Earth Equity News

Senator Cantwell Leads Mining Reform in Congress. By Estar Holmes, Indian Country Today, April 7, 2008. "Dawn Mining operated... uranium mine[s] on the [Spokane Indian Reservation] for nearly 30 years. Most [tribal members] worked at one or the other, or have relatives who did. The high-paying jobs seemed like a blessing... 'I started working there because it was good money and I wanted to make money for my family, but here I was contaminating them all these years,' said Harold Campbell, a former mine worker... Dawn Mining stopped mining in 1984, but environmental and health consequences remain... Now, the Spokanes have a champion in U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who is seeking help through the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. She announced her efforts during a speech on mining law reform, which she is leading in the Senate... Tracing the spread of radioactivity and community education are major activities of the SHAWL Society, a grass-roots group started by Spokane tribal member Deb Abrahamson."