High levels of alpha radiation found in South Dakota’s Cheyenne River
by Fresh Energyby Erin Stojan, program coordinator, Fresh Energy
Defenders of the Black Hills have found levels of alpha radiation in the Cheyenne River above EPA standards, according to a July 16 news release. Residents of Red Shirt, a traditional village site of the Ogalala Tetuan (Sioux) people for thousands of years located on the northwest corner of the Pine Ridge reservation, requested tests of the river water used to irrigate a community garden project. In addition to garden irrigation, Red Shirt residents use the Cheyenne River for fishing, and in the summer, for swimming and water recreation.
While the source of the contamination is not clear, the Black Hills area of South Dakota still faces pollution from abandoned uranium mines that closed in the early 1970s. Today, uranium prices are high; the industry is experiencing new growth, and exploratory work for the first mining project South Dakota has seen in decades—Powertech Uranium Corp’s Dewey Burdock project—is underway.
