Emily Chan
Located just south of Grand Canyon National Park, there is a mine rich with uranium ore. The radioactive material is used to produce nuclear fuel and atomic weapons. On July 30, two trucks loaded with uranium ore were seen leaving the Canyon Mine, also known as the Pinyon Plain Mine, according to the Grand Canyon Trust.
The trucks were headed toward the White Mesa Mill in southern Utah. In order to arrive at their destination, they must travel along a popular, picturesque road that cuts through northern Arizona, the Navajo Nation, and southern Utah. Each day, six large trucks hauling uranium are expected to make the nearly 300-mile journey from the mine to the mill.
Native communities do not want the trucks driving through their land along the route. They expressed concerns for their safety and the possibility of harmful accidents. The Navajo Nation even asked President Biden to stop the trucks from trespassing, but the company that owns the mine, Energy Fuels Resources, has ignored their pleas.
In 2012, the Navajo Nation passed a law banning the transportation of uranium across their reservation, which extends into Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. But, the state and federal highways that Energy Fuels has been using are exempt from the law. Still, tribal officials believe they are legally obligated to enforce the law in this circumstance.
“Obviously, the higher courts are going to have to tell us who is right and who is wrong. But in the meantime, you’re in the boundaries of the Navajo Nation,” said Navajo President Buu Nygren.
On July 30, the Navajo Nation planned to test the law by having tribal police stop two trucks carrying the mineral and return to the mine where it was extracted. However, the police reportedly failed to catch up to the vehicles.
The mine is located near the south rim of the Grand Canyon within Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument.
Energy Fuels defended their decision to proceed with the mining and transportation of the mineral, claiming that their operations are not a danger to people or the environment.
“Tens of thousands of trucks have safely transported uranium ore across northern Arizona since the 1980s with no adverse health or environmental effects,” said Mark Chalmers, the company’s president and chief executive.
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