The River That Harms, 1987 Documentary

The River That Harms
45 minutes
Director: Colleen Keane
Producer: Colleen Keane
1987 | United States

Subjects: Indigenous Rights, Environmental Justice, Uranium Mining, Water Contamination, Diné Communities, American Southwest

The River That Harms documents the largest radioactive wastewater spill in United States history, a national tragedy that received little public attention.

In 1979, a United Nuclear Corporation tailings dam at Church Rock, New Mexico, collapsed and released 94 million gallons of radioactive wastewater and uranium mill waste into the Rio Puerco. The contaminated water flowed through Diné communities where the river served as a vital source of water for families, livestock, and farmland before eventually feeding into the Rio Grande.

Unaware of the dangers, Diné ranchers, children, and animals continued to walk through and use the contaminated river water in the days following the spill. Through interviews, investigative reporting, and firsthand testimony, The River That Harms documents the devastating environmental and human consequences of uranium extraction on Navajo land and the lasting impact on affected communities.

The film remains an important historical document and an early work of investigative environmental justice filmmaking, preserving the voices and experiences of those directly impacted by the Church Rock uranium spill. More than four decades later, the events documented in the film continue to resonate as both a profound historical wound and an urgent warning about the ongoing consequences of nuclear extraction and environmental contamination.

The River That Harms has screened at the University of Southern California, The Uranium Film Festival of Window Rock, Arizona, and the Rio Grande Theatre in partnership with New Mexico State University.

Watch the full film on Kanopy, Culture Unplugged or Alexander Street Video