A new program at San Juan College in Farmington could finally help get abandoned uranium mines cleaned up in the Four Corners region, while also helping people who have lost their jobs amidst the energy transition.
The Careers Remediating Environmental Waste program’s classes start in February. Enrollment is still open for people who are interested in attending.
Lorenzo Reyes, vice president for workforce and economic development at the college, said the new program is the result of HB 164, Uranium Mine Cleanup, which was passed in 2022.
Rep. D. Wonda Johnson, D-Rehoboth, was among the bill’s sponsors.
“Witnessing the CREW program come to life is a dream realized for many of us who have been at the forefront of environmental advocacy in our communities,” she said in a news release. “This program is not just about cleaning up; it’s about empowerment, about offering meaningful careers to our people while caring for Mother Earth. My heart swells with pride and gratitude for this achievement, and I am thrilled for the opportunities it will create for our communities.”
The New Mexico Environment Department and the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions are teaming up with the college to get the program off the ground.
“Through a collaborative and inclusive process, the state workforce plan identified climate resilience and natural resource management as two top areas for workforce development,” Department of Workforce Solutions Cabinet Secretary Sarita Nair said. “CREW will be a strong step towards meeting our goal to invest in the talent that will take care of the state that we love.”
Reyes said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates there are 500 abandoned uranium mines on and around the Navajo Nation. These mines are contaminating the environment and harming public health.
Reyes said there’s a potential that cleaning up and remediating those mines could lead to 2,500 jobs.
“This is going to result in good wages,” he said, adding that the jobs will be sustainable and long term.
That is important in an area where temporary jobs like building solar farms have been replacing the jobs in the power plants and the oil and gas fields.
These new jobs will also have an economic impact. Reyes said it could bring down the unemployment rate, which he described as “not the best in the state.”
Some of the potential students for the program include the workers who lost their jobs when the San Juan Generating Station and San Juan Mine closed, but Reyes said they aren’t the only ones who may be interested in the program.
Reyes said the students that go through the program will benefit from access to stable jobs in cleanup and reclamation. He said that companies have committed to interviewing students from the program for potential jobs once they graduate.
“They’re not committing to hiring anybody, but they’re committing to interviewing the applicants in the programs,” he said. “We’re sure that once they interview, they’re going to be so impressed that they will want to hire them right away.”
In addition to those benefits, the program could result in a cleaner, healthier environment. Reyes said some of the data the college has reviewed indicates the abandoned mines have high levels of mercury, arsenic and lead and that some of these mines could also be contaminating water sources.
While the program focuses on cleaning up uranium mines, Reyes said the skills that students will learn can often transfer to other industries.
“We also have received calls from … companies that are located in other parts of the state wanting to know when we’re going to start the program and wanting to see whether there’s a possibility for them to send some of their current employees to be able to learn,” he said.
He said people interested in enrolling in the program are encouraged to call the San Juan College Center for Student Careers and Employment at 505-566-3252. This is in part because funding from the state can help students. This funding includes stipends for housing and child care assistance.
“We want to make sure that we help them maximize the possibility of having access to those resources,” Reyes said.
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