HOUSE MEMORIAL 117

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

D. Wonda Johnson and Eliseo Lee Alcon

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE BUREAU OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC RESEARCH AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO TO STUDY THE POSSIBLE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF A URANIUM MINE CLEANUP PROGRAM AND TO ASSESS THE CAPACITY OF NEW MEXICO'S LABOR FORCE TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE CLEANUP OF LEGACY URANIUM MINES.

     WHEREAS, the United States environmental protection agency estimates that there are ten thousand four hundred abandoned uranium mine features in fifteen western states; and

     WHEREAS, on the Navajo Nation, there are more than one thousand one hundred mines, including five hundred twenty-three documented abandoned uranium mines, and five abandoned uranium waste sites; and

     WHEREAS, the mining and minerals division of the energy, minerals and natural resources department has identified two hundred fifty-nine abandoned uranium mines on New Mexico lands and more than one-half of those sites have no record of cleanup; and

     WHEREAS, a legacy of uranium contamination remains, along with its potential health effects that include lung cancer from inhalation of radioactive particles, bone cancer and impaired kidney function from exposure to radionuclides in drinking water; and

     WHEREAS, in 2015, the United States environmental protection agency recovered almost one billion dollars ($1,000,000,000) from a litigation settlement to address over fifty mines, for which the Kerr-McGee corporation and its successor, Tronox, have responsibility; and

     WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation received more than forty million dollars ($40,000,000) from the settlement; and

     WHEREAS, the United States and the Navajo Nation have entered into a settlement agreement with two affiliated subsidiaries of Freeport-McMoran, incorporated, for the cleanup of ninety-four abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation; and

     WHEREAS, under the settlement, valued at over six hundred million dollars ($600,000,000), Cyprus Amax Minerals company and Western Nuclear, incorporated, will perform the work and the United States government will contribute approximately one-half of the costs; and

     WHEREAS, the settlement terms were outlined in a proposed settlement decree filed in federal court in Phoenix, Arizona; and

     WHEREAS, with this settlement, the funds are now committed to begin the cleanup process of over two hundred abandoned uranium mines on the Navajo Nation; and

     WHEREAS, the Jackpile-Paguate mine located on the Pueblo of Laguna, once the largest open-pit uranium mine in the world, is undergoing evaluation to determine the amount of cleanup needed; and

     WHEREAS, the uranium mine cleanup program is not only beneficial to public health, but presents an opportunity for potential economic growth and job creation for New Mexico with significant economic impacts; and

     WHEREAS, in anticipation of the cleanup program, New Mexico workers must be prepared to perform jobs at the cleanup sites; and

     WHEREAS, it would be beneficial to identify the kinds of jobs that need to be created to perform the cleanup and the training New Mexicans would need to perform the jobs; for state institutions of higher learning to be prepared to teach the specific subjects that address those jobs; and for collaboration between state schools and colleges to develop specific programs to train students to fill the new jobs while avoiding duplicative training efforts; and

     WHEREAS, it would be beneficial to explore possibilities for federal funding and related job opportunities for tribal members and New Mexicans;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the bureau of business and economic research at the university of New Mexico be requested to conduct an analysis of the possible economic effects on the state and local communities associated with uranium mine cleanup and conduct an assessment of the capacity of the existing New Mexico labor force to contribute to the cleanup of legacy uranium mines; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the bureau of business and economic research be requested to report its findings and recommendations to the appropriate interim legislative committee by October 1, 2017; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the director of the bureau of business and economic research at the university of New Mexico, the New Mexico congressional delegation, the secretary of energy, minerals and natural resources and the president of the Navajo Nation.

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