The Price of a Promise

The Price of a Promise. . , The thin band of yellow-gray rock before you tempted the nation with promises. This is the Shinarump Member of the Chinle Formation, a layer of ancient, river-deposited sandstone containing trace amounts of uranium., Lured by the promise of health and profits, early prospectors began searching here for uranium in 1904. Originally, uranium was thought to have valuable medicinal properties against rheumatism and other ailments. Radioactive ore from these mines was packed into pouches and worn around the neck, or crutches and mixed into water and consumed as a “health tonic”. Uranium offered the promise of protecting the nation. Exploration and milling of uranium was encouraged by the US Atomic Energy Commission in the 1950s during the Cold War. Prospectors flocked to the Colorado Plateau. Even protected National Park Service lands were opened to mining. Despite strong opposition from park managers, companies were allowed to build roads, dig mines, and construct camps in previously undisturbed lands. Ultimately, little uranium was found here, little profit was made, and the promise of health and protection grew silent., There was a price for these pursuits. Capitol Reef’s boundary expansion in 1971 included new parklands with numerous old mine sites. Dangerous mine shafts, hazardous materials, and destruction of preserved lands are scars that will last far into the future. Was the price worth it?: , [Caption]: Radiation from uranium mines creates health and safety hazards. Signs and gates at the mine entrances keep humans protected. But what about wildlife? ,