Living Without Water: Contamination Nation
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- Опубліковано 23 лис 2015
- There are tens of thousands of Americans living without clean, running water on the Navajo Nation today. This is because decades of uranium mining have contaminated the majority of water sources on the reservation.
VICE News travels to New Mexico to find out how people are coping, and if there is hope for the future.
Read "The World Is Running Out of Water" - bit.ly/1Hd3jwN
Read "The Value of Water on the West Coast - And Why California Is So Screwed" - bit.ly/1MH19Cw
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This makes my stomach turn. The original natives of this land do not deserve such isolation of resources.
+798unionpipeliner u evun lyft breh?
***** you see that the problem is that that is their native land. Now I'm all for expanding their civilization, but it holds a lot more of a spiritual significance to them. You would understand if your people were more in tune with the land. Not trying to spread any hate, just stating the facts
Then sell everything you own and give it to them. Stop making other people pay for it. Get a job and stop crying
+Martin Maxey ,Got a little pent-up hostility going on there, Marty? I'd hate for you to ever be exposed to any unpleasant truths, or have any experience for which you were unprepared...guess one man's 'crying' is another's humanity...
Martin Maxey I wonder if you would be saying the same thing if this was your original land and the area that you were isolated to shows no resources. And not only that, they aren't out rioting and looting like the blacks, even though the Native Americans have it just as bad, most likely even worse. I am employed, I pay my taxes , but wouldn't you agree that companies should have been held responsible for their own actions after completely abandoning their work and scratching off any evidence of them even doing it? No one is crying for anyone, they are people, they have survived for this long, and they can in fact fend for themselves evidently. But when outside influences take what they want and then dissipate , no matter who they are, they are terrible business practices and borderline inhumane actions. You wouldn't be saying this if you didn't have any water to drink lol. Ever been hungry before?
I come from Tuba City, AZ on the Navajo Reservation. One of the largest towns on the Navajo Nation and get this, There use to be an open pit uranium mine within 3 miles of the town. They closed it off long ago but there is a massive pile of lead gravel covering it. Two of my grandparents have been affected my cancer and odds are my parents are going to develop cancer too. Those who stay on the Navajo Nation are older and don't use technology and the younger generation just leaves the problems behind. This needs to change.
You need to get our Preside to attention. He would not anyone to have to live with that danger there.
Trump? Trump and Zinke have sold off Bear's Ears to private mining companies, that is being protested by Navajo's and Utes alike. They don't give two shits about Natives. If anything, they're part of the problem.
Allen Joe your story reminds me of the movie thunder heart, watch the movie, this is very sad. My family on my mother's side is Shawnee, I was called little weasel.
Same I lost some family from the radiation too
@Wilson nope
The United States is growing with technology and on our Navajo reservation has over 50% still without water. None of our leaders in congress are doing anything about it.
It's because the Navajo's want to do it themselves. The Navajo Nation is technically a "soverign" nation meaning We're in a grey area of being in the USA but not apart of it. We have our own laws, We have our own government, we have our own regulation and we loath outside influences. It is taboo, considering how such arrangements panned out over the last century you can't blame our leaders. I do however think that this problem needs to be solved, but because so many of the youth leave for good, because of work or because of housing, most of the time it just can't be done. I myself am attending College but plan to go back to make a difference in my community.
Congressman are not good leaders if they were things with get done right for our people
They are to busy arguing back and forth with each other.
Allen Joe Bro wish you the best and that you proper.
The Almighty Dollar 🙏
@Ed Lill Immigrants actually add to revenue way more than the cost. With half of the fortune 500 paying 0 in tax or even getting money from the government maybe Republicans could cut some corporate welfare programs or quit making the country spend more than half of all discretionary spending on the military to spend that $ at home.
It's a cryin' shame what people do to other people, all in the name of profit and war.
Shouldn't the government be held liable and responsible for the cleaning up of the uranium mines , since most uranium production was initiated through government contracts.
Ever heard the term Indian Giver? That's us white folk, or anyone with $$
Can't sue the Federal government. I mean, you can try, but most courts will throw it out. Sad but true.
Hell yes they should.
oh America... I love you but you gotta get your shit sorted out.
+Mitchell Grajeda America. Where you from!? step up. represent ese.
+cheeriomartinez east la. ahh. estoy jugando
i was just messing with you man.
True. And, so much shit we have. Will take a while to sort out.
Water truck lady I love people like you this world needs more people like you
I can't even watch this with out crying. What bullshit is this. How is this allowable... My heart goes out to them...
@just watching Videos ...just harder..fracking is destroying the water table in so many places...here in Ohio whole communities have poseined well water
I find it so disgusting how America likes getting into other nation's problems but can't fix their own. As an American myself, I feel disgraced about America's history, and America's complete ignorance. >:(
If you feel disgraced about America‘s history, I suggest you read it.
Your personal ignorance is astounding. Native land is governed by natives. They have their own laws and if we go break laws on reservation land we pay the consequences set forth by the tribes. They have to report murders to the federal government- they had to choose to clear their land for their casinos...
Not saying they have a great life or that it is moral.
I am saying spreading half truth and lies doesn’t fix the problems.
Perfectly said.
@@rebekahhakeber5093 and how did they get that land Rebekah? Your ignorance is outstanding.
Bill Arrow by being the ones who conquered it prior to the Spaniard Danes and English arriving ? Might want to check you own IQ sir. Mine is just fine.
its always native people that suffer ,, America , Australia you name it.
Canada
@@WhizeCracker i was just going to say that. I'm Canadian it's shameful they're the rightful owners of this land are the natives
Yes many ppl suffered from Europe's poorness n greed
@@monstaro19 agree
"lets go get drunk off gasoline.... heyyy why am i poor?" "lets sign this contract that says this land is mine! all mine! wait....you say i have to build my own water system MYSELF!? cmon white man, do it for me!"
God damn it America
+Eddie Anthony They actually refuse Government help, and they dont pay taxes and many of the reservation heads make millions off casinos and other items they can run without paying taxes on the income. But you cannot expect a government to help them that they are not willing to contribute to.
+Merp they took there land
joe bell 250 years ago. Tell me a government that didnt take land or claim something themselves. This is not unique to the united states. Plus to be fair most of the land was actually sold to the United States government by nations like France and Spain.
+Merp wow man your comment says it all...you guys went with your laws and claimed land from America to Australia.
+Merp Land that nations like France and Spain didn't actually own.
I like how the guy said the so called united states
"Can we mine uranium on your land?" No different than giving them blankets infected with smallpox.
The fact that you think European settlers did this on purpose is laughable. People with smallpox were NOT allowed on the ships for what I think are obvious reasons.... however that may be they carried the virus unknowingly... I dont condone what was done to the native people but smallpox wasn't purposely given to anyone.. Europeans had developed antibodies that the natives hadn't because they hadn't been exposed. And Europeans that made it back started seeing cases of syphilis that wasnt known to them before.. I suppose that was done intentionally too? 🤣🤣
It's been documented.
Read a book or do a Google search.
You look like a dumba$$.
@@trikelyfe6090 you do know in residential schools they integrated children who had tuberculosis with children that didn't killing off thousands.
@@trikelyfe6090 you do know in residential schools they integrated children who had tuberculosis with children that didn't killing off thousands.
This is truly disheartening to see true Americans go through this. Here in Australia we've got one of the largest uranium reserves in the world, there were setbacks because it caused great issues with the indigenous people here too. This is due generally because they also tend to live in rural outback areas away from the major cities near these reserves.
That being said the need for uranium has dropped pretty much with the popularity of nuclear energy, it was a careful consideration of the Australian government to have a plant built here but thank god that never happened, I have to give credit where it's due though at least it's less harmful than archaic coal
+blade mckenzie Thank god for the advancement of nuclear energy moving from fission reactors to fusion reactors :D
Stop kissing your own nations ass. Have you seen what your neighbour, New Zealand is doing? Sure kiwis have migrated to Australia, but the colonists have NEVER forgotten the first people since the first national laws.
This is very similar to what is happening here in my country, El Salvador. The only difference, is that here, there is still enough water for everyone, the problem is how it is distributed. You can live in a poor neighborhood and not have running water, but 1 mile from that poor neighborhood, it is a "fancy" residential with big houses for the wealthy, and they have water always.
really? what else is el Salvador's problem? :) I heard violence in el Salvador is rising.
farrukita Martinez Oh dear. Latin America problems in general are worst than you think, specially here in Central America. El Salvador has a lot problems, including extreme poverty, the highest rate of homicides in the world, etc etc. Yet, with all those problems, we are very nice people, we export a lot of software and good people, but corruption and lack of education has done damage to our society through decades.
Luis Mejía F well I think Latin America is beautiful :) well I have family that lives in mexico, but I love Latin America no matter what :) and yes I agree with you. Your people are really nice jeje I have a friend who is Salvadorian and he is really nice :)
I think El Salvador has a gang problem more than a water problem
Everytime there is a report on natives it's often about living conditions and it's always tragic. Yet these are the most patient and enduring people i've seen.
Meanwhile, spending billions to fight ISIS.
ArabMusic23 nope
+ArabMusic23 I agree with you.
Isis steals oil from our pipelines.
@@sixtysyxti3235 your oil outside of the us?
VICE News travels to New Mexico to find out how people are coping without access to clean water, and if there is hope for the future.
Read "The World Is Running Out of Water" - bit.ly/1Hd3jwN
+VICE News TY for shining a light on this.
+C Morel 2yya
+C Morel That's a good idea.. What about a simple rain collection system for each of these households too.. Deep wells and miles of pipe are very expensive but not rainwater cisterns.
+fla playa it doesn't work because uranium mining also contaminated the whole environment as bad so you don't use even rain water
Ali Shan So even the clouds that blow in from other places are contaminated with Uranium from the four corners?
I sympathize with those who live in contaminated areas. But, I question the backhoe operator's claim that the ground is too hard to work. As can be seen, (3:57) the ground is dirt, mixed with medium sized rocks. The backhoe operator simply needs to switch to a narrower bucket to tear through it. If he wants a wider trough, just cut a second, parallel trench placed a foot off to one side of the first trench.
That poor activist guy is red like a lobster due to the sunburn, lol.
+RexCroatorum he is trying to fit in with the native lol.
+RexCroatorum whites have sensitive skin.
+The Teacher *gingers have sensitive skin
Yep.
Radiation exposure of another kind. The sun.
cough cough flint cough cough
Should bottle their water and have it delivered to Washington....
this was 3 years ago. I wondering how things are now...
I've been aware of this for some time and I must say it makes me ashamed to call myself American. If I were the Navajo, I would sue for at least 250 billion.
This is so darned sad! Also, the water table has dropped in these areas. It's even worse than when this video was made.
so what are steps we can take as a people to help our communities to get our water cleaned up to make our Water Resources safer or to help with the transport of clean water to the areas that don't have clean water and to help keep some of our youth on our raises instead of leaving to try to make a better life for themselves where they don't have much opportunity I don't live on the road but majority of my family on my mom's side does I want to know what I can do as an individual to help out
In America...
It's kind of tragic how oil pipelines crisscross the country yet piping water seems almost impossible.
.02 cents a gallon of water 10 dollars for a gallon of unrefined crude.
Isnt impossible just not profitable.
Rad-X and RadAway. Problem solved.
+ThunderForce I wish it was that easy
I've been awake for over an hour and haven't played fallout. Thanks for fueling my addiction
or a water distiller
Why is that
Hahahahaha good one 😂😂😂
Fantastic reporting. What an important issue that is not typically a focus. Keep up the good work Vice.
What about casino revenues used to get basic needs on their land?
Wow, this doc is very informative. I can't believe people are having to deal with this in 2016!
Very interesting, but sad for those folks.... would be great if VICE could return for a 2019 status update on this situation!
If you're been to the Res. Only a chain link fence blocks the way to where uranium was mined. The wind easily blows contaminates right on through the fence.
Its so sad. I see it every day and hear about it from across our rez. Our lands. My area is running out of water (Ft. Defiance). I'm an avid hiker and its just too dry, our forests are dying. This gentleman and elder vet is dealing with uranium contamination just over the state line from my area. Out west, there is severe drought and just up the road from there, its contaminated from the coal mines. We're all Navajo and our conditions continue to deteriorate.
And to top this off the EPA spilled several million gallons of toxic waste water out of an abandoned gold mine in Navajo territory last summer...
Last I heard the governor of Colorado had declared a state of Emergency and vowed to sue the EPA. Haven't heard anything since. Are you going to talk about this VICE?
reporter:"did u know it was contaminated?"
guy:"ive been drinking that water for about 15-20 years"..... lol
Lmao
I've lived with similar contamination.
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Death by thirst is quicker than death by cancer.
You gotta make your choices
NettoHikari Oh yes, it’s all very funny...isn’t it?
great timing vice!! so all of a sudden you show up and the water people show up after all these years of waiting for video and water
For the "100 gallon figure is too much" crowd -- first Google search result from USGS.GOV (US household):
How much water does the average person use at home per day? Estimates vary, but each person uses about 80-100 gallons ofwater per day. Are you surprised that the largest use of household water is to flush the toilet, and after that, to take showers and baths?
heartbreaking ...
I loved this video, its high saturation and contrast... it's a welcome change, most vice reports, though highly informative, are so frigging depressive!
It looks awesome in 2560x1440 resolution, 60-70fps
Agreed....and George's sunburn really pops.
You can only tell when you binge watch like you and I 😂😂😂
I had to haul water 30 miles myself for a few years ... greetings and sincere support from Minnesota
I live in San Diego, never been to New Mexico and plan to live the rest of my life their. I've also been learning about the Navaho. This mess just pisses me off.
(Sundance) Water tank can also go above ground. If they cant dig and break rock get someone that can operate that backhoe.
I looked into this. It seems the biggest problem is that these people are spread out too much. The Navajo people like to "live on the land" quite literally. There are literally hundreds of tiny "towns" all over the Navajo nation so of course it is not possibe to pipe water to each home. What they need to do is build 3 medium sized towns each with a population of around 100k. Then it would be practical to either build a pipeline/canal to each city or to pump ground water and use modern technology to clean the water. If that was done then I could see the Navajo people greatly increasing their standard of living.
+Nomis Anep If someone pollutes your land, demanding they pay up is not asking for a handout. Demanding compensation from those who benefited from this is
If they can't afford the infrastructure to supply clean water now, what makes you think they can afford to build 3 small cities and relocate everyone? Setting aside, for now, the historical baggage that comes with relocating indigenous people and/or forced assimilation, how would you even go about relocating so many people? Your solution seems much more costly and like a logistical nightmare! I think we need to take some money out of our overused, bloated war chest and use it to fix problems here at home: like getting clean water to the people of the Navajo Nation and Flint, Michigan!
Is there an update to this story?
i can't take this shit any more, i can't do shit to change it.....and this for me only creates depresion, i know things are bad, make a video when somone makes change.
There is a lot of optimism. There are many charities bridging together to end this. They are setting up huge water networks that bass polluted sources.
+Taru " I Love to Change the World......"
+Taru lol if there was positive change it wouldnt bring the same numbers) thats why everything is so positive, shock value draws in viewers, more viewers, more money
Fucking drama queen.
This is heartbreaking😡
However do we accept, tolerate such living ways to our Native Americans? Why are previous & new immigrants R called Americans if they do nothing in rectifying the lives of our true Native ones? Where is compassion? And we are called civilized? Is this a joke? The more I read & learn about the hardship of our Natives (which is STILL going on) makes me real sick! This is not humanitarian ...
Because they are a sovereign nation with no real tax revenue...
I found myself in tears.
My dad lived on the Navajo reservation for a large part of his childhood in the 1980s. They had no running water, and no electricity.
I have no words. Just disappointment and anger. When will the injustice, disregard, and suffering stop?
Darlene 'The Water Lady' Arviso is amazing! What an angel.
I don't know anyone who uses even close to 100 gallons of water a day
We do need to take care of ourselves not governments.
hits too close to home. even with the recent and ongoing of the Colorado mines contaminating the San Juan river. it was just sad at this year fair by Shiprock, corn and vegetables all gone. harvest this season took a toll on family's who depend their lives on the river and it's products.
such beautiful an valuable people
I'm ojibway and this really upsets me to see other First Nations go thru life this way. On my reserve we still receive our water thru water trucks. So I really feel for them.
Of course, I have no idea if anyone is reading these given that this video apparently was posted eight years ago. But I saw a piece on a gentleman who created a machine, they’re very large, and it draws drinking water out of the atmosphere, and if I recall, he’s on a mission to set these Self-contained, wind, and solar powered machines up in places like the Navajo nation.
Please help them, shame on America’s government. No excuse for this to be happening in the USA
wow and its such a beautiful place ..... such a bummer
GOD BLESS YOU SISTER. YOU REALLY HAVE A HEART OF LOVE.
This is so infuriating what the settlers did to the first nations. And still do.
8:10 - 9:08 WOW that is a frightening predicament they are in! The modern world is full of such complex situations.
The photography and production in this is fucking awesome. I love whatever you people did to to make the sky and scenery look so fucking awesome.
so, here is the windmill with the uranium contaminated water. i'm going to turn on the spigot, then you touch the water and put it near your face. that cool?
yep, sounds great!
They can put water and or septics above ground. Once or if they can even find uncontaminated water.
That is far more expensive due to pumps needed to run it not to mention how prone such system are to failure and need of maintenance. And as the video said, 70% of Navajo's are unemployed and scattered. Building such an elaborate system for one house is entirely inefficient. Though the concept you mention is implemented in larger Cities where the benefit outweighs the cost. The cost of building the existing infrastructure primarily comes from grants and the Navajo Nation itself so they really need to penny pinch. And to answer the question of uncontaminated water, (atleast where I come from) A large part of the Navajo Nation relies on deeeeeep ground wells, so far down that uranium hasn't reached dangerous levels yet.
I get the whole contaminated water thing, and I can see how that's a problem. But what's the big deal about having running water in the house? I'm in Australia an my parents haven't had running water in the house since 1979. Many Australians in rural areas rely on rainwater and when there's not enough rain, they truck potable water in.
this is so sad...omg
I'm Apache descent no way in hell I could have you been used code talking for the military during war
You should have sent a sample of that water to someone with a gamma spectrometer. They'll be able to confirm what is in it, and in what quantities. Would have been interesting to see.
A reverse osmosis system for $200 would take out all the uranium for safe drinking water for each house hold. Way less expensive than building pipelines or hauling water.
Dude was on the money when he said they need to rely on themselves. Look at where relying on the nanny state government has gotten them.
sadly it's already lost
Why not build a large scale distillation unit on the reservation. A man found on UA-cam figured a way to make one large enough to create enough sterile water in large enough volume to run throughout the pipes continuously throughout an entire home, not just for drinking. You need no pumps, no nothing. It's a passive solar still. Just need a pump to pump from the storage tank unless it is high enough and can be gravity fed through pressure. This is the way to go, only way to remove radiation, chemical, bacterial viral etc contamination. Also the only way to remove salt ie., desalination.
6:11 what a world without chem trail would like 😲
happy thanksgiving !
3:32 - I saw all that caliche - man it amazed me how thick that one piece alone was - maybe 8"!
If somebody really wanted to put septic systems in the ground a half stick of dynamite would do it easy. Problem is very little ground like that is percable.
Every family need an Incinolet or two. The electricity to power it can come from one photo cell alone.
Pentagon where are you?! You're f'ing your own Wind Talkers!
How long did everyone go without plumbing and water. Time to concentrate on real issues. Helping Indians get water and plumbing is a real crisis.I personally lived in a area where we had wells and outhouses. We lived in a racially mixed community and were called white trash. Even my children lived like this. We lived in public housing for a while but drugs were so bad we moved back to the country. I made a choice to go back to my community for my children's safety. Months after we left a friend of my daughters was murdered by a 15 year old white male in that apt. complex. I had a husband who was military but never made to pay child support.Maybe I am a angry woman but things need to change. The rich get tax breaks the poor and middle class get none.This was done once before and failed.How long will these people ride on the backs of the poor and middle class.Tired of Lying politicians everything said has to be fact checked.
If they ever do get water down there it's gonna have fluoride in it
thanks again vice for another informative video.. keep up the great work I love your channel
I dont know how the avg consumption of water for the us citizen is 100 gallons a day! I don't even use 10 and that's for showering, drinking , washing and whatnot.....the only thing I can think of is the pools and watering of lawns and commercial and industrial usage that could possibly get the avg to that....
Stay strong my relatives! Things will change soon, America’s evils are sowing now!
You are constantly in my prayers 🧘🏿♀️💕
It's really showing now!!!
This is true in areas of Texas also, not on reservations, regular impoverished communities.
What water hasn't been destroyed is being purchased through land sales to obtain the underground stream resources by water companies and authorities, such as the el Paso Texas and Midland Texas water authorities.
These groups are applying for and receiving multiple federal loans and grants.
El Paso has already purchased those lands in both Hudspeth and Culber(t)son Counties .
Midland Texas is buying the underground stream properties in the Jal N.M. area.
What isn't being purchased by the water corporations, are being purchased by other big corporations and other countries, such as Saudi Arabia making these purchases in Az.
Also California gives Nestle their water for free.
At the same time, private wells are being over regulated to put them out of commission - permanently.
That's the gist of the water rights in our country.
Add fracking to that and you have no clue what they are suctioning out of the ground in your area,much less what they are pushing into the underground streams that you have the water rights too.
Fracking gives the corporate fracker the ability to take what doesn't belong to him/her too.
The Indians lived/visited Manitou Springs...The Sand Creek Massacre...great highlight everyone deserves clean water
This is so wild.
7:13 that’s the solution: lay pipe!
Is there not a way to build a crude purifier? A trough to catch the shit water, and an oil burning system or passive system that can evaporate the water and let the steam drip cleanly into a tank
car battery + 12 volt electric pump + solar panel + water tank = running water for your entire house. why does he act like its someone elses responsibility to do it for him?
$5B US? thats chump change compared to defense budget ... someone thing really wrong you Americans.
Homie from digdeep had NO idea native families are living without running water, sometimes even electricity
Lived in NM all my life and never heard of Haystack.
Haystack. Home.
There was a coal mine operating to supply a power station near Kayenta. The hotel I stay at has to filter the water coming from the well and STILL you can see the coal dust if you let a glass of water sit on the table for an hour. The mine is being shut down (a HUGE economic blow to the town) as the power plant is being shut down. And the powers that be won't do anything. ALL in the name of a buck. VERY depressing.
I do not have water were I live either as well as hundreds of my neighbors.We have two water company’s where you can have water delivered for 6cents a gallon or haul it for your self for 2.5 to 3 cents.I watched this video and was wondering if like my neighbors can have an underground tank or like we have a large above ground tank. Either way your all in our prayers
Is there enough rainfall to install a rain tank on his house? Its cheaper and safer than a well.
I'm curious if VICE will cover the Gold King Mine spill that happened this August. Another contaminated water disaster to deal with. I just came back from a trip on Nov. 29th to visit my family in the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, Utah. They have not used the tap water since the incident but, actually travel 40-50 miles East or West depending on what city they decide to buy bottled water from and do their laundry.
www.google.com/search?q=gold+king+mine&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=gold+king+mine&tbm=nws
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Gold_King_Mine_waste_water_spill
Would de ionization remove any low level radioactive pollutants?
This is beyond sad on so many levels.......those who should be the most revered American citizens......are treated like the worst and least of all......makes me so angry.....
its as bad or worse here in Canada
+Dave Thomas Australia and New Zealand same thing, we live in a global caste society and indigenous people are the untouchables.and this is as Professor Jon Atlman economist and anthropologist of the National University of Australia says is a byproduct of Global Neo-Liberal values
sad
This is so sad.