Photo by Michael J. GallegosTribune

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Grants residents Liz Lucero (left) and former miner Israel Martinez wait for their breakfast at the Grants Cafe. Martinez and Lucero, who's daughter worked in the mines, are part of a group involved in the Post-'71 Uranium Workers Committee, whose members often meet at the diner, as they did last week, to talk about mining issues. Martinez says his illness is a result of his work in the mines years ago.

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Ambrosia Lake, north of Grants, N.M., is a closed uranium mine that could be a future site for such mining. Watch »

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GRANTS — Not everybody is excited about a uranium renaissance.

Sitting around a table enjoying breakfast at the Grants Cafe one recent morning, Linda Evers and about five other former mine workers tell the stories of health problems they attribute to their exposure to uranium.

Israel Martinez has fibrosis of the lung. Abe Medina has developed 18 spots in places like his spine and brain. Cipriano Lucero had a kidney transplant.

They tell of another who has sinus cancer, of more who died young, and of children — who as little ones were fond of digging through their parents' lunch pails — who now have rheumatoid arthritis in their 30s.

Collectively, they are called the Post-'71 Uranium Workers Committee. Their goal is to bring attention to the fact that the government has offered compensation to uranium miners who worked through 1971 — when the United States was still purchasing the material — but not to those who continued to work there once the government left the market.

But they also question whether a re-emergence of uranium mining in Grants — even with the expected economic boost — is good for the area, despite the message that it's a safer industry.

"The uranium people are telling us the same thing they told us 30 years ago," said Evers, the group's spokeswoman. "We don't believe them.

"It baffles me we're still willing to sacrifice human lives."

Officials within the mining industry don't shy away from their radioactive past.

Rick Van Horn, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Uranium Resources Inc., the Lewisville, Texas, company with plans to open a new uranium mill 20 miles north of Grants, said technology and tighter regulations on the mining industry make it a much safer profession than in the past.

"Yes, there are legacy issues and problems, and we don't deny them," he said. "When the mining started here 50 years ago, there was no Mine Safety and Health Administration."

Technological improvements, such as to the ventilation in the mines, has also helped the industry. And he said smoking, which was common among miners then, is now prohibited in the mines.

Some in the Post-'71 organization say they're not anti-uranium. They just want assurances workers will be protected.

Still, Evers said she would rather see the area invest in wind and solar energy — renewables that come without the health hazards associated with radioactive minerals.

"Wind and solar, wind and solar," Evers said. "I can't say it enough."