Energy Fuels, Inc. began transporting uranium ore through the Navajo Nation this week. The trucks traveled on state and federal roads from the Pinyon Plain uranium mine, just south of Grand Canyon Village in Arizona, to a uranium mill in southeast Utah, located five miles north of the Ute Mountain Ute tribal community in White Mesa.
Buu Nygren, president of the Navajo Nation, issued an executive order on July 31 calling for the transport to stop. He said Navajo police tried to pull over two trucks, but they didn't reach the drivers until after they left the tribe's jurisdiction.
“Once they enter the boundaries of the Navajo Nation, they're on Navajo land. They need to follow Navajo law. They snuck through the Navajo Nation, and they made it to the Utah side, outside of the reservation. So to me, they operated covertly to travel to traverse the Navajo Nation illegally,” said Nygren.
In 2012, the Navajo Nation passed the Radioactive and Related Substances Equipment, Vehicles, Persons, and Materials Transportation Act banning the transport of uranium on the reservation.
On July 31, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes issued a statement supporting the Navajo Nation’s blocking of uranium-filled trucks.
“My office is currently researching our options, but I remain deeply committed to doing everything in my power to protect the health and safety of all Arizonans. Hauling radioactive materials through rural Arizona, including across the Navajo Nation, without providing notice or transparency and without providing an emergency plan is unacceptable,” said Mayes in the statement.
In March, Curtis Moore, vice president of marketing at Energy Fuels, said there’s a lot of uranium to transport from the Pinyon Plain mine to the White Mesa uranium mill.
“There's going to be six to eight trucks per day for a few years. It's all regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation standards. I would estimate it's going to operate for five to eight years of ore production,” said Moore.
President Buu Nygren said Navajo leaders banned the transport of uranium through the reservation because of the harm that outdated uranium practices caused to Navajo people’s health.
“Our people have dealt with this for decades, and we still don't have uranium cleanup,” said Nygren.
From the 1940s to the 1960s, the U.S. government took advantage of the uranium-rich Four Corners area for Cold War weapons production. However, outdated practices left decrepit mines scattered throughout the Navajo Nation. The mines have never been cleaned up, exposing residents to harmful radiation.
Today, the White Mesa Uranium Mill, run by Energy Fuels Inc., is the only conventionally operating uranium mill in the United States. The site disposes of and processes radioactive materials from around the U.S. and the world. Tribes and activists have hosted an annual peace walk to protest the mill's operations since it opened in 1979.
In August 2023, President Biden stopped almost all uranium mining in the region when he designated a one million-acre Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. But one mining operation avoided restrictions.
The Pinyon Plain mine, owned by Energy Fuels, began extracting and stockpiling uranium ore. This week, the company started trucking the radioactive material through the Navajo Nation to southeast Utah.
According to U.S. law, Energy Fuels can truck low-grade radioactive material on state and federal roads. However, Navajo Nation officials still plan to halt the uranium trucks on those roads that run through tribal land, potentially resulting in an untested legal situation.
According to Moore, transporting the material is safe.
“These trucks have a very tight tarp over the top that overlaps the sides to make sure that no dust or anything comes off the truck,” said Moore.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren disputes that assertion.
“Those contaminants of uranium at the top of the tarp, by the time they're cruising through Navajo, then they're sprinkling uranium all over the place without them knowing,” said Nygren.
President Nygren has also expressed concerns about the potential for accidents involving the trucks.
“What happens when you get in an accident? You're probably going to what if the uranium goes past the fencing? That's the Navajo Nation lands, and they don't have a plan in place for that,” said Nygren.
Michael Badback, a resident of the nearby White Mesa community, is also concerned about the large trucks driving through his community several times a day.
“We have our community members walking on the side of the road to get to Blanding. Also, the school kids are commuted by bus in the morning and afternoon. I'm afraid that if there was a spill, if there was a wreck and the kids go through, what would happen? “ said Badback.
The Navajo Nation Police Department will continue efforts to pull over uranium-hauling trucks driving through the reservation. President Nygren told the Associated Press he would even use roadblocks to stop the trucks. The tribe's jurisdiction over state roads in this matter has not yet been legally tested.
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