This map shows the risk of fatal accidents along the transportation route from Canyon uranium mine near the Grand Canyon to the White Mesa uranium mill.
Resource Issue: Energy
This interactive timeline offers a brief history of Canyon Mine (renamed Pinyon Plain Mine), a controversial uranium mine near the Grand Canyon.
This map shows active mining claims, including various uranium mines, inside the boundaries of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument
This map shows the route uranium haul trucks will take to deliver uranium ore mined at Canyon Mine (renamed Pinyon Plain Mine) to the White Mesa Mill for processing.
Radioactive waste is shipped from toxic sites across the country to the White Mesa Mill.
This interactive map shows the Canyon Mine (renamed Pinyon Plain Mine) haul route, from the south rim of the Grand Canyon to the White Mesa uranium mill in southern Utah.
LeaderShift is an immersive environmental justice and advocacy training program for students between the ages of 18 and 27.
Uranium spot prices have flutuated between 1989 and 2024, with notable spikes in 2007 and 2024.
On April 25, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) denied the preliminary permit application for the Big Canyon Pumped Storage Project, which would have dammed Big Canyon, a tributary canyon to the Little Colorado River Gorge, mere miles from Grand Canyon National Park. Big Canyon Pumped Storage Project Read the denial › See a map […]
See a map of proposed hydropower dams on the Navajo Nation.
See a map of past coal strip-mining on Black Mesa, along with proposed pumped storage hydroelectric dam projects.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Flagstaff, AZ — The Grand Canyon Regional Intertribal Intergenerational Stewardship Expedition (RIISE) is accepting applications from young people ages 16-20 who identify as members of one of the associated tribes of the Grand Canyon for its third annual free nine-day Colorado River rafting trip through the Grand Canyon July 15-23, 2024. Hosted by […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Flagstaff, AZ — The Grand Canyon Trust is now accepting applications for its 2024 LeaderShift Scholars program. Up to 12 LeaderShift scholars will be selected for a free nine-day immersive outdoor environmental justice advocacy training across the Colorado Plateau, August 10-18, 2024. LeaderShift scholarships include $150 stipends, meals, and transportation, with gear-lending available. […]
Tribes have formally opposed a dozen pumped storage hydroelectric projects proposed on or near Native lands. See a map.
See the proposed pumped storage hydroelectric projects on or near Native lands across the Colorado Plateau in this interactive map.
This map shows how much water proposed hydropower projects would require to initially fill reservoirs.
On November 17, 2023, the Navajo Nation filed a motion to intervene in the preliminary permit proceeding for the proposed Western Navajo No. 2 hydropower project. According to the preliminary-permit application, the planned dam on the Navajo Nation would be located near Page, Arizona, and utilize water from Lake Powell. Read the motion › Download the […]
On October 31, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) accepted an application by Nature and People First, a company organized by a French entrepreneur, for a preliminary permit for a proposed hydroelectric project called Chuska Mountain Pumped Storage Project on Navajo Nation land. According to the preliminary-permit application, the project would consist of seven reservoirs […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SALT LAKE CITY, UT — Estonian state-owned oil shale company Enefit American Oil is abandoning its lease to mine oil shale on federal public land in northeastern Utah’s Uinta Basin. The decision marks the end of the George W. Bush-era federal oil shale leasing program and came just weeks before a settlement agreement […]
The Grand Canyon Trust and Deseret Power signed a settlement agreement over a sizable water right (15 cubic-feet per second, or 3.5 billion gallons per year). Deseret Power acquired the water right from Enefit American Oil Co., an Estonian state-owned oil shale company aiming to build a massive oil shale mining and processing facility in northern […]
The Estonian state-owned oil shale company, Enefit American Oil, relinquished a preliminary lease to research the commercial viability of mining and producing oil shale on public land in northeastern Utah. Enefit has proposed a massive development on 13,000 acres of private land and 4,960 acres of federal public land in the Uinta Basin. By relinquishing its 160-acre […]
On July 14, 2023, Tó Nizhóní Ání, Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment, and Center for Biological Diversity provided the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with 17 resolutions from Navajo Nation chapters and agencies opposing the proposed Black Mesa dams; additional resolutions have been passed. The three-part plan for a hydropower project that could string reservoirs […]
On July 12, 2023, Nature and People First, a company organized by a French entrepreneur, submitted a revised application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a preliminary permit for a proposed hydroelectric project called the Chuska Mountain Pumped Storage Project on Navajo Nation land. View the application › Download the PDF ›
On June 9, 2023 Rye Development, LLC submitted an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a preliminary permit for a proposed hydroelectric dam on Navajo Nation land. The below application for Western Navajo Pumped Storage Project No. 2 is one of two applications. View the application › Download the PDF ›
On June 9, 2023, Rye Development, LLC submitted an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a preliminary permit for a proposed hydroelectric dam on Navajo Nation land. The below application for Western Navajo Pumped Storage Project No. 1 is one of two applications. View the application › Download the PDF ›
This report details how the White Mesa Mill, a conventional uranium mill in southeastern Utah a mile from Bears Ears National Monument, became America’s cheapest radioactive waste dump. By transforming its business model, the mill has turned into a commercial landfill for contaminated wastes, placing Utah’s clean air, water, environment, and people at risk and perpetuating […]
On May 2, 2023, Nature and People First, a company organized by a French entrepreneur, submitted an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a preliminary permit for a proposed hydroelectric project called the Chuska Mountain North Pumped Storage Project on Navajo Nation land. View the application › Download the PDF ›
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SALT LAKE CITY, UT — A settlement agreement filed today in Utah federal court could keep millions of tons of coal in the ground, while influencing how the federal government considers the financial cost of climate change when leasing coal. The agreement ends a lawsuit filed in 2015 by WildEarth Guardians and the […]