Cancer Death Disparities and Uranium Mine Waste on Indian Reservations

• In Event: 50620 - Section on Environmental Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 7: Environmental Inequalities and Harm 1

Abstract

The United States experienced a uranium mining boom during the Nuclear Arms Race, with much of the
mining activity occurring in and around the Navajo Nation. Abandoned uranium mines (AUMs) and tailings
dumps are spread throughout the Navajo Reservation’s territory and most have not been environmentally
remediated. Mine waste and drainage form an ongoing environmental and public health threat. While there
is existing literature on the topic of uranium mining waste, there has not yet been a sociological analysis of
the problem. In this paper, I evaluate the impact of mining on public health beyond the Navajo Nation since
uranium mining occurred elsewhere in the US. Initially, I used a Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
analysis to map the locations of AUMs relative to their proximity to populated areas. I then employed a
mixed effects regression analysis to determine whether people living in Indian reservations with AUMs are
more likely to experience negative health outcomes such as deaths from kidney and stomach cancers when
compared to non-native communities with AUMs. The dependent variable is age adjusted death rate per
100,000 people from stomach cancer and kidney and renal-pelvis cancer. For independent variables I used
number of pollution sources per county and I control for rates of cigarette smoking and binge drinking by
county. I also added a binary variable of whether the county has reservation land. Finally, I also used median
household income as a control variable. Preliminary results in my four models demonstrate that the effects
of the dependent variable are most strongly influenced by health behaviors and whether or not the county
contains reservation land.

Author

• Aidan Andronicos, University of Washington