On January 9th 2012, the Department Of Interior officially announced a 20-year moratorium on thousands of new mining claims that threaten to industrialize watersheds, which drain directly into Grand Canyon and the Colorado River. In 2014 the moritorium held up in court after challenges from the industry.
There are as many as 10,000 existing mining claims on BLM and U.S. Forest Service lands near the Grand Canyon for all types of hard-rock exploration. Some 1,100 uranium mining claims are within five miles of the Grand Canyon National Park.
Proposed uranium development has provoked litigation, public protest and opposition from scientists, elected officials, tribal communities and water authorities, to name a few.
Conservation groups say mines drilled too close to the Canyon could contaminate aquifers that feed springs and the Colorado River, a source of water for more than 18 million people downstream from proposed sites.
Grand Canyon National Park generates more than $687 million dollars for the northern Arizona economy each year. Large scale mining development, with the attendant noise, air and water pollution and traffic generated by mining activities, could have adverse impacts on the Grand Canyon and could hurt the area’s tourism and recreation business.
Grand Canyon Uranium Mining Video by EcoFlight
Here is another video, produced by a passenger on one of our flights over these mines. Thank you to James Q Martin and www.protectthegrandcanyon.org for sharing this information.
|Images ( View Full Gallery )||Video|