According to a settlement in the case Tronox Inc. v. Anadarko Petroleum Corp, Anadarko and former parent Kerr-McGee Corp., have agreed to pay $5.15 billion for abandoned uranium mine cleanup in the northern and eastern agencies of the Navajo Nation.
Approximately $4.4 billion will fund environmental claims and cleanup for damages for claimants of Tronox. The Nation is one of several claimants in the case, which include the U.S., 22 states, four environmental response trusts and a trust for tort plaintiffs.
Tronox will receive 88 percent of the $5.15 billion settlement and the Navajo Nation will receive 23 percent of that amount, totaling approximately $1 billion. The Nation will utilize the funds for cleanup of 49 abandoned uranium mines that were owned by the Kerr-McGee.
The settlement will address cleanup at 49 abandoned mine sites, but hundreds more still remain unfunded.
The Kerr-McGee reorganization of 2005 placed decades of environmental liabilities upon Tronox. Anadarko eventually acquired Kerr-McGee and became the parent company of Tronox in the process.
The lead agencies in the settlement agreement were the Navajo Nation’s Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice.
Stephen Etsitty, director of Navajo EPA, said the opportunity to file a claim in the Tronox bankruptcy case came in 2009.
In 2011, staff from the Navajo EPA Superfund provided tours of the Kerr-McGee abandoned uranium mine sites to U.S. Justice Department attorneys in preparation for the trial.
In the summer of 2012, President Shelly and Navajo Nation Attorney General Harrison Tsosie testified in New York City for the court case. Etsitty and Perry Charley were selected as witnesses.
President Shelly said that tribal former leaders were instrumental in providing guidance. My administration never gave up and we ultimately prevailed, he added.
“I am proud to say ahe’hee to the Navajo people for your patience and prayers,” he said. “The settlement will be a great help in restoring the abandoned uranium mine sites, but we must not forget about the 460 other sites still in need of cleanup funds.”