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Sierra Club Lawsuits

Uranium Mining Threatens Grand Canyon, Local Communities

Case Updates:

March 12, 2008

The resurgence of uranium mining in the southwestern United States poses a dangerous threat to both communities and treasured wild places. On March 12, 2008 the Sierra Club, along with the Center for Biological Diversity and the Grand Canyon Trust, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Forest Service’s decision to issue 39 permits for uranium mining within a few miles of Grand Canyon National Park. Acting in clear violation of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative Procedures Act, and the Appeals Reform Act, the Forest Service used the least rigorous analysis available to them in issuing the approval for these permits. The agency's analysis failed to consider the controversy attending uranium development, the significance of its proximity to the Grand Canyon, and the overall cumulative impacts of four other future uranium exploration projects and the potential opening of Denison Corporation’s Canyon Mine - all located in the same region. In addition to conservation groups, local communities who have long suffered the devastating health effects of past uranium mining have also joined in opposition. The Coconino County, Ariz., board of supervisors voted unanimously to try stopping uranium operations and the Navajo Nation and the Hopi and Havasupai tribes also have voted to ban uranium mining on their land.

Details and Documents:

News Articles:

Grijalva wants to block uranium mining at Grand Canyon
March 17, 2008, Arizona Capitol Times

Time for a Mining Law Update
March 14, 2008, Los Angeles Times

Environmentalists sue over uranium exploration near Grand Canyon
March 13, 2008 by Dennis Wagner, Arizona Republic

Lawsuit Seeks to Block Uranium Mining at Grand Canyon
March 13, 2008, Environmental News Service