US military legacy in Indian country: reckless dumping of toxic waste : Indybay

The poisonous legacy of the US military in the Indian country

Unexploded bombs scattered by the US military, napalm burning pits and secret radioactive waste dumps

Brenda Norrell
News with censorship

Claiming to protect the world, the US military has left cancer-causing hazardous waste that is recklessly strewn across the Indian country.

From a mustard gas quarry in the Walker River Paiute lands and a napalm burning site in the Shoshone lands of Fallon Paiute in Nevada, to unexploded bombs in the Lakota badlands in South Dakota, to experimental explosives at Fort Wingate in New Mexico and a secret radioactive dump from the nation’s capital, Tohono O’odham, in Sells, Arizona, to the widespread illegal dumping of hazardous waste and leaking barrels of toxic waste on many islands in Alaska and Hawaii, there is enough documented carcinogenic waste to fill an encyclopedia.

We’ll take a look at a few sites in our No Country for Whales article.

The deadliest remnants of the Cold War remained in the land of the Western Shoshone, where an atomic bomb was detonated at a nuclear test site. The Navajos and Pueblos were sent to their deaths mining uranium during the Cold War. Today, radioactive tails are still strewn throughout the Navajo Nation, despite constant promises by the United States to clean up.

Radioactive waste from the Church Rock, New Mexico uranium spill, one of the worst in history, continues to flow through Navajo communities and down the Rio Puerco River in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Less well known, however, are sites of scattered unexploded bombs and live ammunition, secret radioactive waste dumps, and mustard gas and napalm pits.

Top photo: The US military is still cleaning up hazardous waste strewn and dumped on the islands of Alaska, while President Biden approves more oil drilling in the Arctic, damaging pristine natural environments and wildlife.