On the lawn outside the Arizona Capitol, conservation advocates gathered on the morning of June 27, ready to deliver 17,557 letters demanding that the governor Katie Hobbs intervene in the operation of the Pinyon Plain uranium mine, near the Grand Canyon.
They waited to see if she would find them or at least send someone from her team.
The activists, a diverse coalition of organizations including the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, Chispa, Haul No!, the Wilderness Society, Poder Latinx and more, gathered in a circle in the company of Diné tribal members. and Havasupai, sharing words. of encouragement before entering the government building.
Once inside, the group lined up in front of the cameras to voice their concerns.
They spoke about the threat of groundwater contamination and the need to protect the Grand Canyon and the people who depend on its waters from potential risks that should not be taken.
Carletta Tilousi, a former Havasupai tribal council member, approached the reception along with Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club Grand Canyon chapter. Together, they handed over a black box with a radioactive warning symbol drawn on the lid. The box contained some documents printed on paper and thousands of petitions in digital format.
In letters addressed to Hobbs, advocates requested that the governor “do everything he can to help protect the waters of the Grand Canyon, the new national monument, and these waters that are essential to the existence of the Havasupai people. it must be closed before it creates irreversible damage.”
Bahr said he had already contacted the Governor’s Office requesting a consultation. Even so, no employee showed up to receive the documents.
In January, 80 conservation organizations and scientists sent Hobbs another petition calling for the closure of the mine. Although they haven’t received a response since then, they haven’t given up either.
A spokesperson for Hobbs confirmed the letters were received and said in a written statement that “Governor Hobbs will always put the health and safety of Arizonans first.”
The Pinyon Plain mine is one of the most regulated in the country, the spokesperson said, with an “extremely stringent permit” and regular inspections from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
“The state will also continually evaluate our safety procedures and requirements to ensure the mine operates in a way that keeps our communities safe now and in the future,” the spokesperson said.
Tilousi has represented his tribe for many years in this fight against uranium mining.
“I’ve been against this for a long time,” she said. “I grew up with my tribe and family opposing mining.”
She was born and raised in the village of Supai, a place surrounded by immense mountains and connected by streams and waterfalls that flow into blue-green springs near the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River.
They were taught to be the Guardians of the Grand Canyon. Tilousi said he inherited the fight for clean air and clean water.
This is where the name of the tribe comes from. Havasu Baaja, in its original language, means people of the blue-green waters in English. Its identity has always been linked to the care of this sacred element.
So far, so close in a long fight
Opponents of the mine argue that its proximity to Havasupai tribal lands poses an unnecessary risk to the community’s main water source.
The Pinyon Plain Mine, formerly the Canyon Mine, is owned by Energy Fuels Resources Corporation, a Colorado-based subsidiary of Energy Fuels Inc. of Toronto, one of the largest uranium mining companies in the USA
The company began extracting ore at the end of last year within what was designated Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni — Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument last August.
Energy Fuels maintains that uranium mining at that location would not compromise the Grand Canyon watershed.
“Supai (village) is 40 miles away,” said Curtis Moore, the company’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate development.
“People claim we’re going to pollute the groundwater or pollute Havasu Creek or Havasu Springs, which is so ridiculous,” he said. “The chances of someone’s groundwater being polluted or someone having health or environmental impacts are nil.”
Moore said activists spread false information that scares neighboring tribes and communities. “They are pursuing a very political agenda.”
The Grand Canyon Trust revised reports from mining companies, and the group’s data scientists concluded that there was a significant increase last year in the levels of heavy metals such as uranium, arsenic and lead.
They compared levels of these metals from 2016 to the last quarter of 2023 with the EPA’s maximum contaminant level for drinking water. In the most recent measurement, uranium was six times above the safe limit, lead was 243 times above and arsenic was 812 times above.
Moore said this is completely normal and expected since Energy Fuels began mining operations late last year. He said there is nothing to fear because it is not potable water and is in a contained system.
Opponents still fear that an accident could allow water containing heavy metals to seep into aquifers that could be linked underground.
“I’m not even sure the groundwater contamination has already traveled 40 miles,” Moore said in response.
In the mines aquifer protection licensegranted by ADEQ, the government office determined that “natural protection exists against thick layers of low-permeability rock.”
But a recent study carried out by scientists at the University of New Mexico suggests that the region’s groundwater is too complex and that this mining operation should be better monitored.
The Governor’s Office said ADEQ conducts “regular and thorough inspections of the mine, working closely with local and district partners, and stands ready to take appropriate action if violations are found.”
But during a panel discussion on uranium mining last week, Tilousi said, “I have quotes from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality saying ‘we’re not in the enforcement business. We’re in the permitting business.'”
She said her tribe did not receive adequate responses from the mining company or the state, which, she said, does not appear to have any oversight.
Moore said critics are “vilifying the state and federal regulators who have been studying this for decades, and they just need to stop. It’s irresponsible.”
If natural protections failed, he said the solution would be easy.
“You just start pumping water and evaporating it,” he said. “In the worst case scenario, you might have to pump water for a long, long time, but that’s not expected to happen.”
The Grand Canyon Trust analysis also found that since 2016, when miners drilled into the aquifer, operations have pumped more than 66 million gallons.
One mine, many worries
Conservation groups opposing the mine say they are also concerned about water depletion and pollution on transportation routes through the Navajo Nation.
The groups have closely monitored the mine’s operations for years and cited concerns about animals drinking from the contaminated lake inside the mine.
Tilousi said his tribe are hunters and may inadvertently consume animals such as rabbits that drink from these waters.
Birds were observed flying over the fence to drink water from the lake, and animal hair was discovered stuck in the fence.
Moore said this water is not safe for human consumption, but it is certainly within appropriate standards for livestock and wildlife.
“We donate to local farmers because it’s a very dry area,” he said. “Farmers are happy to oblige. You know, they don’t want polluted meat, right?”
Tilousi fears that constant exposure to uranium could harm animals and their health.
“It’s a shame they want to give this to the cows. I think cows also need to be protected,” Tilousi said. “Animals need to be protected.”
Tilousi worked this year with the US Geological Survey on a conceptual risk model include the perspective of the Havasupai Tribe in scientific research.
The document explains how the Havasupai and neighboring tribes hunt animals, gather plants and practice other traditions, such as burning incense and using saunas.
“We are now more at risk of being contaminated through consumption, smell, touch, gathering and hunting,” she said.
Moore discredits studies conducted by those he considers activists. He said they oppose nuclear power because they want more wind and solar power.
“But the problem is that wind and solar energy will not solve our climate crisis. Not even close,” Moore said. “Wind and solar will be a drop in the ocean because energy consumption is increasing dramatically, especially with all these data centers, electric vehicles, electrification of our homes and all of that.”
Arizona has the highest quality uranium in the nation. But it is also among the top 10 states for wind energy potential and is fifth in electricity generation from solar energy.
However, solar panel systems accounted for only about 17% of Arizona’s net generation, while wind farms contributed less than 2% to the state’s total electricity generation.
The Sierra Club opposes nuclear power, encouraging renewable energy sources like solar and wind. Bahr said the reason is that they are against power generation that causes any kind of general depletion of resources.
“They can say all they want that this is modern uranium mining, but the risks still exist, and we still know that once groundwater is contaminated there is no good way to clean it up,” she said. “It’s just not worth the risk.”
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Trilce Estrada Olvera writes about environmental issues for the Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send comments and story tips to trilce.estradaolvera@arizonarepublic.com.
Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in the Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
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This article originally appeared in the Arizona Republic: Conservation groups call on Hobbs to close Pinyon Plain mine in Arizona
