FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 4, 2022
White Mesa Concerned Community
protectwhitemesa.org
MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact:
Yolanda Badback, White Mesa Concerned Community, (435) 459-2461, ybadback427@gmail.com
Bradley Angel, Greenaction for Health & Environmental Justice, (415) 722-5270, bradley@greenaction.org
White Mesa Ute Organize Protest, Spiritual Walk Opposing White Mesa Uranium Mill
What: Annual rally, protest, and spiritual walk to protect the White Mesa Ute community’s health, water, air, land, culture, and sacred sites from the nearby White Mesa uranium mill and oppose the mill becoming an international dumping ground for radioactive waste from around the world. The protest and walk are sponsored by the White Mesa Concerned Community and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. All supporters welcome.
When: Saturday, October 22, 2022, 11am MDT rally followed by spiritual and protest walk to the White Mesa uranium mill.
Where: The White Mesa Ute Community Center, located in White Mesa, Utah, just south of Blanding, Utah off of Highway 191. The community center is located on the west side of the highway. Turn in at the gas station and continue one block south to the community center.
Why: Citizens of the Ute Mountain Ute community of White Mesa and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe are concerned about contamination from the nearby uranium mill and desecration of sacred sites and cultural resources.
Quotes:
“They are bringing toxic waste, radioactive waste, from places all across the United States to the mill in White Mesa. In the past, some has spilled. I can smell the mill from my house when it’s running. We are the closest community. If there’s a spill, or an accident, it’s our children who ride the school bus on these roads with the trucks every morning. That’s why we’re standing up and saying: Enough. We want to keep our home and our children safe.” –Yolanda Badback, White Mesa Concerned Community
“Here on our reservation in White Mesa, I’m worried about the mill. We are just a small community of about 300 people. Saturday is a day I will spend with my family, my kids and grandkids. Please come walk with us and support clean air and clean water for our children and our grandchildren here in our Ute Mountain Ute community.” – Thelma Whiskers, White Mesa Concerned Community
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White Mesa Concerned Community is a grassroots group of concerned citizens of the Ute Mountain Ute community of White Mesa, Utah, located south of the White Mesa uranium mill. We work to inform our fellow citizens and protect our community, health, water, air, land, culture, and sacred sites from toxic contamination.
The 2022 Rally and Spiritual Walk is co-sponsored by the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, Uranium Watch, Indigenous Environmental Network, Grand Canyon Trust, Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Living Rivers, HEAL Utah, SLC Air Protectors, Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, National Parks Conservation Association, PANDOS.
