Tim Peterson
Despite record low uranium prices, the Energy Fuel Resources mining company is pushing to dramatically expand a proposed uranium mine in Red Canyon, Utah. The area is in the heart of the proposed Bears Ears National Monument. Put forward by a coalition of area Tribes, the Bears Ears National Monument proposal seeks to protect the cultural landscape of public lands in southern Utah, including more than 100,000 archaeological sites. These sites and lands are already being damaged by looting and vandalism. They are faced with state leaders who both fail to recognize the threats (one even attributed vandalism to badgers) and the value of the area for Tribal Nations, Utahns, and the country as a whole. Adding a massive uranium mine to the mix could spell disaster for this threatened region.
Energy Fuel Resources’ Deneros uranium mine is located just five miles west of Natural Bridges National Monument. The company wants to expand the mine from four to 46 acres and more than quadruple the amount of uranium mined. The life of the mine would be extended to 20 years and all of the uranium ore would be trucked through Bears Ears to the White Mesa Uranium Mill. (That’s just the tip of the iceberg. For more information on the potentially devastating consequences of this mine visit Uranium Watch.)
It’s a proposal that’s at odds with the widespread desire to see the Bears Ears area permanently protected. Robert Tohe, an organizer with Sierra Club’s Our Wild America campaign and member of the Navajo Nation, raised concerns about the proposed mine expansion at a recent public meeting held by the Obama administration on the future of the Bears Ears region.
"The Bureau of Land Management has failed in its public trust responsibilities by not fulfilling its regulatory and oversight duties regarding the uranium mining that will affect the future of Bears Ears.
BLM used an abbreviated look at cumulative impacts by allowing an environmental assessment, rather than a full environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act. The process was fatally flawed and illustrates the immediate need for the President to declare Bears Ears National Monument and to have the Tribes as co-managers. In the Daneros Mine, and National Environmental Policy Act process more importantly, the Bureau of Land Management totally failed in both their cultural resource analysis and consultation with tribes.”
Obama administration officials saw first-hand the damage being done to local sites—initials carved next to ancient rock art, petroglyphs smeared, rocks and artifacts removed. And they need look no further than neighboring Greater Grand Canyon to see the toxic legacy left by uranium mining. It’s time for the Bureau of Land Management to take a step back and look towards the Bears Ears National Monument proposal. Not only does it provide a healthier vision for the future, but also an example of an inclusive process for shaping how public lands are used and managed in the future. Please join us in calling on President Obama to designate Bears Ears National Monument.