Environmental Laws Arrowhead Uranium Company was one of the original uranium mining companies in the Cameron Arizona region of Northern Arizona, operating from 1952 to the mid 1960's at several different mine sites on the Navajo Reservation. The land where the mine sites were located was owned by the United States in trust for the Navajo Nation. The Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs oversaw some aspects of the mining permits and leases for the Nation. Permits were approved by the director of the BIA (an employee of the United States government). All money related to the mining was paid to the United States Treasury for deposit exclusively in Navajo tribal funds. For almost three decades, the Mine Sites remained largely in the same condition as when mining ceased, with open pits and waste piles on the properties. In 1975, Arrowhead was closed and its assets were bought by Lightning Mines. In the 1980s, the Navajo Nation became concerned about possible health impacts of abandoned uranium mines on the Reservation. People were frequenting the pits for recreational purposes, and livestock was watering at the pits. The Navajo Nation leadership discussed their concerns with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As a result the EPA cleaned up the mine sites.
1. Arrowhead Uranium Company ran mines on the Navajo Reservation that extracted (uranium, natural gas, coal)
2. The land that was potentially contaminated was owned by (Arrowhead, the United States, the Navajo Nation)
3. Lightning Mines (was, was not) involved in the generation of waste.
4. The law that covers allocation of the costs of cleaning up toxic waste is (CERCLA, RCRA, Title VII) also known as the (Superfund, Cleanup Fund, Cleanup Responsibility Act)
5. Under that law, (anyone who benefitted from the activity is, several parties are) responsible for the cost of cleaning up the waste.
6. Responsibility for cleaning up a toxic waste site falls on the person who (generated, collected, eliminated) the waste, any party who (transported the waste to the site, complained about the waste), the party who (owned, cleaned) the site, the party who (operated, closed down) the site, or the (current owner, neighbor) of the site.
7. Arrowhead was the (party that generated the waste, owner of the site when the waste was generated, current owner of the site).
8. The United States was the (party that generated the waste, owner of the site when the waste was generated, current owner of the site).
9. The Navajo Nation was (owner of the site when the waste was generated, party that generated the site, not involved in generating the waste).
10. A party who is responsible for the cleanup is called a (potentially responsible party, toxic waste generator)
11. Of the parties mentioned, (the United States, Arrowhead, the Navajo Nation) is not a potentially responsible party.
12. Arrowhead (no longer exists, still runs the mines) but was bought by (Lightning Mines, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Bureau of Indian Affairs).
13. If the potentially responsible parties do not clean up a hazardous site, the (EPA, current owner, Bureau of Indian Affairs) can clean it up and recover costs from the (potentially responsible parties, Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs).
14. Liability for cleanup extends to a business that (buys enters in to a contract with) a potentially responsible party.
15. Any potentially responsible party is responsible for (the entire, their percentage share of the) cost of cleanup under the doctrine of
(joint and several liability, res judicata).
16. If a potentially responsible party pays for the entire cost of cleanup, that party (can, cannot) bring a contribution action for a percentage of the costs.
17. In this situation the cost of cleanup must be paid by (the United States only, the United States and the Navajo Nation, the United States and Lightning Mines, Lightning Mines only)