Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is urging the U.S. Forest Service to conduct a supplemental Environmental Impact Study for the Pinyon Plain uranium mine, arguing that the original assessment is based on outdated information.
Mayes made her request in an Aug. 13 letter to Nicole Branton, supervisor of the Kaibab National Forest.
In the letter, Mayes argues that the original EIS, completed almost four decades ago, underestimates the risks the Pinyon Plain uranium mine poses to the region's groundwater.
The final environmental impact statement from 1986 was based on the assumption that the mine would not reach below the water table and, therefore, would remain dry.
"The possibility of significant groundwater contamination from the mine is remote," the report concluded. "Groundwater flows, if they exist, are likely to be at least 1,000 feet below the lower extremities of the mine. This, plus the low potential for encountering groundwater in the mine, effectively eliminates the possibility of contaminating the Redwall-Muav aquifer."
The Forest Service retains the authority to determine whether further studies of the Pinyon Plain Mine are necessary.
Curtis Moore, Energy Fuels' senior vice president of marketing and corporate development, emailed The Republic a statement saying, "Energy Fuels continues to comply with all current approvals, regulations, and science to ensure protection of human health and the environment."
Moore noted that the official agencies have reviewed and reaffirmed determinations of no impact on groundwater numerous times over the years. Still, the mining company has long faced opposition from Native tribes and conservation organizations backed by scientific studies.
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Longstanding debate over uranium risks and water protections
For years, experts have warned of the negative impacts that mining uranium in the Grand Canyon region could have on the groundwater and the people.
Addressing concerns in 2012, the Forest Service reviewed the mine's operations plan and determined there was no reason to reevaluate the groundwater conditions , and operations could continue.
Mayes' letter said the Forest Service's assumptions were proven incorrect, stressing information published by the Grand Canyon Trust that concluded that, in 2016, the mine pierced an aquifer, flooding the mine shaft with groundwater.
The trust's analysis indicates that the mine has pumped out more than 67 million gallons to date.
After being a target of several accusations through the years, in 2020, the mining company renamed the uranium mine from Canyon Mine to Pinyon Plain Mine. Some believe this move was intended to distance the company from past controversies.
In 2022, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality reaffirmed the determination in the aquifer protection permit that there was no impact on groundwater. The office resolved that "natural protection exists from thick layers of low-permeability rock."
Still, in her letter, Mayes asked the Forest Service to consider more recent research, referring to the peer-reviewed study " Hydrotectonics of Grand Canyon Groundwater ," published in July by the Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
The paper highlighted the complexities of groundwater activity in the area and the threats from uranium mining contamination.
One of the paper's authors, Laura Crossey, is a professor at the University of New Mexico who has published studies on issues related to the geology of the Grand Canyon region for over 15 years.
"If you stand at the rim of the Grand Canyon and look into those beautiful walls of color, it looks like a layer cake. It deceptively seems simple," Crossey told The Republic.
Yet, according to the study, throughout the Colorado Plateau region, fault structures cut through the layers, and in some places, the rocks are folded.
"That really shows that it's not all as simple as a bunch of flat layers," she said.
Her research suggests that activities such as uranium mining near the Grand Canyon are too dangerous since adjacent fault structures forming vertical conduits could rapidly transport water underground, finding its way down to the Redwall-Muav Aquifer.
"And that is new science," she said.
The Redwall-Muav Aquifer is the primary water source for the Havasupai tribe, who have lived in the Grand Canyon region for generations and now fear extinction due to potential risk of contamination affecting their lands, water, air, food and ceremonial practices.
"The human race has forgotten to say thank you to the Mother Earth and everything that grows upon her, even the water," said Dianna WhiteDove Uqualla, a member of the Havasupai tribal council, during a recent protest against the mine .
The Havasu Baaja, in their original language, or the people of the blue-green waters, have passed down stories for generations, teaching that every living plant and animal has a role on this earth.
The tribe upholds the tradition of hunting for food, and there is now a concern about unintentionally consuming animals, such as rabbits that drink from the pond inside the mine, which is contaminated with high levels of heavy metals.
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Monument designation, limited protection
This month marked the first anniversary of the designation of Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni—Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument . While the designation protects the Canyon from future uranium mining claims, the Pinyon Plain Mine is grandfathered in under the 1872 Mining Law.
Amber Reimondo, energy director of the Grand Canyon Trust, said some key aspects of the 1872 law could be improved if Congress were willing to do so.
"Unlike coal, oil, or gas that are required to pay federal royalties, hard rock minerals like uranium pay zero dollars in federal royalties," she said. "Those royalty dollars could, for instance, go toward an abandoned mine cleanup fund."
The more than 500 abandoned mines in the Navajo Nation have also prompted governments to take action.
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 .
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kris Mayes calls for new review of Pinyon Plain uranium mine near the Grand Canyon
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