All Our Blogs / Blog for Mines
For Immediate Release, June 1, 2022 [click for full News Release PDF (3-pg) ]
Contact:
- Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (801) 300-2414, tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.org
- Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club - Grand Canyon Chapter, (602) 999-5790, Sandy.Bahr@sierraclub.org
- Amber Reimondo, Grand Canyon Trust, (928) 286-3361, areimondo@grandcanyontrust.org
- Liam Kelly, National Parks Conservation Association, (213) 814-8666, LKelly@npca.org
- Kelly Burke, Wild Arizona, (928) 606-7870, kelly@wildarizona.org
Conservationists Back Havasupai Tribe’s Opposition to Grand Canyon Uranium Mine
Arizona Regulators OK’d Mine Permit Despite Risk to Canyon’s Water
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK― Conservation groups joined the Havasupai Tribe today to denounce the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s approval of a key permit for a uranium mine near Grand Canyon’s South Rim. On Friday the Tribe sent a letter to Arizona officials reasserting its opposition to the mine and calling for new hydrological studies, regular meetings and monitoring data for the Pinyon Plain Mine.
“Our identity as a people is intrinsically intertwined with the health of Havasu Creek and the environment to which it gives life. We use this water for drinking, gardening and irrigating, municipal uses, and cultural and religious uses,” the Tribe’s letter said. “If the water source becomes contaminated like we have seen in other areas of Arizona due to uranium mining, we will no longer be able to live in our homes and Supai Village will become extinct.”
The mine, owned by Energy Fuels Resources, has a history of flooding as it drains shallow groundwater aquifers that flow into South Rim springs. The mine also threatens to contaminate deep aquifers that feed Havasu Creek and other Grand Canyon springs...