On Friday, Navajo Attorney General Ethel Branch formally requested that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) assure full and fair satisfaction of all claims, known and unknown, against the agency following the Gold King Mine spill.
“The USEPA has repeatedly expressed that it accepts responsibility for the spill, and that it will compensate people for the harms caused by the spill. Yet the process that the USEPA has set up to resolve claims appears to jeopardize the rights of the Navajo People,” said Attorney General Branch. “This puts our people in a precarious position because they need immediate recovery from known damages.”
Days after President Russell Begaye announced that the Navajo Nation intended to sue the USEPA, the organization sent staff to encourage the Navajo people to sign forms to expedite the settlement of their claims. The forms contained a significant limiting clause that, despite assurances from the USEPA, could limit or waive the future rights of claimants.
In a letter sent to USEPA General Counsel Avi Garbow on Friday, Attorney General Branch made the following requests of the embattled agency:
An interim claims process be implemented that will allow members of the Navajo Nation to seek ongoing compensation for approximated and realized damages during the two-year limitation period under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA).
Claims asserted by the Navajo people are promptly processed and paid on a rolling basis.
The office of the USEPA General Counsel of the US Department of Justice issue guidance that makes clear that accepting monetary recovery under the FTCA does not constitute a release of claims for damages not yet known to the claimant.
“We need to assure our people, who are concerned for their futures, that their injuries will not go ignored. To that end, the Navajo Nation asks the US Department of Justice to issue guidance confirming that acceptance of a settlement for asserted damages during the two-year period after the spill does not constitute a release of claims under the FTCA for any injuries and damages not yet known,” wrote Attorney General Branch.