Nuclear power push ramps up uranium mill — and tribal health concerns
The White Mesa Ute community in Utah is raising health concerns regarding the nearby White Mesa Mill, the only conventional uranium mill in the U.S. These tensions are rising as the federal government pushes to increase domestic uranium production for nuclear energy.
Why it matters
It highlights the conflict between national energy policy goals and the environmental and health concerns of indigenous communities.
WHITE MESA, Utah — On a hot April day, Malcolm Lehi maneuvered his Jeep Wrangler over a rough dirt road. He drove past junipers and sagebrush in search of Entrance Spring on land long connected to his tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute.
The cool, mossy spring lies just across the highway from White Mesa Mill, the nation's only remaining conventional uranium mill , which produces yellowcake for nuclear power fuel.
For decades, the mill has sparked debate over whether radioactive contamination threatens human health by getting into the water and the air. Concerns run especially deep in the White Mesa Ute Community, where Lehi and about 200 members of his tribe live some 5 miles south of the facility.
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