CIBOLA COUNTY - Currently 12 states are designated as high-level risk for radiation exposure. New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Utah have established Radiation Exposure Services and Educational clinics.  In New Mexico, residents are served by RESEP health centers in Shiprock, Laguna and Albuquerque. A majority of patients are uranium mining industry workers.

Grants Mineral Belt

Between 1953 and 1993, New Mexico was the leader in the United States uranium production.  In the 1950s Grants called itself the Uranium Capital of the World. Over the decades the industry reached peak production. During the 1970s and 1980s market demand for the ore decreased substantially.

With the economic downturn of the 1980s, proposed legislation advocated recovery of residual radioactive materials in the region. Sponsors predicted the Ambrosia Lake reclamation project would create 105-125 jobs over a two-year period with an economic impact of $7-9 million. 

In 1990, Senator Pete Domenici's office reported budget compromise agreements between President George H. Bush and congressional leaders would not affect funding appropriations for the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. That legislation created a trust fund to compensate miners exposed to unsafe radiation levels between January 1942 and December 1971.

    The GMB history and uranium legacy began in the 20th century and continues to today. The RESEP amendment expanded the RECA in 2000. The Health Resources and Services Administration website defines RESEP as a federal grant program providing outreach, education, prevention and early detection of diseases caused by radiation exposure from nuclear weapons testing and the uranium mining industry.

    The Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Control of the University of New Mexico provides three RESEP clinic sites. Ameenah Fox, clinical outreach coordinator, explained one is the UNM site. Another is the Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna clinic. Free screenings are available on a rotating basis, twice a month, at these two clinics. The Northern Navajo Medical Center at Shiprock is the third facility.

Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna service unit serves the three tribal groups in the immediate area: the Acoma Pueblo (population 3,500), the Laguna Pueblo (5,500) and the Canoncito (now To'hajiilee) Navajos (1,100).

    The service unit consists of the hospital in Acomita plus health centers at Laguna and To'hajiilee. The hospital offers a full range of outpatient and dental services as well as several specialty clinics, utilizing a combination of direct and contract services.

    The ACL clinic served 50 per cent of the 111 applicants screened last year. This included 37 people previously screened and 12 who were designated eligible for compensation benefits.

The Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock is an Indian Health Service facility. This RESEP clinic serves uranium industry workers and down-winders residing on the Navajo Indian Reservation. NNMC is the main site with four satellite clinics in Arizona and New Mexico. This facility serves only IHS-eligible uranium workers and down-winders in Shiprock and Crownpoint and the Arizona communities of Kayenta, Tuba City, Chinle, and Polacca.

    Fox said, “People should call my office to schedule appointments.” She gathers the individual's information, including eligibility status, during the telephone pre-screening process. This system benefits potential applicants by reducing travel time and expenses. RESEP does not re-imburse eligible applicants for mileage.

    She pointed out, “There have been 30,000 claims to date and 71 per cent have been approved.” The maladies most often diagnosed are pulmonary-system cancers and kidney diseases. Fox stated a number of family members' claims have been approved following a relative's death from radiation exposure.

The Shiprock and ACL locations assist only Native American applicants. Non-Native Americans are served at the UNM facility.

    Applicant claims are funded through the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. This legislation compensates employees of the Department of Energy, its predecessor agencies and its contractors and subcontractors involved in nuclear weapons production and testing programs including former uranium miners, millers and ore transporters.

    For more information call Fox, RESEP clinical outreach coordinator, at 1-505-272-4672 or 1-505-272-5880.

Information on radiation exposure is available at: http://ruralhealth.hrsa.gov/radiationexposure

RESEP Clinic location information:

• Northern Navajo Medical Center

P.O. Box 160

Shiprock, NM 87420

1-505-368-7032

Toll-free: 1-800-549-5644, ext. 7032

Fax: 1-505-368-7011

• University of New Mexico

Health Sciences Center

2325 Camino de Salud NE

Albuquerque, NM 87131

1-505-272-5880

Fax: 1-505-272-5958

• Acoma-Canoncito-Laguna Service Unit

P.O. Box 130

San Fidel, N.M. 87049

Phone: 1-505-552-5300