While We Celebrate the Baaj Nwaavjo I’Tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument’s First Anniversary, Uranium Mining Potentially Threatens This Irreplaceable Landscape
By Jeronimo Vasquez, Coconino County Supervisor and HECHO Hispanic Conservation Leadership Council member.
On a sunny Tuesday morning last year, on August 8th, 2023, I joined a group of joyful individuals, including Tribes, environmental advocates, elected officials, local leaders, and members of the community, who gathered to witness President Biden designate Arizona’s newest national monument: the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument, protecting nearly one million acres of public lands surrounding this awe-inspiring natural wonder of our state and of the world. With unparalleled cultural, historical, ecological, recreational, and economic value, this long overdue designation honored the ancestral homelands of the Tribes, the original stewards of this area.
Five months after this historic designation, in December of 2023, Energy Fuels Resources began production by extracting radioactive uranium ore from Pinyon Plain Mine, located less than six miles from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park and within the boundaries of the National Monument. Although this monument designation bans all new claims, Pinyon Plain Mine is exempted because it has a valid existing right under the antiquated 1872 Mining Law. According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), there are approximately 600 active mining claims located within the monument boundaries that could be acted upon, and four approved mine plans of operations located within the Monument; two of them are fully reclaimed.
Energy Fuels Resources’ Pinyon Plain Mine is one of those sites. The facility is not only extracting uranium ore; it has also already started transporting it across Arizona and the Navajo Nation. On Tuesday, July 30, 2024, a week before the national monument’s anniversary trucks full of uranium ore traveled from this mine hundreds of miles northeast through the Navajo Nation to Southern Utah. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren reacted to what he views as illegal transportation by ordering the Navajo Nation Police to escort the transport vehicles off their land after receiving a 30-minute notice.
Coconino County was not provided advanced notification of uranium hauling by Energy Fuels despite an agreement that all stakeholders would be given advanced notice prior to the start of hauling. The County was notified on the day that hauling began on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, by the Kaibab National Forest. While Coconino County has no regulatory power over the project or permitting authority, the Board of Supervisors has concerns about how this mine’s operations could threaten the Coconino Aquifer and the Redwall-Muav Aquifer, the primary source of water for the Havasupai Tribe and the source of many springs inside Grand Canyon.
While Coconino County has no regulatory power over the project or permitting authority, the County opposes both uranium mining and hauling at the Grand Canyon throughout our County. The Board signed a signed a resolution reaffirming this position. We have opposed uranium activities since 2008 and advocated to protect our region’s peoples, traditional ways of life, landscapes, waters, plants, and animals, and we have continuously encouraged the cleanup of the over 1000 abandoned uranium mines in Navajo Nation that continue to threaten public health and safety.
There are valid concerns about the potential impacts, such as the potential increased risk of the contamination of nearby water resources. Past uranium mining activities have taken a serious toll across the Colorado Plateau, especially on Native American lands. During the construction of the Pinyon Plain Mine in 2016, the Coconino aquifer was struck, and samples from the site have shown to contain dangerously high levels of arsenic and uranium in the water.
Supervisor Vasquez at the national monument designation event.
Most recently, a study by the University of New Mexico published in July 2024, found connectivity between the upper Coconino (C) aquifer and the regional Redwall-Mauv aquifer. The article’s findings show there are more questions than answers about the complex hydrogeology of the area and connections between layers of groundwater.
While I recognize the necessity of uranium in the energy transition to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, “where” we extract this mineral from does matter. New revelations about the connectivity of regional groundwater sources compel us to question the need for an update to the 1986 Final Environmental Impact Statement.
Strong opposition exists regarding the Pinyon Plain mine's proximity to Grand Canyon National Park, which welcomes nearly five million visitors each year. Uranium mining in the Grand Canyon could increase the potential risk of contamination of water supplies and cultural resources and could threaten a flourishing outdoor recreation and tourism economy in the region.
For example, According to a National Park Service (NPS) report, in just 2022, Grand Canyon visitors spent more than $750 million in local communities, supporting nearly 10,000 jobs and $1 billion in economic output. When comparing the revenue contributions, job creation, and longevity of businesses in northern Arizona, specifically in Coconino County, the tourism and recreation industry is far larger than the uranium mining, including Pinyon Plain Mine, which has an estimated operating life expectancy of just two to three years. The newly designated monument promises to further develop a thriving tourism and outdoor recreation industry in the region. With an overwhelming 75% of Arizonan voters supporting designating lands outside the Grand Canyon as a national monument, it is time for Arizonan politicians to stop their attacks and attempts to revoke this monument designation.
The Grand Canyon is too precious to mine, and too much is at stake. Tribes' and residents' valid concerns regarding environmental and health impacts must be heard, and actions must be taken to prevent potentially new environmental disasters caused by uranium mining.
When it comes to the Pinyon Plain Mine, Coconino County continues to urge all regulatory agencies at the state and federal levels to implement robust monitoring of this operation and work together to ensure that all requirements are met with the mining, extraction, and hauling of the uranium ore through our County. The Board of Supervisors continues to advocate for the utilization of the best available science and hydrogeology to assess the potential risk from uranium mining activities and hauling.
As Arizona's newest national monument commemorates its first year, I encourage everyone to show support for the Tribes who are fighting the efforts to revoke this designation and to raise their voices to oppose uranium mining, including the Pinyon Plain mine, at this natural wonder of the world. We must protect the Grand Canyon for generations to come.