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A federal appeals court has found that a uranium mine less than 10 miles from the south rim of the Grand Canyon can continue to operate, ruling in favor of Canada-based Energy Fuels and against environmental groups and the Havasupai Tribe.
“This ruling doesn’t diminish our concern about the mine’s potential to permanently damage Grand Canyon’s aquifers and springs,” said Taylor McKinnon with the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The Pinyon Plain Mine, formerly known as the Canyon Mine, is located within a 1,562-square-mile area surrounding the Grand Canyon that was withdrawn from new mining claims for 20 years. But the mining claim held by Energy Fuels at the site pre-dates that withdrawal. The mine has long posed environmental threats to the Grand Canyon and its inhabitants.
The mine is currently idle due to the low price of uranium, but the Forest Service determined in 2012 that Energy Fuels had a sufficient quantity and quality of uranium to make a profit of around $29 million. The plaintiffs in the suit—originally filed in 2013—argued that the federal government erred in determining that number, and so the mine permit should be rescinded.
Recent polling from Colorado College found the majority of Arizonans support making the mining withdrawal permanent. The same poll found overwhelming support in 2016 for designating an area around Grand Canyon National Park as a national monument. Yet legislation to permanently withdraw the area around the canyon from mining or designate it as a national monument has stalled in Congress since 2009.
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It is not an exaggeration to say that, when we talk about air pollution, we are talking about a matter of life and death for the Latino communities.”
