Havasupai Tribe blasts Energy Fuels, Navajo Nation for cutting it out of uranium haul talks

Uranium haul trucks are once again
leaving the Pinyon Plain Mine, and the Havasupai Tribe describes the
actions of the state and the Navajo Nation permitting this hauling as a
disregard for “the health risks and dangerous implications of uranium
mining.”

Energy Fuels, Inc., restarted hauling
uranium ore from the Pinyon Plain Mine after a nearly six-month pause.
In January, the mining company signed an agreement with the Navajo Nation to allow the trucks to pass through Navajo land. 

“The Navajo Nation is not the only
Tribe or community affected by this activity,”  the Havasupai Tribe said
in a statement sent to The Arizona Mirror. “This was a blatant
disregard for others impacted by the hauling activity, which could have
been avoided by allowing our voice to be heard.”

The transportation officially started on Feb.12.
As part of the agreement, the mining company must give the Navajo
Nation 14 days’ notice before any hauling occurs. The Havasupai Tribe
receives no notice.

The Havasupai Tribe has complained
that it should have been involved in the negotiations because the
Pinyon Plain mine is located in the tribe’s ancestral homelands, and the
route passes by Red Butte Mountain, a sacred site for its people.

“We are deeply disappointed in
(Energy Fuels) and the Navajo Nation for not including us in their
discussions that ultimately led to the dangerous decision to allow
hauling of radioactive material across our aboriginal lands,” the
Havasupai Tribe said in a statement. 

The tribe stated that despite the
support and advocacy efforts from many allies, along with numerous
letters, phone calls, and personal appeals, their urgent requests to
halt this life-threatening action have been disregarded.

Energy Fuels owns and operates the
Pinyon Plain uranium mine on U.S. Forest Service land in the Kaibab
National Forest near the Grand Canyon. Numerous tribes, including the
Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe and the Havasupai Tribe, have ancestral
lands there.

“As Guardians of the Grand Canyon,
we, the Havsuw ‘Baaja, the Havasupai Tribe, have opposed uranium mining
in and around our Reservation and the Grand Canyon since time
immemorial,” the tribe said. “We do this to protect our people, our
land, our water, our past, our present and our future.”

The Havasupai Tribe, which lives at
the bottom of the Grand Canyon, has repeatedly said that the mine poses
risks to its drinking water, natural wonders and sacred cultural sites.

“This is real for us. We live here,”
the tribe said in a statement. “Our culture and traditions originate
here and are knit together with who we are as individual tribal members
and as a tribe.”

Since the company started mining, the
Havasupai Tribe said that it has “been forced to witness the
degradation of our aboriginal lands that include the mining site and
surrounding areas.”

The company will transport uranium
ore from the Pinyon Plain Mine near the Grand Canyon using 24-ton haul
trucks and end dump trailers. Tarps will cover the uranium ore. 

The Navajo Nation reported that the
mining company has confirmed it will send two trucks daily throughout
February and aims to increase this number in the coming months.
Eventually, up to 10 trucks will make the trek each day.

The trucks start from Pinyon Plain
Mine, which is located at the end of Forest Service Road 305ab, about
six miles from the main highway. They start their journey by traveling
along the gravel road through the dense trees of the Kaibab Forest
before reaching the main highway, State Route 64. 

Then the trucks pass Red Butte Mountain, where the main road sits about half a mile from the open area at the mountain’s base.

The Havasupai Tribe said that,
despite the company’s promise that its mining is safe, it remains
diligent in understanding the health risks of radioactive contamination
and how it will impact its people. 

“We will not give up. We owe that to our ancestors, our children and the generations to come. We will fight on,” the tribe said.