from thefreeonline on 11th Feb 2024 by Nuclear-News by ADRIAN SKABELUND Sun Staff Reporter,
Alarm as first uranium mine in years opens near Grand Canyon
Two northern Arizona tribes this week condemned the start of operations at a uranium mine just south of the Grand Canyon. he statements came after Denver-based company Energy Fuels Inc. announced last month that operations at its Pinyon Plain Mine had commenced.
“It is with heavy hearts that we must acknowledge that our greatest fear has come true,” a statement from the Havasupai Tribal Council read.
Meanwhile, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said in a statement that mining remains opposed “by all neighboring tribes that have forever called Grand Canyon their home.”
There is a long and controversial history of uranium mining within northern Arizona.
The Pinyon Plain Mine, previously known as the Canyon Mine, sits above the Redwall-Muav aquifer, which acts as a source of water for countless seeps and springs throughout the Grand Canyon, and is the sole source of drinking water for the Havasupai.
Havasupai Tribe opposes Pinyon Plain Mine aquifer protection permit …
Throughout the Cold War era, nearly 30 million tons of uranium ore were extracted and often processed from Navajo Nation lands. Hundreds of those mines, often near Navajo communities, were then abandoned by the companies operating them.
More than 500 contaminated sites remain across the Navajo Nation.
READ MORE HERE..,. Tribes condemn start of uranium mining at Pinyon Plain Mine south of Grand Canyon
The Free 