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California Company To Assess Uranium Contamination On Navajo

goodnewsnetwork.org
Navajo Nation

A California company has been awarded an $85 million contract to assess uranium contamination on and near the Navajo Nation.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the contract Wednesday to Tetra Tech Inc., headquartered in Pasadena.

The EPA says the company will assess 30 abandoned mines on the vast reservation where uranium was extracted for wartime weapons.

Tetra Tech will work with Navajo Technical University to train Navajos on how to assess and clean up uranium waste. The company also will start an internship program to give students technical work experience.

The contract is partially funded by a 2015 settlement for the cleanup of over 50 abandoned uranium mines. The settlement resolved a legal battle over a spinoff of Kerr-McGee Corp., which once operated mines on the Navajo Nation.