Name: 美國曆史上最大的放射性洩漏事件 (The biggest radioactive spill in US history)
Uploaded: 2020-10-12T18:05:34.000Z
Duration: 12 min 33 s

And we used to have farming down here and up that way.

我們以前在這裡和那邊都有農業。

And I used to play in that perennial stream.

而我曾經在那條常年的溪流中玩耍。

The sheep, the cows and the horses they all drank from there.

羊、牛、馬他們都喝那裡的水。

The Navajo tribe, I wonder if they had any idea what was going to happen here.

納瓦霍部落，不知道他們是否知道這裡會發生什麼。

For over forty years, this Navajo community in Church Rock, New Mexico

四十多年來，這個位於新墨西哥州丘奇巖的納瓦霍人社區。

The mining industry poisoned their water, soil, and air...

採礦業毒害了他們的水、土壤和空氣... ...

and turned its back on the biggest radioactive spill in US history.

並背棄了美國曆史上最大的放射性洩漏事件。

Right there that big one that looks like a mesa or a hill.

就在那裡，那個大的看起來像一個山丘或山丘。

a remnant of the industry that started here during World War II.

二戰期間在這裡開始的工業遺存。

"On the New Mexico Desert, allied scientists unleashed its stupendous power."

"在新墨西哥州的沙漠上，聯盟的科學家們釋放出了它驚人的力量。"

In the early 1940s, the US developed top-secret plans to build an atomic bomb.

20世紀40年代初，美國製定了製造原子彈的絕密計劃。

And for that, they needed a steady, domestic source of a radioactive substance called uranium.

為此，他們需要一種穩定的、國內的、名為鈾的放射性物質的來源。

From World War II through the Cold War, the US incentivized uranium mining to build up domestic nuclear power.

從二戰到冷戰，美國激勵鈾礦開採以建立國內核電。

By the 1950s, there was a uranium boom in the Southwest.

到了20世紀50年代，西南地區出現了鈾礦熱潮。

Navajo Nation the largest Native American territory in the US sits right in the middle.

納瓦霍族是美國最大的美國原住民領地，就在中間。

And it was quickly swept into the uranium mining industry.

"Vast deposits of uranium have been discovered in the Navajo hills..."

"在納瓦霍山發現了大量的鈾礦..."

The US government hired private mining companies

that often leased land without compensating Navajo Nation fairly.

往往在租賃土地時不對納瓦霍族進行公平補償。

because it offered the prospect of economic growth and jobs for its residents.

因為它為其居民提供了經濟增長和就業的前景。

By the 1950s, there were 750 mines in the area employing thousands of people from Navajo Nation.

到20世紀50年代，該地區有750個礦井，僱傭了數千名納瓦霍族人。

This area, along Red Water Pond Road, eventually became one of those hotspots

紅水塘路一帶，最終成為其中的熱點之一

with two big mining operations setting up shop here.

有兩個大的礦業公司在這裡開店。

The only job that was really available in our area was the mines.

我們這一帶真正有工作的只有礦山。

And I got a job there in October of 1975 as a surface laborer.

1975年10月，我在那裡找到了一份工作，是一名地面工人。

作為一個單親家庭，我必須找到一份工作。

And they gave me a job as a probe technician.

他們給了我一份探測技術員的工作。

Mining jobs for Native Americans were often on the frontlines...

美國原住民的採礦工作經常在第一線......

building the mines, blasting, digging, and transporting the yellow uranium ore.

建礦、爆破、挖掘、運輸黃鈾礦。

But what they didn't know at the time was that decades earlier

但當時他們不知道的是，早在幾十年前

studies had already linked uranium mining to lung cancer.

研究已經將鈾礦開採與肺癌聯繫起來。

"Many radon daughters are retained in the lungs..."

And the importance of protecting mine workers from radioactivity was well documented.

而保護礦工不受放射性影響的重要性，也是有據可查的。

"It is necessary to have fans capable of providing plenty of fresh air to all..."

"必須有能夠為所有人提供大量新鮮空氣的風扇..."

Yet many Navajo workers say they had little protective gear,

然而，許多納瓦霍工人表示，他們幾乎沒有什麼防護裝備。

and no warning of how hazardous uranium could be to their health.

也沒有警告說鈾對他們的健康有多大危害。

I was breathing in dust, mine dust, all that uranium dust.

我呼吸著灰塵，礦井的灰塵，所有的鈾粉塵。

you could smell it coming down and give you a headache.

你可以聞到它下來，讓你頭痛。

By the 1960s, cases of lung cancer started appearing in Navajo Nation,

到了20世紀60年代，納瓦霍族開始出現肺癌病例。

where the disease had been nearly nonexistent.

在那裡，這種疾病幾乎不存在。

Residents near Red Water Pond Road, sandwiched between those two mines, eventually started to get sick, too.

夾在這兩個礦井之間的紅水塘路附近的居民，最終也開始生病。

We're right here. And so you can see Kerr-McGee area and then of course UNC.

我們就在這裡你可以看到Kerr -McGee區，當然還有UNC。

And these are the local people that have homes in the area.

而這些都是在當地有房子的人。

People, children especially, getting sick with asthma problems,

人，尤其是孩子，得了哮喘問題。

這種情況在1979年夏天發生了變化。

UNC stored its toxic uranium waste in a pond nearby.

聯合國軍司令部將其有毒的鈾廢料儲存在附近的一個池塘裡。

which held several hundred million gallons of radioactive sludge, or tailings.

其中有幾億加侖的放射性汙泥，或尾礦。

Early on July 16th the dam on the pond broke,

7月16日一早，池塘上的大壩破裂。

letting out over one thousand tons of uranium tailings and millions of gallons of wastewater into the Rio Puerco.

向Rio Puerco排放了1 000多噸鈾尾礦和數百萬加侖廢水。

It was a creek bed locally known as the Perky,

這是一條被當地人稱為 "霹靂 "的小河床。

that was often used as a source of drinking water for locals and livestock.

經常被用作當地人和牲畜的飲用水源。

I started hearing people talking. Did you see that? Did you see the mill? Did you see the dam?

我開始聽到人們的談話。你看到了嗎？你看到磨坊了嗎？你看到大壩了嗎？

There was crowds of people out there, but never really knowing

外面人山人海，但從來沒有真正的瞭解過

you know, that 94 million gallons of contaminated waste had just gone down the Perky.

你知道，9400萬加侖的汙染廢物 剛剛走了下來Perky。

One government report showed radioactivity levels in the Puerco at over one thousand times what is allowed in drinking water.

一份政府報告顯示，普洱市的放射性水準是飲用水允許值的一千多倍。

But at the time of the spill, newspapers characterized

但在洩漏事件發生時，報紙上的定性是

the area as "sparsely populated" and that the spill "presents no immediate health hazard."

該地區 "人口稀少"，洩漏 "不會對健康造成直接危害"。

Many Navajo residents, in a community of about 100,

許多納瓦霍居民，在一個約100人的社區。

said they weren't warned about using the river or about the spill...

他們說，他們沒有被警告使用河流或洩漏... ...

For the mining company, there had been warning signs.

對於礦業公司來說，已經有了預警信號。

An Army Corps of Engineers report showed that cracking was identified by the company in 1978...

陸軍工程兵部隊的一份報告顯示，該公司在1978年發現了裂縫......

The UNC also knew the dam "did not incorporate all the necessary protective measures.

聯合國軍司令部也知道大壩 "沒有采取所有必要的保護措施"。

After the spill, the company, and federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency evaded responsibility,

洩漏事件發生後，該公司以及環境保護局等聯邦機構都在逃避責任。

and just one percent of the solid radioactive waste was cleaned up within three months of the spill.

而在洩漏事件發生後的三個月內，僅有1%的固體放射性廢物被清理。

This was a stark comparison to the US response to another nuclear accident,

這與美國對另一起核事故的反應形成了鮮明的對比。

which happened less than four months before the Church Rock spill.

該事件發生在Church Rock洩漏事件之前不到四個月。

It was the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania.

這是賓夕法尼亞州三裡島核反應堆的部分熔燬。

After the accident, President Carter visited the site.

事故發生後，卡特總統參觀了現場。

Cleanup began quickly and those affected in the nearby, largely white community...

清理工作迅速展開，附近受影響的主要是白人社區... ...

Back in Church Rock, where the spill released three times as much radiation as Three Mile Island,

回到教堂巖，那裡的洩漏事故釋放的輻射量是三裡島的三倍。

and the largest radioactive spill in US history was overlooked.

而美國曆史上最大的一次放射性洩漏事故卻被忽略了。

Over here, you know, we're like, treated like a third world.

在這裡，你知道，我們就像，被當作第三世界。

It's still here. It's been here 40 years.

它還在這裡。它已經在這裡40年了。

They don't see us as human beings. We're like, we're disposable.

他們不把我們當人看。我們就像，我們是一次性的。

While there still hasn't been a comprehensive health study done in the area,

雖然仍然沒有在該地區進行全面的健康研究。

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美國曆史上最大的放射性洩漏事件 (The biggest radioactive spill in US history)

eventually

native

community

disease