June 26, 2009, 1:50 pm
A resolution to temporarily protect Grand Canyon National Park by withdrawing 1 million acres from uranium exploration, passed by Congress one year ago, has been ignored by the Bureau of Land Management, leading to an increased risk of contaminating drinking water consumed by millions of people.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, today announced that the House Committee on Natural Resources passed the emergency resolution because spikes in the price of uranium had led to thousands of new uranium mining claims, dozens of exploratory drilling projects, and movement to open several uranium mines on public lands immediately north and south of Grand Canyon National Park.
But despite the resolution, the Bureau of Land Management under the Bush and Obama administrations has continued to authorize new uranium-mining exploration, which drove the Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Trust, and the Center for Biological Diversity to file a lawsuit against the secretary of the interior in September 2008. The lawsuit challenges the continued authorization of uranium exploration near Grand Canyon National Park in defiance of Congress’s emergency resolution. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act also gives Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar the authority to temporarily protect the same lands from exploration and claims; however, he has failed to act.
“The Grand Canyon is one of the world's greatest natural wonders and a crown jewel of our national park system,” said Stacey Hamburg of the Sierra Club. “Radioactive pollution from uranium mining is a threat to Grand Canyon National Park visitors and wildlife, nearby Native American communities, and southwestern cities that get their water from the Colorado River. We need immediate action to protect these important resources from proposed mining activities.”
