The Uranium Problem On Navajo Reservation Research Paper - 3

The Uranium Problem On Navajo Reservation - Research Paper Example The legal problems associated with the mines concern the state-corporate crimes, which motivated the need to engage in the mines for government and corporate profits at the expense of the local community. The uranium problem on the reservation has persisted for several decades without any solutions while the native inhabitants on the reserve are increasingly affected environmentally, economically, in terms of health, and legally by the crimes the government had engaged in. The uranium mines have made life unbearable for the natives and social ills within the reservation have been on the rise. It is, therefore, important that the problems on the reservation be addressed to ensure that the native community lives a meaningful life like any other individuals across the country. The uranium problem on the Navajo reservation affects the environment on the reserve immensely. At the end of the World War I, mining of vanadium began around Navajo nation, and later uranium. The uranium extracted from the local mines on the reservation were heaped in containers and shoved to the side. After a while, the significance of uranium increased and its extraction increased. The stacked uranium materials on the reserve were removed by affluent ventures, which had the ability to invest in the resources therein. Uranium mined on the reservation increased and so did the negative environmental effects it posted on the reserve. Unfortunately, neither were the native community on the reserve sensitized on the environmental consequences of the mines nor did the government take any measures to preserve the local environment from pollution. During the 1950s, the environmental problems of uranium mining in the Navajo Nation were brought to the attention of the government and the bure aucrats, but they ignored the warnings (Robinson, n.d.).