After NAMLRD successfully reclaimed all of the coal sites that were inventoried on Navajo Nation trust lands and received coal certification in 1994, the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement (OSMRE) authorized NAMLRD to reclaim physical hazards associated with abandoned uranium mines (AUMs), such as open adits, trenches, pits and dangerous highwalls.  NAML has successfully reclaimed hundreds of AUMs across Navajo Nation trust land under the OSMRE Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) of 1977.

In June 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded the NAMLRD program $888,000 to help assess and perform cleanup of AUMs on the Navajo Nation. “NAML’s staff of scientists and engineers are uniquely positioned to provide the expertise and perspective to address uranium contamination on the Navajo Nation,” said Mike Stoker, EPA Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest.  See the news release “U.S. EPA awards Navajo Abandoned Mine Lands Program $888,000” for details.

On November 9, 2018 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Navajo Nation EPA (NNEPA) and NAMLRD  was signed to address cleanup of the 523 AUMs on the Navajo Nation.  See “MOU signed between Navajo EPA and Navajo AML” for details.

The map below shows the Navajo Nation and Chapters (brown lines) and the location of AUMs (red squares). Click on the map to start an interactive map viewer of the AUMs. Clicking on an AUM site will show a table with information about the AUM.

For more information on AUMs please contact:

•Navajo Nation EPA Superfund Program at (928) 871-6859 or see the NNEPA Superfund website here.

•Additional information may also be found at the US EPA website, Navajo Nation: Cleaning Up Abandoned Uranium Mines website here.

Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Compared to Abandoned Uranium Mines (AUM)

Abandoned Mine Lands (AMLs) are lands affected by past surface and underground mining activity.  AMLs can have physical hazards that pose a threat to health, safety, and general welfare of people and they also present environmental hazards.   AMLs include problems that occur on coal and non-coal (uranium, copper, sand & gravel) mines.  The reclamation project areas are based on Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) regulations and guidance.  AMLs are addressed by NAMLRD under OSM grants.

Abandoned Uranium Mines (AUMs) are abandoned mines related specifically to uranium mining.  Their boundaries are defined primarily by production records of the former US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and include all the operational land area related to the named uranium mine.  AUMs have been defined by and are used by EPA and Navajo EPA.   An AML boundary may include part or all of one or more AUMs.

MOU signed between Navajo EPA and Navajo AML to address abandoned uranium mines

Click here for the Press Release

For more information about how to use the interactive web map

Click Here

For information on who to contact about Uranium and Radiation on the Navajo Nation

Click Here