May 2010 Newsletter | Groundswell Educational Films

May 2010 Newsletter

Dear Friends of Groundswell,

May marks the return of the EPA to Elsie’s backyard. This is a milestone for Groundswell.

Groundswell grew out of Elsie’s struggle to get answers to an environmental health mystery in Monument Valley. A film ends. Groundswells continue. We became the proverbial pebble tossed into a pond. Whenever people learned about Elsie’s uranium house as a result of seeing our film, they stepped up to help.

From one determined grandmother’s environmental crisis to a growing movement for environmental justice, Groundswell gives voice to the voiceless.

We need your help to create more opportunities for cross cultural events. Let us know if there is a venue, or group that may wish to host a screening and discussion of The Return of Navajo Boy. The story continues below in new webisodes filmed by Elsie’s family.

-- Jeff & Jennifer
Groundswell Co-Founders

After a decade of investigations, the EPA has finally put up a fence to warn people about the hazardous waste in Elsie Mae Begay’s backyard. The area around the abandoned Skyline uranium mine is one of only a few sites on Navajo Nation which has received this attention, despite there being as many as 1,000 former mines on the reservation.

This latest development occurred almost ten years after EPA consultant Andrew Sowder acknowledged to Groundswell in an interview that putting up fencing “is the least they could do” after demolishing Elsie’s uranium-contaminated house.

Last week EPA contractor Brian Milton told Mary Helen Begay, Elsie’s daughter in law, that the steps officials were taking were only temporary, but intended to protect the area until a more comprehensive cleanup could be done. Groundswell trained and equipped Mary Helen to use the flip video camera that the above video was shot with.

Contractors sprayed a special coating on radioactive cables, debris and waste piles to prevent contaminated topsoil from being blown away in the wind, as it has since 1944 when the mine was abandoned. “It basically takes the top inch or so of the soil and puts a crust on it, kind of like a pie crust,” Milton told Begay. He said it normally only lasts a year or so before it becomes ineffective. “It’s just really a temporary measure to fix the top of the soil and prevent erosion and stuff.”

Still a question is where the EPA will relocate the waste to permanently. The cheaper alternative which has been suggested by some officials would be to store it in a repository on-site. Many Navajos however are staunchly opposed to on-site storage due to the health impacts and environmental legacy that uranium mining has caused over the last six decades.

Elsie and Groundswell went to Washington DC in fall 2008 to screen “The Return of Navajo Boy” on Capitol Hill. Ironically, the EPA’s five-year cleanup plan does not include the radioactive waste in her backyard. As a result of Elsie’s determination, and Groundswell’s engagement with policy makers, Elsie and her backyard are now included in the 5 year plan to clean up cold war uranium contamination in Navajo Lands. But questions remain: where will EPA put the radioactive waste?

The Indian Health Service recently launched its “Community Uranium Exposure: Journey to Healing” program with free health screenings and a showing of “The Return of Navajo Boy” in Cove, Arizona. The program, which includes screening Groundswell’s documentary “The Return of Navajo Boy” is based out of an 18-wheel truck known as the Wellness on Wheels van.

The first stop was the Navajo Chapter House in Cove on April 29th, featuring an appearance by Elsie Mae Begay, who has acted as a uranium contamination awareness ambassador after her appearance in the documentary. Elsie, accompanied by her son Lorenzo and daughter in law Mary Helen, took advantage of the opportunity and accepted a health screening herself.

Groundswell’s film, shown at the event, “has proven its ability to give Navajos a voice in the larger society” according to Lisa Allee, the director of the Community Uranium Exposure: Journey to Healing program. Groundswell co-founder Jeff Spitz was also able to attend the screening and answer questions, thanks to generous support for community outreach provided by the Ira Ziering Foundation.

Ira Ziering (left) and Groundswell’s Executive Director Jeff Spitz (right) at the recent Cove, AZ health screening event.

Presentations were also made about the health impacts of uranium the abandoned uranium mines in the area, and the effects they have on local water sources. The Indian Health Service looks forward to using the film at future events as a way to show the dangers of uranium contamination and the importance of health screenings.

Groundswell recently received good news from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs: we were awarded a Program I grant for 2010!

The grant “encourages the attainment of artistic excellence and financial stability through general operating support for arts organizations,” according to the Department of Cultural Affairs.

Applicants were judged based on artistic and social merit, organizational development, fiscal accountability and application quality. Organizations awarded grants are eligible to receive future grants for two consecutive years before the application process opens up again.

As the world witnesses what is quickly becoming the worst oil spill in US history, Groundswell co-founders Jeff and Jennifer Spitz led discussions surrounding The Return of Navajo Boy and the impact that unchecked corporate activity can have on the environment of local communities.

Following a screening of the film, Jeff and Jennifer brought the audience up to date on recent actions towards cleanup that the EPA has made in Monument Valley, including the installation of a fence to ward people away from hazardous waste.

“The audience members were particularly interested in the story from the point of view of how it bodes for the current environmental crisis in the Gulf Coast region with the giant and ongoing oil spill there,” said Spitz.

“They seemed to draw connections between environmental contamination like these and the need for responsible parties to clean them up. Hopefully the current oil spill will be easier in terms of responsibility, since British Petroleum (BP) has said they’ll pay all cleanup costs. Sadly, the same can’t be said for the uranium contamination on Navajo Nation.”

From the tilled soil of an urban farm to the polished marble of City Hall, this engaging documentary follows the plight of local farmers in East Los Angeles as they speak out in defense of their land.

Many issues are raised as the film questions why the land was sold to a wealthy developer for millions less than fair-market value and why the transaction took place in a closed-door session of the LA City Council without the public’s knowledge.

All the powers-that-be have the same response: “The garden is wonderful, but there is nothing more we can do.” For more information about this 2009 Academy Award-nominated documentary, or to watch a trailer for the film, visit www.thegardenmovie.com

Groundswell co-founder Jeff Spitz presented a rough cut screening of our upcoming documentary “Robben Island Singers” at the Amnesty International Human Rights Art Festival on April 24th. It was the first time a rough cut has been publicly screened and was met with a very positive reaction from the audience.

The rough cut, now 97 minutes long, spurred a lively conversation afterward as Spitz sat on a panel to discuss it. “I took 3 pages of notes,” Spitz said. “This is the kind of conversation I hoped for, it was very helpful.”

Afterward, the audience was eager to discuss the over-arching themes presented in the film: apartheid, violence, forgiveness and self-actualization in two very different worlds: South Africa and America. The film tracks the journeys of three South African ex-political prisoners once imprisoned with Nelson Mandela after fighting Apartheid.

The singers have brought their message and the music that sustained them while in prison to American schools in a revolutionary cultural exchange program. More information can be found at the project’s website, www.RobbenIslandSingers.com, which also offers their music for purchase or download.