Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed »

Judy Pasternak is a writer who lives near Washington DC. She worked for the Los Angeles Times for 24 years, in Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, tackling subjects as varied as al Qaeda's private airline, a band of right-wing bank robbers, backstage maneuvering at Dick Cheney's energy task force and the giant black hole at the center of the Milky Way. She has won numerous awards for environmental and investigative journalism. Previously, she worked at the Detroit Free Press, Baltimore News American and Hollywood (Fla.) Sun-Tattler. She is married, with one son.

Award-winning reporter Judy Pasternak tells the haunting story of uranium mining on the Navajo desert and its terrible, long-ignored legacy.

The Washington Post - Ann Cummins

…disturbing and illuminating…There's nothing clinical or dry about Yellow Dirt. While Pasternak cites a wide array of specialists in fields ranging from geology to nuclear physics, the story unfolds like true crime, where real-life heroes and villains play dynamic roles in a drama that escalates page by page…Pasternak is a compelling writer…

Principal Characters

Prologue S-37, Som, and Soq 1

THE URANIUM RUSH

PART I THE PATRIARCH

Discovery

Chapter 1 The Special Rocks 13

Chapter 2 The Secret Quest 24

Chapter 3 Jumping on the King 33

PART II THE SON

Fear and Frenzy

Chapter 4 The Power of Leetso 43

Chapter 5 Cold War 53

Chapter 6 The Obstacle 65

Chapter 7 A Hundred Tons a Day 80

Chapter 8 Endings 98

TOXIC LEGACY

PART III THE GRANDCHILDREN

Aftermath

Chapter 9 Fallout 119

Chapter 10 Avalanche of Suspicion 131

Chapter 11 A Blind Eye and a Deaf Ear 145

PART IV THE GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN

Death and Awakening

Chapter 12 "Hear Our Voices" 163

Chapter 13 Under Scrutiny from Every Angle 180

Chapter 14 Resistance 197

Chapter 15 Ghosts 220

Chapter 16 Beginnings 241

Epilogue The Steeple 254

Acknowledgments 261

Notes 265

Selected Bibliography 293

Index 305