US to Protect Grand Canyon From Uranium Mining | Common Dreams

US to Protect Grand Canyon From Uranium Mining | Common Dreams
CommonDreams.org, January 9, 2012

One million acre area set to be protected by 20-year ban

The Obama Administration is set to protect a 1-million acre area around the Grand Canyon from uranium mining with a 20-year ban, despite pressure from mining companies.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is set to make the announcement today at the National Geographic Society in Washington.

"Secretary Salazar has defended the Southwest's right to plentiful, clean water and America's dedication to one of our most precious landscapes," said Dusty Horwitt, senior counsel for the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based advocacy group. (photo: Rachel Knickmeyer)

Environmental groups praised the decision. From the Associated Press:

"Secretary Salazar has defended the Southwest's right to plentiful, clean water and America's dedication to one of our most precious landscapes," said Dusty Horwitt, senior counsel for the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based advocacy group.

"Despite significant pressure from the mining industry, the president and Secretary Salazar did not back down," said Jane Danowitz, U.S. public lands director for the Pew Environment Group.

Mining companies had hoped to take advantage of the uranium-rich area. The Guardian reports:

In the final years of the George Bush presidency, when uranium prices were rising worldwide, mining companies filed thousands of new claims in northern Arizona, on lands near the Grand Canyon. They also proposed reopening old mines adjacent to the canyon.

Uranium mining has proven to be an ecological nightmare. From The Guardian:

At least one creek in the national park is known to be contaminated by uranium, and the government's environmental impact review found high levels of arsenic from old uranium operations.

Today's announcement would not affect some 3,000 existing mining claims around the canyon.