Pulitzercenter.org
The northwestern New Mexico communities of Murray Acres and Broadview Acres have created a "Death Map" detailing residents in the area that have died from thyroid disease, cancer, and breast cancer. The residents believe that the cause of these illnesses is due to the 22.2 million tons of uranium waste left over from milling ore. A 1958 uranium mill owned by Homestake Mining Company of California processed and refined ore mined nearby. The waste left behind leaked uranium and selenium into groundwater and released the cancer-causing gas radon into the air.
In the 1980s, Homestake promised residents of Murray Acres and Broadview Acres that the groundwater would be cleaned within a decade. After missing that deadline, the company told regulators it would complete the job around 2006, then by 2013. In 2014, an EPA report confirmed the site posed a cancer risk and identified radon as the greatest threat to residents’ health. The cleanup target date shifted again to 2017, then 2022.