Navajo Nation: Signing EPA compensation form puts people at risk of forfeiting future compensation; attorney retorts

The Navajo Nation’s president and vice president are instructing its divisions dealing with the Gold King Mine spill and all people affected by it not to sign an Environmental Protection Agency form for compensation for land damage and personal injury from the spill.

Tuesday, the EPA opened up claim submissions for the incident via Standard Form 95, which is a claim for damage, injury, or death related to environmental hazards.

It said people could submit signed electronic versions of Standard Form 95 for the incident by emailing it to R8_GKM_Claims@epa.gov.

The EPA says that although they have six months to resolve a claim, it “will make every effort” to respond to claims for this particular incident “as soon as possible.”

But Wednesday, Navajo President Russell Begaye sent a directive to cease any promotion of the form, saying it contains “offending language that will waive future claims for individuals that sign the form and preclude [Navajos] from seeking full compensation for injuries suffered from the spill.”

A disclaimer near the bottom of the first page of the form says: “I certify that the amount of claim covers only damages and injuries caused by the incident above and agree to accept said amount in full satisfaction and final settlement of this claim.”

The Navajo Nation directive says that if people sign the form, they forfeit any further compensation for damages suffered beyond the date it is signed, leaving the possibility that people affected years down the road will not receive any further compensation.

“The U.S. EPA has admitted they are at fault and stated this disaster will last for decades. This is unacceptable. The damages to our people will be long term and the Navajo Nation will not settle for pennies. I have consistently stated that the Navajo people deserve to be compensated for every penny lost. I will not allow fine print to let U.S. EPA off the hook. The Navajo people deserve better from the federal government,” said President Begaye.

“If we fill these out today, with no knowledge of what kind of heavy metal is in the river, what type of particulates is there we have no cause or reason to fill this out,’ said Joe Ben Jr., the Shiprock Chapter Farm Board Representative at a meeting of more than 100 farmers and ranchers Wednesday morning.

“For that reason I urge farmers ranchers of San Juan area of the Navajo Nation not to fill the form out,” he said.

It’s a long time to wait for farmers who are already feeling the hurt, not only financially but emotionally.

“Now my second cut is about 14 inches tall, it is devastating go into your fields to know that these crops, this crop will not mature,” said Ben.

“We have to carry on here, we have to carry on the farms,” said Hogback Farmer Wanda Benally.

“Hate to see it all go to waste,” said David Johnson, also of Hogback.

Wednesday, Hogback Chapter officials spoke with lawyers about the possibility of yet another lawsuit against the EPA, this one to compensate farmers across the valley.

The directive from President Begaye said the Navajo Nation Attorney General is trying to negotiate with the EPA to modify the form to remove the controversial language.

“Until done, we must ensure the public understands and is fully aware of the meaning of the language in the Form,” the directive reads. “If the person signs or not is the individual’s decision, but it must be an informed decision…the Navajo people deserve to be fully compensated.”

The EPA has yet to respond to the directive.

ATTORNEY SAYS FEARS NOT NECESSARILY FOUNDED

However, an Albuquerque-based attorney says the fears the Navajo Nation have raised are not entirely true.

“If they sign off saying, ‘I’m accepting a settlement,’ or they accept a check, then that’s where the problems can begin,” said John McCall, and Albuquerque based attorney. “If there are other possible ways they can be recovering more money.”

McCall says as long as you don’t accept and sign a final settlement offer, there’s nothing barring you from taking part in a class-action lawsuit later if you just fill out the form and turn it in.

He also says there’s no rush, since claimants have up to two years from the date on the incident to file the federal claim form.

“There are many other things that could happen,” he said. “The states of New Mexico, Utah and Colorado might file claims on behalf of their citizens. The Navajo tribe might file a claim. The Jicarilla Tribe might file a claim. There are many possible ways that claims can be filed. So people really need to be watching and seeing what the different government entities are doing. Even the City of Farmington might file a claim, for example.”

For many farmers, at this point, it’s too early to fill out the claim form because no one knows how bad the damages is yet and what the cost will be.

“It’s certainly a caution to accept a quick settlement if there could be potential long term damages that haven’t been assessed,” he said.

If you think you suffered significant damages from the spill you should contact a lawyer to help weigh your options for reimbursement.

-Originally published at KOB.com