![]() The waste it left behind leaked uranium and selenium into groundwater and released the cancer-causing gas radon into the air. Research has linked both types of illnesses to uranium exposure.īeginning in 1958, a uranium mill owned by Homestake Mining Company of California processed and refined ore mined nearby. “We were sacrificed a long time ago,” said Candace Head-Dylla, who created the death map with her mother after Head-Dylla had her thyroid removed and her mother developed breast cancer. Graphic composition by Mauricio Rodriguez Pons/ProPublica Neighbors created the “death map” to highlight cancer cases in New Mexico’s Murray Acres and Broadview Acres communities. Dominating the top right corner of the map, less than half a mile from the cluster of colorful arrows, sits what residents believe is the cause of their sickness: 22.2 million tons of uranium waste left over from milling ore to supply power plants and nuclear bombs. Neighbors built the map a decade ago after watching relatives and friends fall ill and die. Turquoise arrows point to homes where residents had thyroid disease, dark blue arrows mark cases of breast cancer, and yellow arrows mean cancer claimed a life. The “death map” tells the story of decades of sickness in the small northwest New Mexico communities of Murray Acres and Broadview Acres. ![]() 16 for a live virtual event, “New Mexico’s ‘Death Map’: Uranium and Nuclear Energy in the U.S.”
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