URANIUM

THE PROBLEM

Radiological and heavy-metal contamination go hand-in-hand with uranium development. Since the practice began in the United States, when Colorado gold miners first struck uranium back in 1871, uranium mining has developed an unfortunate legacy of imperiling endangered species, causing egregious human-health impacts, and contaminating — often permanently — public lands and precious water.

Pollutants from the mining of uranium can contaminate aquatic ecosystems for hundreds of years, threatening downstream communities and fish and wildlife. Even small amounts of some pollutants can poison fish, accumulate in the food chain, and cause deformities and reproductive problems for aquatic species.

Despite uranium development’s harmful effects, mining corporations continue the push to develop new uranium resources on public lands throughout the West. Buoyed by the booming global market and greased by the antiquated 1872 mining law, these companies take advantage of largely unfettered and royalty-free access to public lands in their pursuit of what some Navajo (Diné) people have coined “the yellow monster.”

All phases of uranium development — exploration, mining and milling — can pose unique threats to species, ecosystems, and human communities. From habitat destruction and disruption of wildlife to bio-accumulation and irreversible pollution of waters, today’s boom threatens to build upon uranium’s legacy of environmental and social harm.

OUR CAMPAIGN

Using a strategic combination of litigation, creative media, and policy advocacy, the Center is working to protect western species, waterways, communities, and public lands from the threat of new uranium mining. Leveraging strong opposition to the most urgent uranium threats, we bring national media and public attention to the uranium problem to prevent new contamination of the once-wild West and make sure remaining pristine areas stay that way.

GRAND CANYON URANIUM DEVELOPMENT
Public lands surrounding Grand Canyon National Park contain some of the highest concentrations of uranium deposits in North America. Spikes in uranium prices in recent years have caused an explosion of new mining claims and exploration on those lands. Threats posed by exploration and the potential mining it portends — damage to wildlife and  habitat, contamination of waters, and the industrialization of iconic landscapes — has prompted objections from conservation groups, native tribes, government officials, and the public. It has spawned litigation spearheaded by the Center, as well as congressional action including legislation and a resolution on emergency mineral withdrawal.

South Rim Litigation
In March 2008, the Center filed suit against the Kaibab National Forest for approving a plan to conduct exploratory uranium drilling at 39 sites just south of Grand Canyon National Park, the first of five such projects slated for the area. Our challenge focused on the validity of the Forest Service’s use of a categorical exclusion from National Environmental Policy Act requirements in authorizing the plan. After a federal judge halted the project in April 2008, we settled the case in what attorneys considered a “complete victory,” compelling the Forest Service to produce a comprehensive environmental impact statement for which a study is now underway. The suit attracted national media attention and has anchored a broader campaign.

Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act
Soon after we filed our South Rim suit, and spurred by water-contamination concerns raised in the context of that suit, Arizona Congressman Raúl Grijalva introduced legislation to withdraw 1 million acres of public land in watersheds surrounding the Grand Canyon from mineral entry. The Grand Canyon Watersheds Protection Act would invalidate all unproven claims, prevent the staking of new claims, and prohibit the exploration of unproven claims — thereby preventing the establishment of mining rights that are difficult to reverse. The Center was instrumental in helping to arrange a field hearing in which leaders from five tribes, scientists, and the superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park all testified about uranium’s deadly impacts and either implied or explicitly stated support for the bill.

Congressional Withdrawal and Litigation
To protect the canyon pending the passing of the Grand Canyon Watershed Protection Act, the House Natural Resources Committee in June of 2008 voted 20-2 to invoke a little-known provision of the Federal Land Management Policy Act requiring the interior secretary to enact a three-year emergency mineral withdrawal. The withdrawal affords the same protections from new uranium activity across the same acres set forth in Grijalva’s bill — but for a period of three years. In the fall of 2008, the Center challenged the Interior Department’s authorization of new uranium exploration in violation of the withdrawal — a case that is still pending. We’ve urged the Obama administration to enact a new mineral withdrawal that would relieve our litigation and afford watersheds surrounding the Grand Canyon the protections they deserve.

DOLORES AND SAN MIGUEL RIVERS: DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY URANIUM LEASING PROGRAM
In July 2008, the Center and allies, including the Energy Minerals Law Center, challenged a decision by the Department of Energy to approve a plan that would expand a national uranium-leasing program threefold and permit uranium mining on 42 square miles in Colorado and Utah. Our challenge focuses on the Department’s failure to adequately analyze the expansion’s environmental impacts — in particular, the significant harm to soil and water. In 2009, we moved to add Endangered Species Act claims to that challenge, in light of the Department’s failure to analyze impacts on endangered fish despite warnings of potential harm from sister agencies. Since approving the leasing program in 2007, and despite having sidestepped Endangered Species Act requirements, the Department of Energy has approved dozens of 10-year lease agreements that effectively authorize new and re-mining. Uranium tailings on Department leases and other tracts have already contaminated the Dolores and San Miguel river watersheds, seriously degrading water quality in both rivers. Proposed uranium mines and mills in the area (including the Whirlwind mine and the Paradox uranium mill) may also result in runoff and discharge of contaminants into the Dolores River basin.

Contact: Taylor McKinnon