Bush administration’s uranium mining decision could affect tribes | Indian Country Today

Bush administration’s uranium mining decision could affect tribes | Indian Country Today | Content

Bush administration’s uranium mining decision could affect tribes INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY By Rob Capriccioso

Story Published: Jan 2, 2009

Story Updated: Jan 2, 2009

WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Land Management, an agency within the Department of the Interior, in early December eliminated a regulation that gave two congressional committees the power to require the secretary of interior to set aside public lands from uranium mining and other extractive activities. The action, coupled with renewed federal interest in uranium mining, is causing concern for some Western tribes.

In effect, the Bush administration’s decision could open up public lands in and around the Grand Canyon to uranium mining. The aftereffects of such developments could have devastating effects on the health of tribes in and around the Grand Canyon, according to environmentalists and health and legal experts………………………“The Havasupai have been ardent opponents of uranium mining in the watersheds above where they live,” Clark said. “If mining is occurring in these watersheds, it increases the potential for radioactive material to be transmitted to surface waters and groundwater aquifers.”

The Hualapai Tribe has also come out strongly against uranium mining in its area, having recently passed a tribal resolution banning the practice on its lands……………………Charles Vaughn, chairman of the Hualapai Tribe:“We do not want to see the byproducts of uranium production stored in places like Yucca Mountain for the remainder of our lifetimes and leave others with the concern of the potential harm this would bring to our progenitors Grandfather Water and Mother Earth.

“We as an indigenous people are taught to respect and hold sacred those elements that provide the essence of our life. It is out of this belief that we share our concerns for proposed uranium mining near Grand Canyon National Park.”…………………..Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz. “I am disappointed that the Interior Department under the Bush administration has chosen to throw out federal rules it finds inconvenient to its goal of allowing uranium mining within a few miles of our nation’s premiere National Park, the Grand Canyon,”

“This last minute change puts at risk the health of millions of citizens of the West who rely on the Colorado River of the Grand Canyon for their drinking water supply, as well as visitors to the park and tribal communities within and around the Grand Canyon.”