WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The El Paso Natural Gas Company will reimburse the EPA $502,500 based on its field investigations of uranium contamination in the designated areas, the release explained.
"The EPA and the Department of Justice announced a settlement worth more than $500,000 with El Paso Natural Gas Company, (EPNG) to reimburse government costs related to 19 abandoned uranium mines located on the Navajo Nation, near Cameron, Arizona," the release stated on Monday.
However, further serious contamination still exists at more than 500 other abandoned uranium mines on Navajo Nation territory, the EPA s release admitted.
EPA’s field surveys found the soil was contaminated by radioactive uranium and radium, two substances known to cause cancer.
Land and water resources in the area may have been threatened by the waste material, the release acknowledged.
