Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities

Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** The fight continues against Utah's White Mesa uranium mill
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Tuesday, October 8, 2024
White Mesa Uranium Mill, Utah. Source: Ken Lund, Flickr ([link removed])

Members of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe were at the state capitol in Utah on Friday to protest the continued operation of the White Mesa uranium mill ([link removed]) , saying it's polluting their water. “We can smell the sulfur in our tap water when we turn it on,” said ([link removed]) Yolanda Badback, a resident of the nearby White Mesa community for over 50 years.

The White Mesa uranium mill is the only American facility still accepting ore and other radioactive materials from around the country and the world, and is now far past its projected 15-year lifespan ([link removed]) since opening in 1980. The owner of the mill, Energy Fuels Incorporated ([link removed]) , acknowledges that uranium mills in the past have caused environmental and other harm to Native American communities, but in July it sent two truckloads of uranium ore from the Pinyon Plain Mine located in the Kaibab National Forest near the south rim of the Grand Canyon in Arizona north across the Navajo Nation to the White Mesa Mill. Buu Nygren, the Navajo Nation president, said he wasn’t notified of the transport, and the Navajo Nation has since strengthened its regulations for radioactive material transport ([link removed]) .

In a recent blog post ([link removed]) , CWP Policy Director Rachael Hamby digs into the complexity of uranium mining and enrichment, challenging recent congressional efforts to prop up the domestic uranium industry. “Considering the tiny amount of economically recoverable uranium in the U.S. compared to other countries and the high cost to extract it, it’s no surprise the industry has struggled in recent years—and given global market forces, domestic uranium mining is unlikely to ever be profitable without significant government intervention,” Hamby writes ([link removed]) .


** Quick hits
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The fight continues against Utah's White Mesa uranium mill

KSL ([link removed]) | Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])

Gila River Indian Community completes first ever solar-over-canal renewable energy project

Arizona Mirror ([link removed])

Veterans of Alaska's oil industry look to pivot to renewables

Inside Climate News ([link removed])

The tragedy of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation

Denver Gazette ([link removed])

Rocky Mountain National Park will be car-free as main roads close for repairs

The Street ([link removed])

Controversial gravel mine at the center of county versus state dispute in Wyoming

WyoFile ([link removed])

In California, hot and dry conditions fueled by climate change make arson a more potent threat

NBC News ([link removed])

Watch Yellowstone National Park's Steamboat Geyser erupt for the first time in months

KBZK ([link removed])


** Quote of the day
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” The Gila River Indian Community is proud to be at the forefront of this groundbreaking solar-over-canal project, which not only generates renewable energy but also conserves our most precious resource—water.”

—Stephen Roe Lewis, Gila River Indian Community Governor, Arizona Mirror ([link removed])


** Picture This
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@usinterior ([link removed])
Quaking aspens are one of the most widespread deciduous trees in North America. They typically change to beautiful shades of yellow in the fall and appear to shimmer as the sun dances off their yellow leaves.

Every tree in an aspen stand is often connected to a single root system. They spread through underground roots with new trunks growing up from the roots. So, every tree in a stand may have the same genetics. Trunks may live for a hundred years, but the root system may be hundreds or thousands of years old.

Photos by Jim Grindley and NPS

#fall ([link removed]) #aspentrees ([link removed]) #usinterior ([link removed])

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