Wednesday February 27 2008
By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
Associated Press Writer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/7339843


ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The Navajo Nation Council on Tuesday
approved legislation that would establish a tribal Superfund law,
allowing the tribe to clean up contaminated sites across its
sprawling reservation.

The council voted 50-15 in favor of the law during a special session
in Window Rock, Ariz.

The legislation, which must be signed by Navajo President Joe Shirley
Jr., serves the same purposes as the federal Superfund law. It would
allow Navajo officials to monitor and remove all hazardous
substances, pollutants and contaminants on the 27,000 square-mile
reservation that could endanger the health and safety of residents.

``We're elated,'' Freida White, senior environmental specialist for
the Navajo Environmental Protection Agency.

``This program will be something awesome for the tribe because it
will build the capacity that we've always been looking for'' in
cleaning up contaminated sites, White said.

White said the council's decision was historic since tribal officials
have been working for about 10 years to develop their own Superfund
program. She added that she's not aware of any other tribes that have
their own Superfund programs.

Like the federal Superfund law, the tribal legislation places
responsibility for the cleanup on current and past owners of sites or
those who arrange for hazardous substances to be brought onto the
Navajo Nation.

The legislation also creates a fund to help administer the program
and pay for cleanup work if the tribe cannot immediately identify
those responsible.

``It will allow us to work on sites that didn't meet the federal U.S.
EPA criteria and sites that we wanted to address but couldn't because
it couldn't be funded,'' White said, noting that one of the main
purposes of the legislation was to establish a funding source for the
program.

Navajo EPA officials said there are about 1,000 abandoned uranium
mining sites on the reservation that could be addressed under the
legislation as well as other sites that are leaking toxic chemicals.

The next step for the tribe is to develop regulations that would
spell out the parameters of the Superfund program and set the rate of
a tariff that would fund the program. Tribal officials expect to
accomplish that within a year.

Jill Grant, an attorney who works with Navajo EPA, said the process
would include internal review by tribal officials, a public comment
period and final approval by the council's Resources Committee.

The tariff would apply to those who transport hazardous substances
across the reservation. White could not say how much revenue the
tariff would bring in since the rate has yet to be determined.

George Hardeen, a spokesman for Shirley, said the president supports
the cleanup of legacy contamination - such as that at the abandoned
uranium mines - so the legislation ``is right up the president's
alley.''

Shirley has 10 days to act on the Superfund measure, Hardeen said.