WINDOW ROCK, Ariz.—Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye announced that he intends to take legal action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the massive release of mine waste into the Animas River near Silverton, Colorado.

Begaye made this announcement on Aug. 8 at the Shiprock Chapter House, which was packed to capacity with concerned community members living along the San Juan River.

“They are not going to get away with this,” he said of the destructive impact to natural habitats and ecosystems that traditional Navajo culture relies on.

He said the sludge has migrated into the San Juan River and is wending through the Navajo Nation. The plume is expected to...

Sediments left behind

FARMINGTON– Seven well water testing teams were deployed by the New Mexico Environment Department in concert with the Environmental Protection Agency  to test domestic water wells near the Animas River which flows through Farmington and Aztec, New Mexico Aug. 11.

“Although the Gold King Mine Spill’s heavy metals plume has mostly passed through the area, the sediments left behind are capable of influencing groundwater quality,” New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn said. “We are operating with an abundance of caution, on behalf of New Mexicans’ health and safety, by advising that no water from San Juan County’s domestic wells or from the Animas...

A letter signed by a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators and Representatives from New Mexico and Colorado is urging President Barack Obama to direct federal resources to the Animas River spill cleanup.

Among these resources is a call for a coordinated response to the disaster. The Environmental Protection Agency has been criticized by state and local governments for not providing timely communication on the spill and its impact on the area.

The spill happened after a team working for the EPA accidentally released three million gallons of toxic water from an abandoned mine near Silverton, Colo. into a nearby creek. The sickly orange plume traveled down the creek to the Animas River...

For a campus comprised of mostly Native American students, there are only but a few choices of classes that delve into North American Indian history and heritage. And now those classes have been scrubbed from the University of New Mexico-Gallup’s fall line up.

“Native American History & Culture of North America” and “The Pueblo People” were both canceled in July.

These upper division classes were substituted with other classes to meet the necessary criteria towards a Bachelor’s Degree.

Ken Van Brott, operations manager for UNM-G’s Bachelor and Graduate Programs, said it wasn’t the Gallup branch’s choice to cancel the classes.

“The Native American classes were...