Community Partner Spotlight: White Mesa Concerned Community

Native-led grassroots organization White Mesa Concerned Community has been working for over a decade to protect community, ecosystem, and cultural health from impacts of the White Mesa Uranium Mill, the only fully licensed uranium processing facility in the United States. The mill stores radioactive waste in pits above aquifers, possibly contaminating the water and making it undrinkable. This waste is increasing due to accelerated permitting for energy development projects resulting from the reinstated Secretarial Order 3354.

To protest the mill and raise awareness of its harmful effects on the environment, community health, and sacred sites, White Mesa Concerned Community is holding their 10th annual Spiritual Walk, just north of the community and east of Bears Ears National Monument. Yolanda Badback, cofounder of the White Mesa Concerned Community, invites people to join them, saying, “We are a small community. We cannot do this alone.” Learn more about the walk here.

White Mesa Concerned Community is a Stewarding Native Lands partner under the Environmental Sovereignty and Justice focus area. Learn more about their work here.