by Anne Mariah Tapp, Law and Policy Advisor
Last month, over a hundred people gathered to walk to the White Mesa uranium mill, taking a stand against uranium contamination. The protest walk was organized and led by White Mesa Concerned Community, a grassroots group based in White Mesa, Utah, whose leaders — all members of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe — have been fighting against the nearby White Mesa Mill for over a decade.
White Mesa Concerned Community was joined by Ute Mountain Ute tribal members from reservations in White Mesa, Utah and Towaoc, Colorado, concerned citizens of the nearby Navajo Nation who are directly impacted by the hauling of uranium to the White Mesa Mill, neighbors from Moab, Bluff, and Salt Lake City, and supporters from as far away as Australia — all working in solidarity to protect communities from uranium contamination.
Watch a one-minute video of the May 13, 2017 protest rally and spiritual walk:
Mill’s license up for renewal
The walk came as the state of Utah considers three key licensing decisions to allow the White Mesa uranium mill to continue operating:
- The renewal of the mill’s radioactive materials license – basically its operating permit. This license will determine how the mill is allowed to operate and how it will be cleaned up.
- The renewal of the mill’s groundwater discharge permit, which governs the mill’s impact on groundwater underneath the facility’s massive waste ponds.
- Whether the White Mesa Mill will be the final resting place for highly controversial radioactive waste shipped from the Sequoyah Fuels site near the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.
The state of Utah is accepting comments from the public until July 31, 2017. A public hearing is scheduled for June 8 in Salt Lake City, and a public meeting for June 15 in Blanding, Utah.
Striking out against injustice
The story of uranium on the Colorado Plateau is a story of injustice. From east to west and north to south, the Colorado Plateau’s communities, red mesas, slot canyons, dense forests, and hardworking rivers and streams bear the impact of this toxic industry. And too often, just as with the White Mesa Mill, the communities most impacted have been those of Native American tribal members, left with cancer clusters, devastated lands, and poisoned waters.
This is not a story buried in the past; it is a story being written today in Utah’s red rock country and one that is memorializing its legacy in the groundwater that feeds the Grand Canyon’s seeps and springs. It is a modern-day story whose every twist and turn leads you back to the White Mesa uranium mill, the processing site for every ton of uranium ore mined on the Colorado Plateau. The only conventional uranium mill still operating in the United States, it’s located three miles from the Ute Mountain Ute tribal community of White Mesa, Utah.
Speak up during public comment period
It’s important that regulators hear from you. We’ve been working with partners and supporters to put White Mesa on the map, both literally and metaphorically, through legal action and organizing, and this public comment period is a rare opportunity to make your voice heard.
Attend in person
*Audience members will have a chance to comment publicly and pose questions to regulators.
Submit written comments by July 31, 2017
Read the public notice from the Utah Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control ›
See drafts of the radioactive materials license, groundwater discharge permit, and other documents ›
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more information about specific concerns you might consider including in your comments.
The Colorado Plateau and its communities have borne the impacts of the uranium industry for too long. Now is the time to stand up for White Mesa and to protect the communities, land, water, wildlife, and clean air of the Colorado Plateau from toxic uranium contamination.
