Risk perception of Navajo communities along the San Juan River following the Gold King

Mine Spill

Morgan Farley, Karletta Chief, Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne, Nicolette Teufel-Shone, Manley Begay, Nicole Yuan, Dean Billheimer, and Paloma Beamer

Funded By:

Partnerships:

ObjectivesFor Navajos living in three communities along the San Juan River: 1.Assess short-term perceived risk to

activities related to the San Juan River after the Spill

2.Measure perceived health risks of Navajos resulting from contact with the San Juan River after the Spill

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Risk Perception• Risk: “a measure of the probability and severity of adverse

effects” (National Safety Council, 2003)• Risk perception: the perceived amount of risk that each

individual has of a specific incident or action (Campbell Institute, 2011)

• Risk perception tends to be higher following a catastrophic event, such as the Gold King Mine Spill.

• Individuals have little control, lack reliable information about health risks and distrust authorities (Slovic, 1987), (Wachingeret al., 2013).

Photo Credit: The Southern Ute Drum

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Risk Perception Survey

• WHEN: August 2016• WHO: 59 Navajo

Households• WHERE: Upper Fruitland,

NM; Shiprock, NM; and Aneth, UT

• HOW: Administered by Navajo Community Health Representatives (CHRs)

**DATA: Self reported risk perception based upon previous surveys (Slovic1987, Cabrera and Leckie 2009). Not based on psychometric tool.Picture Credit: Joseph Kayne

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Demographics

Average: 49 yearsMinimum: 18 yearsMaximum: 84 years

16

1218

8

Age (years) (n=54)

18-34 35-51 52-68 69-85

40

19

Gender (n=59)

Female Male

5

oldold

old

Risk Perception of the San Juan River*“Please rate the following activities related to the San Juan River in terms of how risky you feel it is, from “very low risk” to very high risk.”

*same data from previous 2 slides, the 11 activities were condensed into 5 categories

2.4 2.1 2.1 2.1 1.9

4.2 4.3 4.2 4.3 4.1

00.5

11.5

22.5

33.5

44.5

5

Aver

age

Risk

Per

cept

ion

Activity Type

Average Risk Perception of Activities Related to the San Juan River Before and After the Gold King Mine Spill

(n=59)Before After

Very High Risk

High Risk

Moderate Risk

Low Risk

Very Low Risk

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Perceived likelihood of developing a physical health effect“What do you think is the likelihood of that someone would develop the following physical health effects because of using or contacting water, soil/sediments or natural materials from along the San Juan River after the Gold King Mine Spill?”

10 9 12 6 12 6

19 1616

2118

23

27 30 28 30 25 27

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Cancer Asthma orother

respiratoryillnesses

Allergies Skin or eyeirritations,

rashes

Dizziness Nausea orstomach

ache

Freq

uenc

y

Physical Health Effect

Perceived Likelihood of an Individual Developing Physical Health Effects Due to Contact or Usage of Water, Soil/Sediments or

Natural Materials from along the San Juan River after the Gold King Mine Spill (n=59)

Rare/Unlikely Possible Likely/Almost certain

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Self-Reported Emotional health effects due to the spill

Over the past year, how often have you experienced the following emotional health effects because of the Gold King Mine Spill?

4147

43

5450

43

51

2

4

4

12

5

114

610

12 9

5

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Anxiety, worry,fears

Confusion Anger, hurt Low self-confidence

Low morale orpride

Stress Depression,sadness

Freq

uenc

y

Emotional Health Effect

*Self-Reported Emotional Health Effects Experienced Due to the Gold King Mine Spill (n=59)

Never/A few times Monthly Weekly/Daily

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*Self reported and not based on a psychometric tool

2.12.3

3.33.7

3.94.2

4.5 4.6

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Playingbasketball

Herding sheep Hunting elk Listening to loudmusic at a rock

concert

Driving a car atnight on a windy

road

San Juan Riverafter the Spill

Riding in a carwithout aseatbelt

Drinking alcoholand driving

AVER

AGE

RISK

PER

CEPT

ION

ACTIVITY

Average Risk Perception of General Activities vs. Average of ALL Activities Related to the San Juan River After the Spill

Very High Risk

High Risk

Moderate Risk

Low Risk

Very Low Risk

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Impact & Recovery of Navajo Agricultural Activity Following

the Gold King Mine Spill Malik Hastin-Tso Scott, Paloma Beamer, Dean Billheimer, Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne, and Karletta Chief

A public survey was administrated on October 5, 2018 at the 107th Annual Northern Navajo Nation Fair by Navajo Community Health Representatives.

94%

3%Eligibility• Use the San Juan River for

cultivating crops• Identify as Navajo • Over the age of 18

Population size: 8,956• 95% are Native American

Collected 38 responses

77&

45&

What Is Your Gender(n=38)

FemaleMale

Demographics 6&

35&

4: &

37&

4&4&

What Is Your Age(n=38)

18-2122-4041-60>60Do Not Want To AnswerDo Not Know

History of Farmers

67%

15%

18%

Age Began Cultivating Cropsn= (38)

0-1718-2122-40

73%

6%

6%

3%3%

9%

How Did You Learnn= (38)

Immediate Family

In-laws

Self-taught

Friends

Traditional

Other

Irrigation

87&

32&

4&

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

PERC

ENTA

GEAre you connected to the San Juan River (n=38)

Yes No Did Not Answer

95&

9&4& 4& 4&

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

PERC

ENTA

GE

Primary Source of Water for Cultivating Crops (n=38)

San Juan River (irrigated/hauled) Hauled Well Water Tap Water Other Did Not Answer

Types of Crops Grown

33

27 26

8 7 75 5

3 2 1 1 10

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

FREQ

UEN

CY

Types of Crops Grown (n=38)

Corn Squash Melons Alfalfa Chili Tomatoes Cucumber Hay Fruits Potato Green Beans Beets Bell Pepper

About 30% use native heirloom seeds

2

3

2

1 1

2

4

2

1

0

1

2

3

4

5

FREQ

UEN

CY

Type of Native Heirloom Seed(n=12)

Corn Blue Corn White Corn Yellow Corn Watermelon Melons Squash Winter Squash Traditional Seeds

Purpose of Crops

43.8

3.5

2.9

2.4

0

1

2

3

4

5

Aver

age

Leve

l of I

mpo

rtan

ce

The Level of Importance of the Crop Usage Based For That Purpose (n=38)

Feed My Family Share With Others Feed My Livestock Sell Other

Least Importance

Low Importance

Moderate Importance

High Importance

Most Importance

17

5 5

10

10

5

7

14

12

ALL MORE THAN HALF ABOUT HALF LESS THAN HALF NONE

Freq

uenc

y What Portion of Your Total Harvested Crops Do You

Eat v. Sell?

Impact of Spill

(n=38)

61%

39%

Stop Growing Crops Because of the GKM Spill (n=38)

YesNo

A Closer Look At The Farmers Who Stopped Growing Crops

Due To The August Spill

Reason For Stopping(n=23)

43%

57%

Have You Started Agricultural Activities Again? As of October 2018 (n=23)

YesNo

5

13

9

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Years After August of 2015

FREQ

UEN

CY

How Long Did You Stop Growing Crops? (n=23)

≤ 1 year 2 years ≥ 3 years

Moving Forward

Why did you start growing crops again? (n=38)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Frequency (Check All That Apply)

Reas

on F

or R

esum

ingNavajo EPA Declared River Safe

Attended Diné Exposure Project

I Believe Water Is Safe

NM State Declared River Safe

Income From Farming

My Neighbor Started

Other Reasons

Solution To Protect Irrigation Water (n=38)

12

14

14

15

15

17

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Frequency (Check All That Apply)

Solu

tion

To P

rote

ct Ir

rigat

ion

Wat

er

Water Quality Monitoring Systems

Create Alert System

Divert Water From Navajo Dam

Farmers Submit Samples

Irrigation Warning Systems

Bioremediation Ponds

What To Sample

60%

32%

8%

Receive Training On How to Take Samples(n=38)

YesNoDid Not Answer

21

18

15 15

12

10

5

10

15

20

25

Freq

uenc

y

Sources To Test

What Would You Like to Collect & Test(n=38)

WaterSoilVegetable, Fruits, Or Plants Your Family EatsPlants For AnimalsAnimalsDid Not Answer

How the community

can heal(n=38)

Conclusions• Although a previous

environmental study showed no major environmental impact from the Spill, based on this self reported risk perception survey, Navajo participants reported the Spill had short-term emotional and spiritual impacts.

• Next steps include community healing efforts to help reduce stigma and restore trust within the Navajo community.

Photo Credit: Paul Smithson Phillips

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