and, if necessary,
court action." He said he would try to persuade
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to document
the remaining hazards, and the uranium industry to finance
repair of that damage.
The tribe also wants to find permanent
remedies for hundreds of reclaimed mines that are once
more radioactive because of erosion.
More than 1,000 old uranium mines and
four abandoned processing mills are scattered across
the Navajo Nation, which spans parts of Arizona, New
Mexico and Utah. From 1944 to 1986, 3.9 million tons
of uranium ore were extracted by private companies from
the region.
As the Cold War threat diminished and
the boom slowed, federal inspectors let the companies
leave without sealing mine portals, filling in pits
or removing waste. The Navajos' subsequent pleas for
help prompted government surveys showing dangerous levels
of uranium and other toxics, but little was done about
it.
"We hope to be the moving force
this time," said Navajo Atty. Gen. Louis Denetsosie.
"We can't wait for them to do it for us."
EPA representatives are to meet in March
with Hueston and tribal attorneys.
The federal agency has said it didn't
have the funds to address the problems. Hueston said
if the EPA couldn't find the funds, he would ask Congress
for help. He said he would also press uranium companies
to contribute to "a permanent and effective cleanup."
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judy.pasternak@latimes.com
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