Havasupai Water and Existence Threatened by New Uranium Mining on Sacred Land at Grand Canyon
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Updated Jan. 17, 2024
Havasupai said their worst fears have come true, and now Energy Fuels is extracting toxic uranium, violating their sacred place, threatening their water, and jeopardizing their existence.
The Havasuapai Tribal Council said, "It is with heavy hearts that we must acknowledge that our greatest fear has come true."
"Despite decades of active and tireless opposition, Energy Fuels, a foreign for-profit mining company, has acted in its own self-serving interest and extracted toxic uranium at the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly the Canyon Mine), desecrating one of our most sacred sites and jeopardizing the existence of the Havasupai Tribe."
The Havasupai Tribal Council said Supai, Guardians of the Grand Canyon, are struggling to protect their ancestral homeland. The Pinyon Plain Mine sits above the aquifer which the Supai depend on for water. Already, Energy Fuels has contaminated one of the two aquifers while digging the mine shaft.
"As Guardians of the Grand Canyon, we the Havsuw 'Baaja, the Havasupai Tribe, have opposed uranium mining in and around our Reservation and the Grand Canyon since time immemorial. We do this to protect our people, our land, our water, our past, our present and our future."
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| Photo: Canyon Mine (Pinyon Plain Mine) on Kaibab National Forest land south of the Grand Canyon, near the Havasupai sacred mountain, Red Butte. The mine is inside the boundary of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni National Monument. Bruce Gordon, EcoFlight. Grand Canyon Trust. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren called upon the federal government to protect tribes from the harmful effects of new uranium mining. “I join our neighboring tribes and the many non-Native organizations to implore the federal government to uphold its promise to protect us,” President Buu Nygren said. “Today, we face a new threat from a uranium mine just recently put into operation that is located only 10 miles south of the Grand Canyon’s South Rim and within the boundaries of a newly declared national monument." “We are very concerned about the impending transport of radioactive materials from the Pinyon Plain/Canyon uranium mine to White Mesa Mill in Utah.” The routes to transport uranium will now pass through several Navajo Nation communities from Grey Mountain and Cameron, Arizona to Bluff, Utah, in conflict with Navajo Nation law, he said. In 2012, the Navajo Nation Council passed the Radioactive and Related Substances Equipment, Vehicles, Persons and Materials Transportation Act. The law addressed hauling uranium within the Navajo Nation. It states that the Navajo Nation opposes the transportation of radioactive products over, on, under and across Navajo Nation lands. (Read full statement below) |
Haul No! warned that if Energy Fuels proceeds and hauls uranium ore -- from northern Arizona to the White Mesa Mill in southeast Utah, and transports uranium across the Navajo Nation -- it will violate Navajo law. The dangerous transport will put Dine' at risk all along the route.
Energy Fuels plans to haul up to 12 trucks per day, each carrying 30 tons of uranium from the mine to the mill.
"Energy Fuels is not legally required to mark the trucks. Ore will be covered only with tarps. No responsible entity has been identified for emergency response, legal enforcement, or cleanup," Haul No! said.
"This violates Navajo Nation law which prohibits the transport of new uranium across Diné lands."
"The White Mesa Mill is owned and operated by Energy Fuels and is the only mill in the so-called U.S. licensed to process uranium ore."
Since the Cold War, when Western Shoshone lands were used for the Nevada Test Site for testing the atomic bomb, Navajo and Pueblo lands were used for uranium mining, and workers were sent to their deaths without protective clothing, and Pueblo lands were used for atomic bomb experiments in northern New Mexico, the United States government has used Native people and their lands as expendables.
Today, the horrific legacy continues with radioactive tailings scattered across the Navajo Nation, Energy Fuels new uranium mining on Havasupai land threatening their water, and Energy Fuels uranium mill with radioactive dumping on Ute land in southeastern Utah.
Native lands in the Southwest have been targeted for the deadliest nuclear testing and storage and used as radioactive dumping grounds by the United States government and its corporations.
HAVASUPAI TRIBAL COUNCIL
Statement from the Havasupai Tribe Regarding Energy Fuels"It is with heavy hearts that we must acknowledge that our greatest fear has come true. Despite decades of active and tireless opposition, Energy Fuels, a foreign for-profit mining company, has acted in its own self- serving interest and extracted toxic uranium at the Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly the "Canyon Mine"), desecrating one of our most sacred sites and jeopardizing the existence of the Havasupai Tribe."As Guardians of the Grand Canyon, we the Havsuw 'Baaja, the Havasupai Tribe, have opposed uranium mining in and around our Reservation and the Grand Canyon since time immemorial. We do this to protect our people, our land, our water, our past, our present and our future. And yet, despite the historic and current assistance and advocacy from numerous allies, and the countless letters, phone calls, and personal pleas, our urgent requests to stop this life-threatening action have been disregarded."Our tribal community's only source of water is fed by aquifers, which unfortunately sit directly below the Pinyon Plain Mine. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the federal EPA claim there is no danger to us, that no harmful effects will come our way from this alleged "clean energy" source. But how can they so confidently make such a claim when Energy Fuels has already contaminated one of the two aquifers while digging the mine shaft, which then led to the company spraying toxic water into the air, only to be spread to the precious plants and animals by the blowing winds. A whole set of unknown and new problems will exist when the company begins transporting uranium over the land."This is not just a problem that affects our remote Tribe. Rather, millions of people will now be forced to pass by an active uranium mine on their way to the majestic Grand Canyon. Every being should be able to freely experience this natural wonder without risking their lives. Shame on Energy Fuels, and those who were not brave enough to do what is right and necessary."We will not give up. We owe that to our ancestors, our children, and the generations to come. We will fight on."
White Mesa Utes in Utah: Energy Transfer uranium mill is poisoning us
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Photo: Ute Mountain Ute Yolanda Badback welcomed all to the rally and spiritual walk to protect the White Mesa Ute community’s health, water, air, land, culture, and sacred sites from the nearby White Mesa uranium mill, and show community opposition to the mill operating as an international dumping ground for radioactive waste from around the world. The protest and walk are sponsored by the White Mesa Concerned Community and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. |
Ute Mountain Ute's spiritual walk and rally called for a halt to the uranium mill that is poisoning the land, water, and air in southeastern Utah, in the Four Corners region, on October 14, 2023.
The White Mesa Mill, operated by Energy Fuels, is bringing in radioactive waste from other countries, after already storing nuclear waste that was too dangerous to remain at the Nevada Test Site.
Ute Mountain Ute Chairman Manuel Heart said the uranium mill is not just a Ute problem and the resources must be protected for the future. "We want to have resources for the future of our children and grandchildren that are not here yet."
"The mountains are our homeland. We're put there by our Creator as stewards to take care of the mountains all the way down to this area," Chairman Heart said.
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| Photo courtesy Haul No! |
On Dec. 21, 2023, Energy Fuels issued a press release stating that production had begun at the Pinyon Plain Mine.
On Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024, Haul No! confirmed that EF has started extracting and stockpiling uranium ore. They have been preparing the road for transport, but have not started hauling uranium yet.
If transport begins, EF plans to haul up to 12 trucks per day, each carrying 30 tons of uranium from the mine to the mill. EF is not legally required to mark trucks. Ore will be covered only with tarps. No responsible entity has been identified for emergency response, legal enforcement, or cleanup.
This violates Navajo Nation law which prohibits the transport of new uranium across Diné lands.
The White Mesa Mill is owned and operated by Energy Fuels and is the only mill in the so-called U.S. licensed to process uranium ore.
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| Photo courtesy Haul No! |
This is a critical time to take action!
Several global and national developments increase the risk of a new wave of uranium extraction:
The price of uranium is the highest it's been since the 2006-2007 peak, and the U.S. just approved the Nuclear Security Fuel Act (more uranium production); and at COP 28 (the United Nations climate meeting) in Dubai, the nuclear industry/states called to triple nuclear power worldwide by 2050.
WE DO NOT WANT ANOTHER URANIUM BOOM!
We are calling on all of you to HELP EDUCATE, SPREAD AWARENESS, MONITOR THE MINE + ROADS for the PROTECTION of Nihímá Nahásdzáán, the LAND and WATER, our communities and future generations.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren today issued a statement that calls upon the federal government to protect tribes from the harmful effects of new uranium mining.
“I join our neighboring tribes and the many non-Native organizations to implore the federal government to uphold its promise to protect us,” the President wrote.
“Today, we face a new threat from a uranium mine just recently put into operation that is located only 10 miles south of the Grand Canyon’s South Rim and within the boundaries of a newly declared national monument,” President Nygren stated. “We are very concerned about the impending transport of radioactive materials from the Pinyon Plain/Canyon uranium mine to White Mesa Mill in Utah.”
The routes to transport uranium will now pass through several Navajo Nation communities from Grey Mountain and Cameron, Ariz., to Bluff, Utah, in conflict with Navajo Nation law, he said.
In 2012, the Navajo Nation Council passed the Radioactive and Related Substances Equipment, Vehicles, Persons and Materials Transportation Act. The law addressed hauling uranium within the Navajo Nation. It states that the Navajo Nation opposes the transportation of radioactive products over, on, under and across Navajo Nation lands.
President Nygren stated that the recently opened Pinyon Plain/Canyon Mine was and remains opposed “by all neighboring tribes that have forever called Grand Canyon their home.”
“Despite all of our objections through the years, we learn through the media, rather than from our federal trustee – the U.S. Department of Agriculture/ U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior/Bureau of Land Management – as would correctly expect, that our land and water will again be threatened with contamination,” he said. “Our relatives, the Havasupai, Hualapai, and other tribes along the Colorado River, are bracing themselves for renewed anxiety, worry and constant unease about the safety of their resources and homelands.”
He noted that in April 2005, the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act established a moratorium on uranium mining and milling on the Navajo Nation. The law states that no further harm to the Navajo culture, society, way of life or economy would be permitted through uranium mining or processing within Navajo Nation borders.
“This moratorium will remain until all adverse effects of past uranium mining ¬– economic, environmental or health-related – have been either eliminated or substantially diminished,” President Nygren said. "We have not reached that point.”
He said the Navajo Nation has residents who still suffer from a growing list of illnesses linked to exposure from past uranium mining labor, contaminated building materials and secondary exposure from miners’ clothing from the mid-1940s to the late 1970s.
“To this day, hundreds of abandoned uranium mines dot our landscape, unremediated, still exposed to the elements,” he said. “Our elders’ calls for relief go unanswered as they mourn the relentless toll exacted upon our communities.”
He reiterated his disappointment last month when Congress removed Radiation Exposure Compensation Act amendments from the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023. The amendments would have expanded provisions that would have benefited hundreds of Navajos and their families.
“This rejection sent a clear and dismaying message,” he said. “The true sacrifices of the Navajo people and other uranium workers remain unacknowledged by the federal institutions and corporations profiting from the exploitation of uranium.”
“The pain is still vivid in our collective memory, and yet history is repeating itself,” President Nygren said. “We can prevent it. We call upon our federal trustee and our state partners to ensure that it is prevented.”
Update: Navajo President Buu Nygren calls upon federal government to protect tribes from uranium mining near Grand Canyon
"Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren issued a statement this week that calls upon the federal government to protect tribes from the harmful effects of new uranium mining. “I join our neighboring tribes and the many non-Native organizations to implore the federal government to uphold its promise to protect us,” the President wrote.
“Today, we face a new threat from a uranium mine just recently put into operation that is located only 10 miles south of the Grand Canyon’s South Rim and within the boundaries of a newly declared national monument,” President Nygren stated. “We are very concerned about the impending transport of radioactive materials from the Pinyon Plain/Canyon uranium mine to White Mesa Mill in Utah.”"The routes to transport uranium will now pass through several Navajo Nation communities from Grey Mountain and Cameron, Ariz., to Bluff, Utah, in conflict with Navajo Nation law, he said."In 2012, the Navajo Nation Council passed the Radioactive and Related Substances Equipment, Vehicles, Persons and Materials Transportation Act. The law addressed hauling uranium within the Navajo Nation. It states that the Navajo Nation opposes the transportation of radioactive products over, on, under and across Navajo Nation lands."President Nygren stated that the recently opened Pinyon Plain/Canyon Mine was and remains opposed “by all neighboring tribes that have forever called Grand Canyon their home.”“Despite all of our objections through the years, we learn through the media, rather than from our federal trustee – the U.S. Department of Agriculture/ U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Department of the Interior/Bureau of Land Management – as would correctly expect, that our land and water will again be threatened with contamination,” he said.
“Our relatives, the Havasupai, Hualapai, and other tribes along the Colorado River, are bracing themselves for renewed anxiety, worry and constant unease about the safety of their resources and homelands.”He noted that in April 2005, the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act established a moratorium on uranium mining and milling on the Navajo Nation. The law states that no further harm to the Navajo culture, society, way of life or economy would be permitted through uranium mining or processing within Navajo Nation borders.“This moratorium will remain until all adverse effects of past uranium mining ¬– economic, environmental or health-related – have been either eliminated or substantially diminished,” President Nygren said. "We have not reached that point.”He said the Navajo Nation has residents who still suffer from a growing list of illnesses linked to exposure from past uranium mining labor, contaminated building materials and secondary exposure from miners’ clothing from the mid-1940s to the late 1970s.“To this day, hundreds of abandoned uranium mines dot our landscape, unremediated, still exposed to the elements,” he said. “Our elders’ calls for relief go unanswered as they mourn the relentless toll exacted upon our communities.”He reiterated his disappointment last month when Congress removed Radiation Exposure Compensation Act amendments from the National Defense Authorization Act of 2023. The amendments would have expanded provisions that would have benefited hundreds of Navajos and their families.“This rejection sent a clear and dismaying message,” he said. “The true sacrifices of the Navajo people and other uranium workers remain unacknowledged by the federal institutions and corporations profiting from the exploitation of uranium.”“The pain is still vivid in our collective memory, and yet history is repeating itself,” President Nygren said. “We can prevent it. We call upon our federal trustee and our state partners to ensure that it is prevented.”
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