Uranium is in increasing demand for use in nuclear power plants. In Alaska, the Native Village of Elim and nearby lands are being targeted as a potential source of uranium. The company that initiated the exploration program, Panther Minerals, has recently withdrawn from the project, but it is possible that another mining corporation could proceed with further development.
The proposed area of exploration and development is home to critical fish and wildlife populations and supplies water for people living in Elim. When uranium is extracted from the ground as ore, it undergoes a process that utilizes toxic chemicals and blasting, resulting in significant quantities of mine tailings, radioactive waste, and polluted wastewater that will continue to contaminate for years to come.
Drilling would disrupt the Tubutulik River with dangerous levels of uranium contamination, posing significant threats to the health of humans and wildlife. The community of Elim depends on salmon to sustain its cultural, traditional, and economic well-being and way of life.
“We have the right to a clean environment and the right to give or withhold consent for any action that affects our lands, territories, and rights,” said Jasmine Jemewouk, Alaska Community Action on Toxics’ Water Quality and Community Health Coordinator, who is from Elim.
Exposure to uranium contamination can lead to severe health problems, including cancer, genetic damage, and hormone disruption. Symptoms may not appear for decades, but the harm is irreversible. The Navajo Nation banned uranium mining on their lands in 2005 due to its many adverse effects on the environment and human health.
In this CHE Alaska webinar, speakers discussed the environmental and health impacts of uranium mining, the history of uranium mining on Diné lands, and efforts of communities to organize against it.
Featured Speakers
Emily Murray is an Inupiat elder and activist living in Elim, Alaska. As Vice President, she represents the Norton Bay Inter-Tribal Watershed Council (NBITWC) and has over 10 years of experience campaigning, writing and advocating. Her topics of expertise include subsistence, land and water resource protection. She is also a teacher at Aniguiin School in Elim, where she works with students to conduct research about the effects of uranium on community health. Emily presented on CHE-Alaska in 2008 and in 2023 on the topic of community health and proposed uranium mining in Alaska.
Jasmine Jemewouk is a graduate of the University of Alaska Fairbanks with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a minor in rural development. She is Inupiaq, Yupik and Cherokee from the village of Elim, Alaska located in the Bering Straits region. Jasmine works to oppose various mines around Alaska, including the Ambler Access Road Project, Graphite One, Panther Minerals AK Inc. Uranium exploration project, and others. Jasmine began working with ACAT in 2015 as an intern with the STEP-UP program then later joined ACAT's board in 2017. She represented her family and community perspective on the board until she resigned to join ACAT's team as the Water Quality and Community Health Protection Coordinator. Jasmine is very excited to work with ACAT and wants to help her community and future generations to protect themselves from harmful exposures and live a healthy lifestyle.
Richelle Thomas is a Diné doctoral candidate at the University of Arizona’s Department of Environmental Science. The title of her dissertation research is "Examination of Root Border Cells in Medicinal Plants Exposed to Heavy Metals and their Antibiotic Resistance of the Rhizosphere."
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This webinar was hosted by the CHE-Alaska Partnership, which is coordinated by Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT). Driven by a core belief in environmental justice, ACAT empowers communities to eliminate exposure to toxics through collaborative research, shared science, education, organizing, and advocacy.