The National Trust for Historic Preservation voted in June that the Grand Canyon was considered one of the most endangered places in America, but in April of this year U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell denied the request of the Havasupai tribe and a coalition of conservation groups to put a stop to the uranium mining that is happening just six miles from the south rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. “We are very disappointed with the ruling by Judge Campbell in the Canyon Mine case,” said Havasupai Chairman Rex Tilousi. “We believe that the National Historic Preservation Act requires the Forest Service to consult with us and the other affiliated tribes before they let the mining company damage Red Butte, one of our most sacred traditional cultural properties.” Although an appeal by the tribe will be made, the obvious problems still exist.
The Havasupai tribe banded together with a coalition of conservation groups, including the Grand Canyon Trust, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club, to challenge a decision by the U.S. Forest Service to permit Energy Fuels Inc. a Canadian mining firm that develops uranium and vanadium properties in the U.S., to reopen the mine without formally consulting with tribal authorities. In addition, they were allowed to utilize an obsolete federal environmental review that is nearly 30 years old. The obvious threat to wildlife in the area including the protected California Condor is quite apparent, and the danger of toxic pollutants entering streams and aquifers from the mine could pose a serious threat to the water system. Geologists are in agreement that any spill would cause a situation where cleanup would be next to impossible.
“Uranium is a special concern because it is both a toxic heavy metal and a source of radiation. I worry about uranium escaping into the local water because more than a third of the canyon’s species would be affected if water quality suffered, ” said Steve Martin, former superintendent of the Grand Canyon National Park. Due to the streams and aquifers being thousands of feet below the surface of the Grand Canyon, and the special dangers associated with uranium heavy metals, the situation will be grim if there is even a minor accident.
President Obama can proclaim the Grand Canyon’s watershed a national monument, through the authority granted the president by the Antiquities Act, which was enacted by President Theodore Roosevelt, which would immediately put a stop to the uranium mining in the area. Naturally there is opposition from the side that believes that excavation of minerals from the area is more important than the lives of wildlife and human populations in the area, however the opponents of the mine continue to fight and to raise awareness of this situation.