by Roger Clark, Grand Canyon Director
Why should we halt uranium mining in and around the Grand Canyon? Answer: It could put Grand Canyon waters — including the Havasupai Tribe’s sole source of drinking water — at risk.
Earlier this year, Energy Fuels — the company that owns Canyon Mine and the White Mesa uranium mill in southern Utah — “proactively implemented emergency response actions including enhanced evaporation through the use of land sharks” at the Canyon uranium mine, according to a June 26, 2017 email (see page 27).
What could be so dangerous as to trigger the use of such devilish-sounding devices? Welcome to our second installment of “Why Ban Grand Canyon Uranium Mining?“
Too much water
Canyon Mine is a uranium mine that was partially constructed during the 1980s on publically owned national forest land, six miles from where millions of visitors enter Grand Canyon National Park each year. After decades of dormancy, its owners recently completed digging the mine shaft to more than 1,400 feet beneath the surface. Problems arose, however, when the mine shaft filled with far more groundwater than expected.
This winter, snowmelt and rain nearly filled the mine’s wastewater pond. As required by state and federal permits, all surface runoff from the 17-acre mine site must be captured and contained in this lined pond, including floodwaters from a 100-year storm event. The pond must also have enough capacity to collect any groundwater that is encountered when digging the mine shaft. Under ordinary circumstances, this lined pond is supposed to evaporate wastewater fast enough to make room for all surface wastewater and groundwater and capture runoff from major storms.
This past spring, circumstances were far from ordinary. As miners dug the shaft, they struck a water-bearing zone in the Coconino Sandstone, where “perched” aquifers are found. Unfortunately, they hit so much groundwater that they had to pump it out continuously to keep the shaft from completely filling with water. By March, the 3.3 million gallon pond was full, according to a May 23, 2017 email (see page 20).