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“We are very disappointed with the ruling by Judge Campbell in the Canyon Mine case,” said Havasupai Chairman Rex Tilousi. “We believe that the National Historic Preservation Act requires the Forest Service to consult with us and the other affiliated tribes before they let the mining company damage Red Butte, one of our most sacred traditional cultural properties.” He said that the Havasupai Tribal Council would appeal the decision.

Cleaning Up Contamination? Next to Impossible 

The Havasupai tribe had joined a coalition of conservation groups, including the Grand Canyon Trust, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club, to challenge a decision by the U.S. Forest Service to permit Energy Fuels Inc. (TSX:EFR), a Canadian mining firm that develops uranium and vanadium properties in the U.S., to reopen the mine without formally consulting with tribal authorities or updating an obsolete federal environmental review that is nearly 30 years old. The coalition warns that the mining operation threatens wildlife, including endangered species such as the California condor, as well as tribal cultural values. Toxic uranium mining waste, they say, can contaminate the aquifers and streams that maintain the Grand Canyon and Colorado River. Geologists have warned that cleaning up such contamination would be “next to impossible.” The aquifers that feed the Grand Canyon are located thousands of feet below the surface.

Steve Martin, former superintendent of the Grand Canyon National Park, said, “Uranium is a special concern because it is both a toxic heavy metal and a source of radiation. I worry about uranium escaping into the local water because more than a third of the canyon’s species would be affected if water quality suffered.”

According to a 2011 Environment America report “Grand Canyon at Risk: Uranium Mining Doesn’t Belong Near Our National Treasures“:

Uranium mining — which often requires vast open pits, spreads radioactive dust through the air, and leaks radioactivity and toxic chemicals into the environment — is among the riskiest industrial activities in the world. Every uranium mine ever operated in the United States has required some degree of toxic waste cleanup, and the worst have sickened dozens of people, contaminated miles of rivers and streams, and required the cleanup of hundreds of acres of land. After several decades of reduced activity due to depressed prices, uranium mining is making a comeback — including on the edges of one of our nation’s most treasured wild places, the Grand Canyon. Uranium mining has left a toxic trail across the West — including at the Grand Canyon itself. To protect this national treasure, and the millions of people who visit it each year, mining should be prohibited on land near Grand Canyon National Park, and other treasured places. Uranium mining is risky for miners, local residents and the environment. Mines can release uranium itself — a dangerous radioactive substance — or toxic chemicals used in the mining process.

“This is bad news for protecting Grand Canyon and tribal sacred sites,” said Roger Clark of the Grand Canyon Trust, a nonprofit group dedicated to Grand Canyon and Colorado Plateau conservation and environmental advocacy.

“Over the last two decades, we’ve learned how uranium mining can pollute aquifers that feed canyon springs and Havasu Falls. But the Forest Service has ignored that information and failed to require Energy Fuels to take reasonable steps to prevent contamination of water, sacred sites and public lands.”

U.S. Government vs. First Nations

The plaintiffs in the suit argued that the Forest Service violated the National Historic Preservation Act by failing to consult with tribes regarding potential negative impacts of the Canyon Mine on Red Butte. In addition, the conservation groups attest that the decision endangers the “Red Butte Traditional Cultural Property,” which the Forest Service designated in 2010 for its religious and cultural importance to several tribes — in particular the Havasupai, an indigenous American tribe that has called the Grand Canyon home for some 800 years………

Environment America has launched a petition urging President Obama to protect the Grand Canyon and its watershed from uranium mining by creating a new national monument — the Grand Canyon Watershed National Monument in Arizona.

This uranium project could haunt the Grand Canyon region for decades to come,” said Katie Davis with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Uranium mining leaves a highly toxic legacy that endangers human health, wildlife and the streams and aquifers that feed the Grand Canyon. It’s disappointing to see the Forest Service prioritizing the extraction industry over the long-term protection of a place as iconic as the Grand Canyon.”

TAKE ACTION: Tell President Obama to protect the Grand Canyon from mining and share the message on Facebook. http://www.alternet.org/environment/beyond-unacceptable-judge-oks-uranium-mine-grand-canyon