A Uranium Ghost Town in the Making circleofblue.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from circleofblue.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The “death map” tells the story of decades of sickness in the small northwest New Mexico communities of Murray Acres and Broadview Acres. Turquoise arrows point to homes where residents had thyroid disease, dark blue arrows mark cases of breast cancer, and yellow arrows mean cancer claimed a life. Neighbors built the map a decade ago after watching relatives and friends fall ill and die. Dominating the top right corner of the map, less than half a mile from the cluster of colorful arrows, sits what residents believe is the cause of their sickness: 22.2 million tons of uranium waste left over from milling ore to supply power plants and nuclear bombs.
Time and again, mining company Homestake and government agencies promised to clean up waste from decades of uranium processing. It didn’t happen. Now they’re trying a new tactic: buying out homeowners to avoid finishing the job.
The American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists (AARST) has launched the Radon Report Card, a tool for viewing, by state, the latest available data on radon-induced lung cancer risk and current state policies that help reduce risk.