Defenders of the Black Hills  - Hesapa O'nakijin

 

Petition to First Lady Michelle Obama

We hold the First Lady in high regard for her dedication to, and advocacy for the health of America's children and teens. For this reason we bring this critical issue to your attention.

There is a crisis effecting children on several Native American Indian Reservations in South Dakota, in the middle of the United States. People from the Cheyenne River, Standing Rock, and Pine Ridge Indian Reservations, as well as people in the rest of the state, are exposed to radioactive pollution from more than 2,000 abandoned, open-pit uranium mines left since the early 1970s. The overall health and well being of the children on the reservations is already depressing due to the overwhelming poverty and unmet health and basic needs. However, the runoff from uranium and other heavy metals permeates the water and land directly contaminating their sources of food, water, and air. One mine alone, which pollutes the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Reservations, is emitting 1,400 microRems of radiation per hour, or 14 microSieverts per hour which is nearly four times higher than that which the Japanese children receive of 3.8 microSieverts per hour at a school near the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Cancer rates in South Dakota are the highest in the nation. People are dying in the middle of the United States and the federal agencies do nothing to clean up and stop the radioactive pollution. This is America's Secret Chernobyl.

We are calling upon you, Mrs. Obama, to bring attention to this critical issue. Please use your influence to encourage government action to investigate and correct these dangers, and to advocate on behalf of the children and their families. You could be the greatest influence to put an end to America's Secret Chernobyl. Thank you.

Petition Signatures

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Please send the completed petition to:

Michelle Obama , The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20500