The Largest Environmental Disaster in U.S. You Never Heard Of
Church Rock, NM - Site of the biggest environmental disaster you never hard of.
If 1,100 tons of radioactive uranium mine tailings are released into the environment where only a few hundred people life, is it a national disaster?
What if the release is the second largest contamination after Chernobyl?
What if it could have been prevented?
The contaminated water flowed into the Rio Puerco and even into the sewer system of Gallup, NM, only eight miles away. The Rio Puerco is a tributary of the Rio Grande that runs over 200 miles through the southwestern United States. As of 2021, Church Rock is still an active EPA Superfund site. More information and the complete GAO Report to Congress is available here. As of September 2021, no legislation has been enacted to address the incident for congressional consideration.
In 2011, I was invited to collaborate on a novel, set in the Four Corners. The idea for the book came from Gerald Schnitzer (1917-2016). Gerry was a writer, director and producer of movies and documentaries. We met when I edited his autobiographical book, My Floating Grandmother. The novel we created together was a medical thriller, set in a fictional hantavirus pandemic, called Blood of the White Bear. During the research for this novel, I discovered information about the Church Rock disaster. It was not difficult; just a few internet searches.
Learn more about Church Rock in Judy Pasternak’s book:
Yellow Sand; a Poisoned Land and The Betrayal of the Navajos
Also, find interviews and podcasts by Ms. Pasternak online.
If 1,100 tons of radioactive uranium mine tailings are released into the environment where only a few hundred people life, is it a national disaster?
What if the release is the second largest contamination after Chernobyl?
What if it could have been prevented?
On July 16, 1979, a wall of an earthen dam broke. The dam contained tailings from the Church Rock, NM uranium mine. The dam was not reinforced with steel reinforced concrete or any other material. Cracks in the dam, located on the Diné (Navajo) nation were noted two years before the breach. Ninety million gallons of radioactive water poured through the broken dam. (Photo by Judy Pasternak, 2010)
The contaminated water flowed into the Rio Puerco and even into the sewer system of Gallup, NM, only eight miles away. The Rio Puerco is a tributary of the Rio Grande that runs over 200 miles through the southwestern United States. As of 2021, Church Rock is still an active EPA Superfund site. More information and the complete GAO Report to Congress is available here. As of September 2021, no legislation has been enacted to address the incident for congressional consideration.
In 2011, I was invited to collaborate on a novel, set in the Four Corners. The idea for the book came from Gerald Schnitzer (1917-2016). Gerry was a writer, director and producer of movies and documentaries. We met when I edited his autobiographical book, My Floating Grandmother. The novel we created together was a medical thriller, set in a fictional hantavirus pandemic, called Blood of the White Bear. During the research for this novel, I discovered information about the Church Rock disaster. It was not difficult; just a few internet searches.
It is part thriller and part mystery but more than that.
Blood of the White Bear
Marcia Calhoun Forecki and Gerald Schnitzer
Writelife publishing, an imprint of BQB Books, 2013.
(Available from Amazon in print, ebook, and audiobook formats)
Learn more about Church Rock in Judy Pasternak’s book:
Yellow Sand; a Poisoned Land and The Betrayal of the Navajos
Also, find interviews and podcasts by Ms. Pasternak online.
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