Farming is Life: Community Driven University Partnerships to Empower Diné Communities following the Gold King Mine Spill

On August 5, 2015, 3 million gallons of acid mine drainage was released from the Gold King Mine, eventually reaching the San Juan River - the lifeblood of the Navajo Nation. Building upon community and university partnerships that were mobilized to develop and implement a community-based risk assessment in the wake of this environmental disaster, this talk will focus on a follow-up study to address Diné farmers concerns and develop community-sampling protocols. The network of Diné community partners from the affected local Navajo government chapters guided the university researchers in analyzing their existing data and together designed and implemented a culturally appropriate study to understand the impact of irrigating with San Juan River water on their crops and farmland. Partnering with 10 Diné farmers, soil, water and corn samples were taken throughout the growing season. As part of this effort, protocols were developed and assessed using locally-sourced materials so that community members could be empowered to take samples during the event in the unfortunate case of future spills. A key focus has been on tribal capacity building for assessing environmental exposures through training of Diné tribal college students, environmental interns, and community health representatives. To date more than 84 students (42 were Diné students)and 24 community members have collaborated and participated in data collection, interpretation, and dissemination. Given the potential for future catastrophic mine spills in the Western United States, findings will be used to develop a model of community capacity-building aimed at empowering affected communities to collect samples, minimize impacts, and engage in informed-decision making.