Groups band together to fight uranium mining near Grand Canyon

While uranium and radium are naturally-occurring radioactive materials, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warns that once they are exposed or concentrated through mining, they become technologically-enhanced in such a way that renders them radioactive and capable of contaminating the surrounding soil and water.

Uranium Mine Just South Of Grand Canyon To Proceed Despite Ban By President Barack Obama http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/1673/20130430/uranium-mine-south-grand-canyon-proceed-despite-ban-president-barack.htm By Tamarra Kemsley Apr 30, 2013 Uranium mining company Energy Fuels Resources announced its plans to reopen its mine situated six miles south of the Grand Canyon’s South Rim entrance, citing a ban imposed last year by President Barack Obama as void.

The company was given federal approval by the U.S. Forest Service who conducted an environmental study on the site more than 25 years ago in 1986.

In response, several groups, including the Grand Canyon Trust, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club and Havasupai Tribe, have banded together to file suit against Forest Supervisor of the Kaibab National Forest Michael Williams as well as the Forest Service as a whole.

The plaintiffs cite the group’s failure to comply with environmental, mining, public land and historic preservations laws in giving the mine a green light, arguing that since the completion of the Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) in 1986 “significant new information and changed circumstances have emerged concerning the Mine’s operations and adverse environmental impacts.”

Despite such developments, the plaintiffs state the Forest Service “decided not to ‘supplement’ the 1986 EIS” or “require a modification” of the plan of operations put forth more than two decades ago. Among the developments that have occurred since the mine was first approved is the regulation of radon gas, a substance the plaintiffs fear will pollute the area should the mine go forward.

Since 1879, the EPA reports, uranium mine workers began being diagnosed with lung diseases, including cancer and that workers today are directly exposed to radiation hazards.

According to The Guardian, the energy company’s spokesman has publicly disputed these claims, stating that the Forest Service “looked at that review with modern eyes” in determining once again that the regulations were adequate. He further pointed out that the mines are “tiny,” accounting for about 20 acres total.

However, as The New York Times reports, the Department of Energy and other agencies have evaluated nearly 700 mine sites in need of remediation – a project costing the government hundreds of millions of dollars and that some complain has been largely ineffective.

May 1, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, Uranium, USA

1 Comment »

Thank you for this piece. I wrote a piece that took first place in the 1993 Sierra mag essay competition called Belly. It is about the Havasupai perspective on the meadow into which the mining company wants to sink their shaft. I’ll past a section of it here.
So, the Grandson and the Grandma, they met up there on their horses and they were happy to see each other. Every year since then, on that same day, they do that. I can’t tell you exactly how, because it’s a secret, but how they meet up there in that place where they want to put that mine, up near Red Butte, that’s how our religion goes forward. That’s how it lives.
Because up there, right where they want to put that mine…that’s where the belly of the Mama is. She births out our religion and the boy and the Grandma help it go forward. If they stick that mine shaft in the Mama’s Belly, well, you can see how that would be. Our friend here, Clark Jack, he told the Forest Service how it was, “It means, a robin, when it lays its eggs, if you go touch its eggs, the mama won’t come no more…that is what is meant by destroying our sacred site. It couldn’t be no more. There will be no more.”
*******
The Havasupai believe that if this mine goes in, ripples of destruction will begin to spread out from the mine. That is true in a spiritual sense – and it is true in a scientific sense. Mary Sojourner

Comment by Mary Sojourner | May 20, 2013 | Reply

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