Roaches in a uranium mine

About 35 years ago, I was working for Orkin in Albuquerque. We got a call about a cockroach infestation in a uranium mine in Grants. I had never heard of cockroaches infesting a uranium mine so I volunteered to check it out. When I got there, they dressed me in some funny clothes and took me down the mine in a wooden box they called an elevator. It was run by pulling on a rope. We went down a very long way, got off in a dark tunnel and could only see because of the helmets we wore with flashlights attached. The took me to a break room. Imagine a break room in a uranium mine! They had some folding tables and chairs covered in plastic, I guess to help keep them clean. I looked under the plastic and they were indeed infested with German roaches. Apparently, somebody brought them from home in their lunchbox and they liked the break room (stupid roaches). I told them I would send someone out there to take care of it. Then we went back up the “elevator”. I asked the fellow if I could smoke a cigarette. He said that was bad for my health. I said hanging out in a uranium mine is good for your health!. He thought for a minute and told me to light up and then he bummed a cigarette. In 45 years that is the only call I got for roaches infesting a uranium mine. Not a common problem.