The Environmental Protection Agency celebrated the opening of its new office in Flagstaff with a ribbon cutting ceremony Tuesday morning. The Flagstaff Field Office will focus on the ongoing project to cleanup abandoned uranium mines impacting Indigenous lands. According to research used by the EPA, potential health effects from exposure to uranium in drinking water include lung cancer, bone cancer and impaired kidney function. With a new Flagstaff location, officials from the EPA say they will have a better opportunity to work with the Navajo Nation government directly and more frequently. The EPA’s District 9 Regional Administrator Martha Guzman said, “It’s really so much more than an office, it’s a commitment, it’s a relationship, it’s a place that brings people together.” The EPA’s ten-year plan began in 2020 and includes the cleanup of 110 mines by 2030. The new office will be located inside U.S. Geological Survey Office on Gemini Drive near Buffalo Park.  More information on the EPA’s plan to cleanup abandoned uranium mines can be found on the EPA’s website at epa.gov.

To visit the EPA’s website, click here.

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Daisy Johnston