Navajo leaders signed onto legislation Tuesday asking President Joe Biden to use his executive authority to halt uranium transportation on the Navajo Nation ahead of some of the first scheduled trips.
The Pinyon Plain Mine near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon began production in December. Mine owner Energy Fuels is expected to transport uranium ore on highways through northern Arizona and the Navajo Nation to a southern Utah mill.
The legislation emphasizes the historic impact uranium mining has had on the Navajo people.
"During the Cold War, the demand for uranium surged, prompting extensive mining operations on Navajo lands without adequate environmental safeguards, resulting in lasting devastation to land, water, and public health, including high rates of cancer and other illnesses among Navajo uranium miners and their families.”
The Navajo Nation, Coconino County and others have repeatedly expressed concern about the potential health and environmental hazards.
“Safeguarding our people is our inherent right,” Resources and Development Committee Vice Chair Casey Allen Johnson said in a statement. “The transportation of uranium across our lands fundamentally questions our sovereignty. We should not be compelled to compromise our sovereignty.”
The tribe banned transporting uranium through the reservation in 2012, but President Buu Nygren says Navajo law doesn’t apply to state highways like U.S. 89 and U.S. 160.
Energy Fuels Resources has maintained the mine is safe and they’re working with state officials to ensure compliance with all regulations.
