Current:Home > ContactArizona governor negotiates pause in hauling of uranium ore across Navajo Nation -ProfitPioneers Hub
Arizona governor negotiates pause in hauling of uranium ore across Navajo Nation
View
Date:2025-04-17 04:42:17
PHOENIX (AP) — A uranium producer has agreed to temporarily pause the transport of the mineral through the Navajo Nation after the tribe raised concerns about the possible effects that it could have on the reservation.
Gov. Katie Hobbs said Friday that she intervened this week after talking with Navajo President Buu Nygren, who had come up with a plan to test a tribal law that bans uranium from being transported on its land.
Energy Fuels began hauling the ore Tuesday from its mine south of Grand Canyon National Park to a processing site in Blanding, Utah. When Nygren found out, he ordered tribal police to pull over the trucks and prevent them from traveling further. But by the time police arrived, the semi-trucks had left the reservation.
Energy Fuels said in a statement Friday that it agreed to a temporary pause “to address any reasonable concerns” held by Nygren. It recently started mining at the Pinyon Plain Mine in northern Arizona for the first time since the 1980s, driven by higher uranium prices and global instability. No other sites are actively mining uranium in Arizona.
“While Energy Fuels can legally restart transport at any time, pursuant to the current licenses, permits, and federal law, the company understands and respects President Nygren’s concern for his People, and wants to assure them that the company fully complies with all applicable laws and regulations,” the company said. “The U.S. has adopted the highest international standards for the transport of such materials, which are in place to protect human health and the environment.”
Energy Fuels isn’t legally required to give advance notice. But the Navajo Nation, the U.S. Forest Service, county officials and others says the company verbally agreed to do so — and then reneged on the promise Tuesday.
The Navajo Nation said it wanted to ensure it had time to coordinate emergency preparedness plans and other notifications before hauling began. Energy Fuels said it notified federal, state county and tribal officials about two weeks ago that hauling was imminent and outlined legal requirements, safety and emergency response.
The tribe said it didn’t expect hauling to begin for at least another month, based on months of conversations with Energy Fuels.
Hobbs said the pause on transporting the ore will allow the company and the tribe “to engage in good faith negotiations.”
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes also said her office is looking into legal options “to protect the health and safety of all Arizonans.”
The tribe passed a law in 2012 to ban the transportation of uranium on the reservation that extends into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. But the law exempts state and federal highways that Energy Fuels has designated as hauling routes.
Mining during World War II and the Cold War left a legacy of death, disease and contamination on the Navajo Nation and in other communities across the country. The Havasupai tribe is among the tribes and environmentalists that have raised concerns about potential water contamination.
veryGood! (93384)
Related
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2023: The Influencers' Breakdown of the Best Early Access Deals
- Washington’s Biggest Clean Energy Lobbying Group Pushes Natural Gas-Friendly Policy
- Mono Lake Tribe Seeks to Assert Its Water Rights in Call For Emergency Halt of Water Diversions to Los Angeles
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- Some will starve, many may die, U.N. warns after Russia pulls out of grain deal
- Once Hailed as a Solution to the Global Plastics Scourge, PureCycle May Be Teetering
- Derailed Train in Ohio Carried Chemical Used to Make PVC, ‘the Worst’ of the Plastics
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- ‘Green Hydrogen’ Would Squander Renewable Energy Resources in Massachusetts
Ranking
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Drowning Deaths Last Summer From Flooding in Eastern Kentucky’s Coal Country Linked to Poor Strip-Mine Reclamation
- Kelly Ripa & Mark Consuelos' Son Michael Now Has a Role With Real Housewives
- California Activists Redouble Efforts to Hold the Oil Industry Accountable on Neighborhood Drilling
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- A Warmer, Wetter World Could Make ‘Enhanced Rock Weathering’ a More Useful Tool to Slow Climate Change
- US Emissions of the World’s Most Potent Greenhouse Gas Are 56 Percent Higher Than EPA Estimates, a New Study Shows
- California Activists Redouble Efforts to Hold the Oil Industry Accountable on Neighborhood Drilling
Recommendation
Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
Once Hailed as a Solution to the Global Plastics Scourge, PureCycle May Be Teetering
Mama June Shannon Gives Update on Anna “Chickadee” Cardwell’s Cancer Battle
Peacock hikes streaming prices for first time since launch in 2020
Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
Women Are Less Likely to Buy Electric Vehicles Than Men. Here’s What’s Holding Them Back
One of the World’s Coldest Places Is Now the Warmest it’s Been in 1,000 Years, Scientists Say
Activists Slam Biden Administration for Reversing Climate and Equity Guidance on Highway Expansions