NAVAJO GET RICHLY DETAILED GIS ATLAS ON URANIUM MINES

Only a man with keen cultural sensitivity would think to incorporate ancient elements of the Navajo Nation seal and flag into a 21st century atlas and geospatial datasets on the history of uranium mining in the Navajo Nation.   That’s why each page of the tabloid newspaper-sized bound volume is bordered with images of the four mountains and four colors sacred to the Navajo.

Glynn Alsup is the man who did just that.  The Los Angeles District’s tribal liaison has labored on health and safety issues for the Navajo for over a decade, and in late November presented copies of the atlas to Navajo leaders at meeting of the Navajo Abandoned Mine Lands Reclamation Program (NAMLRP).

Alsup also delivered copies to Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., the Red Valley Chapter, and to Dine College.  “We not only completed the project within schedule and on budget, but also developed a product that will be beneficial to the scientists and engineers working the environmental restoration for years to come,” says Alsup.

Each page of the document is bordered by symbols of Mount Bianca (Dawn or White Shell Mountain), the sacred mountain of the east; Mount Taylor (Blue Bead or Turquoise Mountain), in the south; San Francisco Peaks (Abalone Shell Mountain), the west; and Mount Hesperus (Obsidian Mountain), the north.

The atlas, also in CD version, collates thousands of pages of reports, studies and other data into a form that the Navajo can use as they continue to deal with the decades-old problem of uranium mines on their lands.  “The Corps of Engineers had to go to five our six research centers to get this,” explains Alsup, “and now the Navajo have it all electronically.”  We scanned all the reports, original documents, footnotes—even the original (mining) leases—into one database.”

Wrote Melvin Yazzie, NAMLRP’s project manager:  “It has been a very enlightening experience and very fun to have met you and been able to work on this monumental project.  I look forward to our continued work and friendship.”

Added Elaine Ezra, president of TerraSpectra Geomatics, the contracting firm which produced and published the document:  “We are so grateful to have been able to work with you on this very important project.  Looking back over my long career, this is the project I am most proud to have participated in.”

The project began in 2004 when BG Joseph Schroedel, South Pacific Division chief engineer, and President Shirley signed an agreement.  In September 2004, the Corps completed the Mining GIS system for the nation, and Yazzie presented the product at the Office of Surface Mines National Conference that same month.

In September 2005 Mark Cowan, Division program manager for the Corps’ Remediation of Abandoned Mines, funded the Los Angeles District to complete a summary atlas for the Navajo Nation.  The document was produced and published by TerraSpectra Oct. 31, 2005.

Adding regional focus, Yazzie presented the project at the Northwest Mining Conference in Spokane, Wash., in December on behalf of the Nation and the Corps.

Alsup attended project presentation meetings in Window Rock, Cove and Red Valley, Ariz., and Shiprock, N.M.  Others attending were Yazzie, Ezra, Madeline Roanhorse, NAMLRP program manager, Lawrence Benally, NAMLRP GIS manager, Brian Mego, NTUA GIS manager, Kevin Galard, Navation Nation Rangers, Vernon Long, Everett Begay, Ryan James and Rachelle Silver of the Navajo Land Dept., Brian Tagaban of the Navajo Dept. of Transportation, Michelle Silver and Jerry Begay of the Navajo EPA, Dexter Pratt of Navajo Fish & Wildlife, Arvin Trujillo of Navajo Nation Division of Natural Resources, Rose Grey of the Shiprock NAMLRP and Ray Tsingine of the Tuba City NAMRLP.

Besides Alsup and Cowan, other District and Division team members included Diane Watkins, Brian Jordan, Karen Warren, Imelde Garcia, Thad Fukushige, David Hays, Susan Tianen, Lawrence Minch and Romano Caturegli.

The atlas and database will come in handiest on the ground—and under it.  They describe in scientific detail, for example, where all the water sources are in the Nation’s territory, the volume of uranium ore taken from the mines—even information on original Spanish land grants.  “When you go to clean up (the mines), you want to know which way the wind blows, the rainfall, if you had a (mining) prospect but no production,” Alsup explains.  “The cleanup phase can use all this information.  You’ve got a good idea of what’s underneath the ground.”

In this project, Alsup, TerraSpectra and other team members have combined  cutting-edge geospatial technology with the ancient customs and craft of a proud people struggling with a legacy of the Nuclear Age.