Father Frank Kurzaj is a Catholic priest who came in 1986 to Panna Maria, Texas from Silesia, an industrial, and heavily polluted area of Poland. In his role as pastor of the Immaculate Conception Church in Panna Maria, he became alarmed about reports of cancer among congregants that he'd buried and concerned about possible connections with contaminants from the local uranium mining and milling operations and radioactive waste disposal areas. He helped organize a volunteer group, Panna Maria Concerned Citizens, to speak for the community in permitting hearings, and ensure that the facilities were operated safely and cleaned up promptly.