The Navajo Nation is accusing the Environmental Protection Agency of trying to get its members to waive their rights to compensation from a multi-state toxic spill that the agency says it caused.
The accusations came after Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye advised the tribal government’s justice department to ready for legal action against the EPA for the catastrophic spill.
“The federal government is asking our people to waive their future rights because they know without the waiver they will be paying millions to our people,” said Begaye in a press release. “This is simple; the feds are protecting themselves at the expense of the Navajo people and it is outrageous.”
The Navajo Nation says the EPA has been holding public meetings in which it is “seeking signatures from the Navajo People on Standard Form No. 95 which, if signed, will waive future claims against the U.S. EPA.” The nation warns that anyone who signs will limit their rights to compensation, “and any future claims for injuries caused by the Gold King Mine will be waived.”
EPA officials had not responded to a request for comment about the Navajo Nation’s claims.
Begaye declared a state of emergency Tuesday in the wake of the disaster, which was caused by an EPA contractor that ruptured a containment wall. The accident resulted in millions of gallons of contaminated water from a gold mine in Colorado to flow into the Animas and San Juan river system.
A plume of orange-colored heavy metals now stretches across three states — Colorado, New Mexico and Utah — impacting the Navajo Nation’s tribal grounds, among other communities in Northern New Mexico and beyond. The latest reports showed the plume of toxic sludge headed toward the tribe’s lands in Arizona.
Begaye is asking President Obama to appropriate emergency funds to supply drinking water, animal feed and clean irrigation water. Tribal authorities are now saying the contamination could take more than a decade to clean.
Democratic lawmakers representing New Mexico’s congressional delegation in Washington convinced EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy to immediately head up the relief effort, after they accused the EPA of being unresponsive to state and local leaders’ requests for help.
McCarthy jetted to New Mexico to inspect relief efforts underway by the agency on Wednesday. She made the journey after declaring in Washington on Tuesday that the EPA is taking full responsibility for the incident.
The EPA launched a full media campaign detailing its efforts to help tribal and local leadership battle the toxic spill, and help with water sampling. Begaye is supportive of the effort, but that is not stopping him from moving ahead with litigation.
The nation doesn’t have an estimate of the damages yet. Begaye said the EPA has advised him that the clean up would take decades.
“The U.S. EPA has admitted they are at fault and stated this disaster will last for decades,” Begaye said. “This is unacceptable. The damages to our people will be long-term and the Navajo Nation will not settle for pennies. I have consistently stated that the Navajo people deserve to be compensated for every penny lost.”
