Native Americans have worked for decades in the deep mines underneath the Colorado Plateau.In order to obtain the soft, yellow uranium ore present, they must operate a drill that plunges deep into the rock.These are the same mines where thousands of Native Americans dug out the uranium that was used in the nuclear warheads that are credited with aiding America to win the Cold War.

However, many of the miners themselves have become Cold War casualties. Most have either died or are dying from cancers and other illnesses as a direct result of their exposure to the uranium radiation inside the mines.Nearly everyone in this community has either lost someone very close to them or are fighting for their own health.Find out more about personal injury lawyers melbourne through this website.

Many of the workers are plagued with scars on their arms, a telltale sign of the dialysis treatments they’ve had to endure over the years.Many workers are suffering from kidney failure and must undergo dialysis frequently just to survive.The drinking water provided to the miners has been tested and proven to contain traces of radioactive minerals which many blame for the kidney failure.

In 1990, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act was ratified by Congress.This act was constructed to aid these uranium miners, as well as other miners who suffer similar issues, whose health had been compromised by their work as miners.The fact is that the majority of this work was simply done to advance the country’s nuclear weapons program.

Every uranium miner is entitled to $100,000.The only condition required was that they should have been diagnosed with one of six possible lung diseases that are linked to radiation exposure.However, hundreds of Indian miners eligible for this payment, to this day have still not seen a penny. As a person looking for melbourne workers compensation lawyers you should visit that site.

The compensation law sets up nearly impossible hurdles for Indian miners. The paperwork, for example, must be completed in English only.The Indians speak little or no English and understand very little of it.

Only 96 of the 242 claims that have been filed through the Office of Navajo Uranium Workers have been approved.Overall 1,314 former uranium mines claims have been approved by the Justice Department.But there have been an additional 1,316 applications denied.

A worker is required to provide check stubs for a record as proof of working there, plus more documentation is required to prove the specific amount of time the worker spent in the mines.Do you save your pay stubs and other work records over a period of years and decades?Without pay stubs or the ability to order proof or records from employers, this part of the process has been a roadblock for many workers.

The Navajo Indian Reservation saw its first uranium mines around 1947.Jobs were scarce at that time so the new mine was a welcome opportunity for the residents of the reservation.This was despite the low wages and poor conditions offered.

Another danger to be found in the mines was radon.Radon is a colourless, odourless radioactive gas created by decaying uranium. It is the radon exposure which experts believe causes the lung diseases that afflict the miners who have become eligible for the uranium mine compensation.

Former miners and officials within these tribes have plans to work towards altering these compensation conditions by lobbying Congress in the fall.One problem facing the government is the common idea among Navajo miners that they will receive compensation based only on their work.

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