MCKINNEY CONGRATULATES EARTH CHALLENGE OF DECATUR
FOR RIDE TO STOP URANIUM MINING ON NATIVE AMERICAN
LAND
July 1, 1999
WASHINGTON D.C. -- Earth Challenge, a Decatur
based non-profit organization, and its 13-woman cycle team are
bicycling 2,300 miles from Atlanta to Yucca Mountain, the proposed
site for a national nuclear waste disposal facility.
"I want to personally thank the women of Earth
Challenge for their valiant efforts in their 'Shifting Gears Ride
for Environmental Action' ride. Their dedication to addressing
environmental issues throughout the nation is an inspiration.
I am proud to have such an organization within my community," says
McKinney.
Earth Challenge will be stopping in Albuquerque,
New Mexico on Thursday for a press conference to highlight the work
of the Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM).
ENDAUM is working to stop uranium mining in the Navajo communities
of Church Rock and Crownpoint, New Mexico. Hydro Resources,
Inc. (HRI) plans to mine uranium from a groundwater aquifer that
serves as the only source of drinking water for 15,000 Navajo
residents.
"Earth Challenge is bringing much needed
attention to the plight of the Navajo people in New Mexico.
The US can not continue its policy of exploitation towards native
Americans. HRI is blatantly disregarding the health of the
Navajo people, we need to come together to end the marginalization
of native people. I applaud the efforts of ENDAUM, and I will
make sure their voice does not fall on deaf ears on capital hill,"
says McKinney.
Earth Challenge co-directors Susan Alzner and
Leigh Lytle indicate that the primary purpose of the organization is
to improve environmental health through individual and community
empowerment. Their goals include the elimination of Yucca
Mountain as a nuclear storage facility and the protection of human
rights for groups like ENDAUM.
"We can not turn our highways and railways into
a 'Mobile Chernobyl.' The United States will not survive if we
continue our irresponsible environmental policies. Sacrificing
our future for profit is reprehensible. I will fight for
public policy based on common sense, and not the bottom line,"
concludes Congresswoman McKinney.
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