Conservationists Intervene To Oppose New Dam Project Near The Grand Canyon

New hydropower project would harm Little Colorado River and endangered species

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2020

CONTACTS
Michael Hiatt | Earthjustice | (303) 519-9727 | mhiatt@earthjustice.org
Alicyn Gitlin | Sierra Club – Grand Canyon Chapter | (520) 491-9528 | alicyn.gitlin@sierraclub.org
Gary Wockner | Save the Colorado | (970) 218-8310 | gary@savethecolorado.org
Maia Raposo | Waterkeeper Alliance | (203) 824-2229 | mraposo@waterkeeper.org
John Weisheit | Living Rivers | (435) 260-2590 | john@livingrivers.org
Sarana Riggs | Grand Canyon Trust | (928) 774-7488 | sriggs@grandcanyontrust.org
Kevin Dahl | National Parks Conservation Association | (520) 603-6430 | kdahl@npca.org
Jen Pelz | WildEarth Guardians | (303) 884-2702 | jpelz@wildearthguardians.org

Four Dams and three wells are proposed as part of a new energy project in Big Canyon, a tributary of the Little Colorado River. Here, the Little Colorado River is shown near its confluence with the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. Ed Moss photo.

Washington, D.C. — A coalition of conservation groups filed a motion to intervene today to oppose a preliminary permit for a hydropower project near the Little Colorado River by the same company that proposed two similar projects last year. Earthjustice is representing Save the Colorado, Grand Canyon Trust, Living Rivers & Colorado Riverkeeper, National Parks Conservation Association, Sierra Club, Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc., and WildEarth Guardians.

The groups want the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to deny a preliminary permit for the Big Canyon Pumped Storage Project proposed by Pumped Hydro Storage, LLC.

The project would include four dams and reservoirs in and above the Big Canyon tributary of the Little Colorado River. The company has said that if this project is allowed to move forward, it would abandon the earlier proposals to dam the Little Colorado River. But the Big Canyon Project is every bit as harmful as the previous two projects.

“The third time is not the charm for Pumped Hydro’s repeated attempts to build dams just outside the Grand Canyon,” said Rumela Roy, an attorney in Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain office. “FERC should deny the permit because this project would pump massive amounts of groundwater from an already stressed aquifer, and this groundwater pumping would harm endangered fish species and sacred sites of numerous tribes.”

A portion of the Little Colorado River has been designated as critical habitat for the endangered humpback chub, an ancient fish that was once abundant in the Grand Canyon but is now on the brink of extinction. According to the National Park Service, the humpback chub in the Little Colorado River is “the only known spawning population of humpback chub in Grand Canyon.”

The Little Colorado River flows into the Colorado River downstream from this project, so it would also change the flows, sediment and temperature of that river, which flows through the Grand Canyon.

The motion argues that this proposal should not receive a permit because it does not pass a basic “fitness” test to warrant a preliminary permit, and because of potential legal challenges under the Endangered Species Act and likely opposition from Native American Tribes.  The Little Colorado River gorge — where the proposed project would be located — contains numerous sites sacred to Native Americans, such as the Hopi Salt Trail.

The Navajo Nation filed a separate notice of intervention on July 30, noting the project would likely adversely impact the land, water, wildlife, and cultural resources of the Navajo Nation.

“Building pumped hydropower in the hot, sun-drenched desert makes no sense at all,” said Gary Wockner, director of Save the Colorado: Colorado River Waterkeeper Network. “Solar is the answer, and with it you won’t face opposition from groups like ours that actively opposes all new dams in the already over-dammed and depleted Colorado ecosystem.”

“This proposal to construct multiple hydropower dams and reservoirs in Big Canyon, just steps from Grand Canyon National Park, is an unconscionable waste of water in a place where temperatures reach triple digits in the summer and there are scant inches of precipitation a year,” said Daniel E. Estrin, Waterkeeper Alliance’s General Counsel and Advocacy Director. “In addition to adverse impacts to endangered species and Navajo, Hopi, and other tribes’ cultural resources, the proposed dams and reservoirs would cause enormous groundwater and evaporative losses — losses the Colorado River basin, the water supply for 40 million people, can ill afford as our climate heats up. Protecting our waterways and communities requires that we remove dams from the basin, not build more of them.”

“The groundwater in the region is ancient — deposited millennia ago and emerging at turquoise springs near the confluence of the Little Colorado and Colorado Rivers,” said Alicyn Gitlin, Grand Canyon Program Manager for Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter. “Pumping ancient groundwater to evaporate in reservoirs for an investor’s financial gain will destroy culturally important springs, kill wildlife, and waste a very precious resource. This proposal is totally disrespectful of all that is important in the area.”

“The citizens of Moab, Utah overwhelmingly rejected a pumpback hydro facility near Canyonlands National Park and we prevailed in the end,” said John Weisheit, Conservation Director for Living Rivers. “In fact, our community was subjected to this permitting process twice. What defines the communities of the Colorado Plateau is this: we have no more patience for corporations who would plunder our water, sacred sites and precious habitats.”

“Local communities and ranching families on the Western Navajo Nation, as well as other tribes affiliated with the Grand Canyon, are opposed to this hydroelectric project,” said Sarana Riggs, Grand Canyon Program Manager, Grand Canyon Trust. “The desecration of cultural and prayer sites would be forever; the heartache of cultural loss will be felt by many tribes and individuals. To build this dam is to submerge and erase our identity as Indigenous people who have lived here since time immemorial.”

“This proposal to build four dams just three miles upstream from Grand Canyon National Park is simply outrageous,” said Kevin Dahl, senior Arizona program manager for National Parks Conservation Association. “The downstream impacts would threaten local endangered species and damage the park itself. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should not allow such a reckless project to go forward, especially when the Navajo Nation has objected to this intrusion on their sacred land.”

“At a time when the Trump Administration proposes to strip the humpback chub of its endangered status, so too is industry poised to destroy its last and best spawning habit on the Little Colorado River,” said Jen Pelz, Wild Rivers Program Director at WildEarth Guardians. “It’s time to stop putting profits over people and the environment and draw a line in the sand to protect this already fragile region of the Colorado River basin.”

Read the entire document here.

Learn more about the proposed Grand Canyon dams on our website here.

Earthjustice, the nation’s premier nonprofit environmental law organization, wields the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people’s health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change. For more information, visit http://www.earthjustice.org.

Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.8 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. https://www.sierraclub.org/arizona

The mission of the Grand Canyon Trust is to safeguard the wonders of the Grand Canyon and the Colorado Plateau, while supporting the rights of its Native peoples.
www.grandcanyontrust.org

WildEarth Guardians is a conservation non-profit whose mission is to protect and restore the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West. Guardians has offices in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington, and over 275,000 members and supporters worldwide. For more information please visit www.wildearthguardians.org.

Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its nearly 1.4 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org.

Waterkeeper Alliance is a global movement uniting more than 350 Waterkeeper Organizations and Affiliates around the world, focusing citizen action on issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. The Waterkeeper movement patrols and protects over 2.5 million square miles of rivers, lakes, and coastlines in the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. For more information please visit: waterkeeper.org

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Sierra Club and Colleagues to Feds: Protect Grand Canyon from Proposed Environmental Rule Changes!

Read the letter we submitted here.

In one of its most aggressive attacks on bedrock environmental protections to date, the Trump administration wants to change the rules behind the National Environmental Policy Act.  This law ensures that the government analyzes the effects of all actions that take place on public lands or use public money.  It is responsible for disclosing the impacts on people, water, wildlife, the environment, the economy, and health.  This law protects you – the public – and your money from harm and waste.  This law is what gives us all the ability to weigh in on proposed actions, to point out missing information, and ensure that science is used to make decisions.

We, along with colleagues ranging from youth to elders submitted a letter pointing out how Grand Canyon will be particularly vulnerable should these terrible rules take effect.  Read our letter here to learn how Grand Canyon might be uniquely affected if these rules go into effect.  And please continue to be diligent to protect Grand Canyon!

 

 

Tusayan, Developers Begin New Push for Massive Grand Canyon Project

Development Will Overwhelm Park Capacity, Failing Infrastructure, Water Supply

 

 

For Immediate Release, January 22, 2020

 

Contacts:     Alicyn Gitlin, Sierra Club – Grand Canyon Chapter, (520) 491-9528, alicyn.gitlin@sierraclub.org; Robin Silver, Center for Biological Diversity, (602) 799-3275, rsilver@biologicaldiversity.org

 

TUSAYAN, Ariz.— An Italian company has tinkered with its years-old plan to build a sprawling development on the doorstep of Grand Canyon National Park. But the mega-project would be just as dangerous to water resources, wildlife and visitors. It would also flood the night skies of one of the nation’s most iconic national parks with light.

Take action to stop this massive development here!

The Tusayan Town Council is set to vote Thursday, Jan. 23, on submitting a slightly revised application from the town and Stilo Development Group to the Kaibab National Forest. A U.S. Forest Service permit is required to build roads and utilities across Forest Service land.

“We must stand against greedy developers who see the Grand Canyon as nothing but a cash register,” said Robin Silver, a cofounder of the Center for Biological Diversity. “This latest scheme still threatens catastrophic harm to the canyon’s life-giving springs, the millions of visitors who flock to this natural wonder and the native people who’ve called the canyon home for millennia. It’s the same pig with a new shade of lipstick.”

It’s the third time in six years that Stilo and Tusayan officials have pushed for the massive development on private land just outside Grand Canyon National Park.

The proposal would transform the small community of Tusayan into a sprawling complex of high-end homes, malls and resorts a mile from Grand Canyon National Park’s boundary. Development plans include 2,200 housing units, 2,500 hotel rooms, a conference center, “edutainment” complex, restaurants, shopping malls, a health spa and possibly a dude ranch.

“For 20 years the public has been saying no to Stilo’s terrible development proposals, and this is more of the same,” said Alicyn Gitlin, conservation coordinator for the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “This proposal, which includes double the hotel room capacity of the entire town of Williams and thousands of new vacation homes, will drain water supplies while destroying the forest. There is no plan for trash or traffic, and the only plan for water is to truck it in from an undisclosed location.”

In 2016 the Forest Service rejected Tusayan’s original right-of-way application, concluding that the development “is not in the public interest” and “opposed by local and national communities, would stress local and Park infrastructure, and have untold impacts to the surrounding Tribal and National Park lands.” Then-park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga called the Stilo proposal one of the greatest threats to the park in its 100-year history.

In September Tusayan and Stilo submitted a new right-of-way application to the Forest Service. The latest application, which the town council will consider Thursday, moves the location of some roads and water lines but doesn’t lessen the threats to water, wildlife and people.

Pumping groundwater from the local aquifer to supply thousands of homes will dry up springs and seeps that support wildlife and recreation on the park’s South Rim. This could also spell catastrophe for Havasu Creek, the lifeblood of the Havasupai Tribe. It would also harm the Grand Canyon’s incredible biodiversity, which include some of the most threatened ecosystems on Earth.

Stilo’s development would stress the park’s aging infrastructure, which is more than $300 million behind in deferred maintenance. The project would also flood the park’s world-famous dark skies with light pollution and dramatically increase traffic congestion. Added traffic and air pollution would harm wildlife, fragment important animal habitat, and interfere with antelope fawning grounds.

“Arizona is the Grand Canyon State, not the Mega-mall State,” said Silver. “It’s time for Tusayan’s council members to show some courage and remember where they’re from. They must stand up and protect Arizona’s crown jewel for future generations.”

 

Tell the Forest Service you oppose this development!

 

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.6 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Protect Grand Canyon from New Dams Proposed Near the Confluence!

Two new pumped storage electric projects are proposed on the Little Colorado River.  Each pumped storage project consists of two reservoirs: water flows between the two to create hydroelectric power.

 

These two projects would create four new reservoirs in and above the Little Colorado River, flooding critically important cultural sites and destroying the most important stretch of habitat for the endangered humpback chub.

 

The first project would create a 2-mile long reservoir, flooding some of the most culturally significant portions of the canyon, burying Blue Spring under the reservoir, and destroying 80-90% of spawning habitat for the endangered humpback chub.  Read the application for the Navajo Nation Salt Trail Pumped Storage Project here.  Maps start after page 12.

The second project, directly upstream of the first, would create a 2.5-mile long reservoir, interfering with the Hopi Salt Trail and destroying riverine habitats. Read the second application here.   Maps start after page 12.

 

Please comment on both of these proposals to stop the destruction of the Little Colorado River!

Or go directly to the Federal Notice here and here to learn how to comment on each project individually!

 

What is wrong with these proposals?  Besides the loss of cultural sites and dooming the future of the endangered humpback chub, both of these projects are terribly short sighted in many other ways!

The upper reservoir would be subject to rapid infill of sediment from the Little Colorado River and the lower dam would quickly become covered in travertine (a rock precipitate that is dissolved in Blue Spring water and rapidly coats solid surfaces it contacts).  The reservoirs would be subject to the large flow fluctuations of this desert stream, meaning that there would be threats to infrastructure by floods, and threats to water supply during droughts.  The stream below the reservoirs would have altered temperature and sediment loads, making it less habitable to native fish.  The entire area, which is now extremely remote, quiet, and pristine, would become industrialized with dams, roads, and powerlines.  The Navajo Nation has not endorsed these projects; they are being proposed by Phoenix speculators.

 

Please take action now by visiting the link here.

Or go directly to the Federal Notice here and here to learn how to comment on each project individually!

 

Is Stilo Planning a Massive Development at Tusayan?

YES. Don’t believe anyone telling you otherwise.

This image is from an actual promotional video (link below) for the development being planned at Tusayan, AZ.

How do we know?

We have been following this issue for years, attending Town Council meetings, reading contracts, interacting with decision makers, listening to recordings, watching videos, and meeting with stakeholders. Stilo wants to build a massive development just outside Grand Canyon’s South Rim entrance, in the Town of Tusayan. We intend to share all of the information we have with you so you can decide for yourself.

If you already know this makes you angry, take action here.

(We’ll repeat this link at the bottom for those of you who want more information first.)

What’s the developer’s plan?

Great question. Italian developer Gruppo Stilo has been very secretive, even going as far as asking the Forest Service how to avoid Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. We do know they are planning something that is, in their own words, “a little more commercial than you might even be comfortable with”. Unfortunately for them, the answer is hiding in plain sight: this video, which Stilo tells a Town Council member is not intended for United States audiences or for Town residents to see, is available online. Just go to their production company’s website, https://psavideo.com/video-production-samples/ and scroll down to “Stilo Development Grand Canyon”. You will see images of high end retail malls, “a Red Rocks style amphitheater”, Las Vegas style hotels, mentions of Disney’s Epcot Center, and more. Because, according to Stilo, there’s nothing to do at Grand Canyon. “This presents an opportunity for us!” they proclaim.

NOTE: As of June 5, the video was removed from this website. We can only interpret this as more evidence that Stilo wishes to hide their plans from the American public. Thanks to the Phoenix New Times, the video is reposted here.

Try not to laugh too hard when you see a joyous family vacationing in a parking garage (there are no parking garages within 60 miles of the park!) and scenes of some random river that’s not the Colorado River. Bonus points if you catch the images of Bryce Canyon National Park (which is a lovely place – check it out sometime! But it’s not Grand Canyon.). Try not to cry when you realize you’ll have to view wildlife and the stars from indoor museums because those things will disappear once this massive development is built.

What else is being planned?

Well, Stilo is also planning to divert Colorado River water. They have obtained rights to an old coal slurry pipeline and now want to bring Colorado River water across northern Arizona. Seems they forget how tenuous Arizona’s access to Colorado River water is. Arizona has the most junior Colorado River water right of any state and it will be the first state to lose its allocation if severe drought persists.

Simultaneously, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) is also looking to majorly upgrade the Grand Canyon Airport at Tusayan, and trying to recruit regular commercial service to the airport. The development, airport, and water changes could completely alter the way people visit Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon Airport is a state-owned airport at Tusayan

OK, where are we getting our information??

In the interest of complete transparency, here are our sources:

• Stilo promotional video, which shows what is planned https://psavideo.com/video-production-samples/ – scroll down to “Stilo Development Grand Canyon”.
• Article with link to all of the “accidental” recordings of Town Council members, the Town Manager, and Stilo employee Tom DePaulo, and descriptions of the recordings: http://www.grandcanyonwatchdog.com/local/index.php?id=1211 In one of the recordings they discuss a meeting with the Forest Service where they were told how to avoid FOIA requests. In another, an employee of the developer describes how the promotional video about the development is not meant for Americans or for Town residents to see.
• A contract obligates the Town to continue to pursue a right of way for utilities to Stilo’s development or to pursue legal action (See p.2, sections e(ii) and e(iii)). Section 4 of the contract describes how the Town is able to start some housing development. See Sections 2 and 3 on p.15 for more on how development of more homes by the Town is linked to Forest Service approval for Stilo to build. Section 5c4, and the next few paragraphs, again connects the housing development to Stilo’s ability to develop, in a very confusing way.
• Article about Tusayan‘s lobbying for a new water pipeline to carry Colorado River water to their development: http://www.grandcanyonwatchdog.com/local/index.php?id=1184
• Here’s an article about recent floodplain violations and how the Town knew they were in violation but proceeded with housing development anyway: http://www.grandcanyonwatchdog.com/local/index.php?id=1236 You can see the extent of what they did in the floodplain by clicking “Timelapse” on this page: https://app.oxblue.com/open/tusayan/tenxranch
• You can find the dollars that Arizona Department of Tranpsortation (ADOT) plans to spend on the airport in the new ADOT 5-year program: https://www.azdot.gov/planning/transportation-programming/tentative-program (note that they call it an enhancement and not an expansion, because their definition of expansion means actually expanding the size of the airport land parcel. They intend to upgrade facilities within the current land parcel.)
• Airport Master Plan page with information about what’s planned: https://www.azdot.gov/planning/transportation-studies/grand-canyon-national-park-airport-master-plan-study
• Older High Country News article about Tusayan‘s early years, first development attempt, and incorporation: https://www.hcn.org/issues/43.10/how-developers-and-businessmen-cash-in-on-grand-canyon-overflights

Take action here.

Sign our petition. We’ll send it to the Forest Service when a new application for a right-of-way to enable the mega development is submitted to the Forest Service.

You can also print this fact sheet and share it with your friends.

Arizona Rep. Grijalva to Make Major Conservation Announcement Saturday at Grand Canyon

Media Advisory: February 19, 2019

 

Contacts:

Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Chapter, (602) 253-8633, sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org

Kelly Burke, Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, (928) 606-7870,

kelly@grandcanyonwildlands.org

Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (801) 300-2414, tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.org

Mike Quigley, The Wilderness Society, (520) 334-8741, mike_quigley@tws.org

 

Arizona Rep. Grijalva to Make Major Conservation Announcement Saturday at Grand Canyon

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. ― Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) will make a major conservation announcement Saturday about efforts to protect Grand Canyon National Park and nearby public lands from the dangers of uranium mining.

The Grand Canyon is a place of deep cultural importance to several regional American Indian tribes, a biodiversity hotspot and an international tourism destination. The canyon draws more than 6 million visitors annually and generates more than $900 million for the local economy.

Uranium mining on public lands surrounding the park threatens to disrupt, deplete, and pollute aquifers

Overspray of radioactively contaminated water drifts into the Kaibab National Forest near Canyon Mine. Klee Benally photo.

that feed springs and streams in the Grand Canyon. Mining also poisons wildlife, fragments wildlife corridors, and industrializes iconic landscapes that are sacred to regional cultures.

Despite widespread public support to protect the Grand Canyon, politicians have called for lifting a 20-year ban on new uranium mining in the region. The ban was enacted by the Interior department in 2012 to stop new uranium mines across one million acres adjacent to the park. 

“Uranium mining on lands surrounding Grand Canyon has harmed people, wildlife, and the waters of the region,” said Sandy Bahr, chapter director for Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “Despite its known dangers and toxic legacy, mining interests and their friends in Congress and the administration are pushing for more uranium extraction. That is why it is critical the region is protected now.”

View from Saddle Mountain Wilderness, North of Grand Canyon. Alicyn Gitlin photo.

“Grand Canyon is a living ecological and cultural landscape of immense richness and beauty. We must ensure that its connected habitats, waterways and aquifers are forever protected intact. The persistence here of past uranium mining impacts and the push today to massively expand uranium production and transportation tells us we should act at once,” stated Kelly Burke, executive director of Grand Canyon Wildlands Council.

“The Grand Canyon is an international icon and a biodiversity hotspot,” said Taylor McKinnon, senior campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The park’s centennial is a timely reminder of the need to permanently protect its aquifers, springs and adjacent lands from dangerous uranium mining.”

“The health of the Grand Canyon and the health of neighboring communities are jeopardized by nearby uranium mining,” said Mike Quigley, Arizona state director for the Wilderness Society. “They deserve to be protected.”

 

What: Rep. Raúl Grijalva, joined by local leaders, will make a major conservation announcement about protecting Grand Canyon National Park and public lands nearby.

When: Saturday, Feb. 23, 2 p.m. 

Where: Community Building, Grand Canyon National Park.  Please park at the Backcountry Office and walk north to get to the Community Building.  Map link: https://goo.gl/maps/i4BqDSJLTcF2

 

Sierra Club is a national nonprofit organization with 64 chapters and more than three million members and supporters nationwide, 60,000 of whom are part of the Grand Canyon Chapter. Sierra Club’s mission is “to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; to practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources; and to educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environments.”

Grand Canyon Wildlands Council is a regional nonprofit organization bringing together conservation science, outdoor adventure, and advocacy to protect and restore wild Nature in the Grand Canyon Ecoregion. 

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.4 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

The Wilderness Society is the leading conservation organization working to protect wilderness and inspire Americans to care for our wild places. Founded in 1935, and now with more than one million members and supporters, The Wilderness Society has led the effort to permanently protect 109 million acres of wilderness and to ensure sound management of our shared national lands. Visit www.wilderness.org.

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Inclusion of Uranium as ‘Critical Mineral’ Could Spell Trouble for Arizona

Monday, May 21, 2018

Contact:

Sandy Bahr, sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org, (602) 999-5790

 

FLAGSTAFF, AZ– Under the direction of Sec. Zinke, the Interior Department has included uranium and vanadium on a recently released list of 35 ‘critical minerals’ for national security. The list was meant to identify non-fuel minerals and is part of the Trump administration’s ongoing economic struggle with China over rare earth metals and resources.

In response Sandy Bahr, Grand Canyon Chapter Director, issued the following response.

“This is yet another effort to clear the way for more mining — no matter the cost.  Already on the lands around the Grand Canyon, industry is pushing to get thousands of uranium mining claims back on the table.

“We know first hand in Arizona the lasting toxic legacy left behind by uranium mining. There are hundreds of abandoned mines, particularly on the Navajo Nation, contaminating the land and harming people’s health. Areas remain littered with radioactive waste and water in some places is undrinkable.

“We cannot allow mining projects to skate through without public input under the guise of national security. The health of our communities, our waterways and our lands is too important, and the threat of uranium pollution’s toxic legacy is too permanent to ignore.”

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.

House Hearing Attacks Grand Canyon Uranium Ban

20-year Moratorium, Upheld by 9^th Circuit Court Today, Protects Tribes, Water, Wildlife, Tourism

In the 9th Circuit decision, Judge Borzon referred to John Wesley Powell’s description of Grand Canyon, “the most sublime spectacle in nature.”

For Immediate Release, December 12, 2017

Contacts:

Don Watahomigie, Havasupai Chairman, (928) 448-2731, htchair@havasupai-nsn.gov

Ted Zukoski, Earthjustice, (303) 996-9622 (w), (303) 641-3149 (c), tzukoski@earthjustice.org

Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club – Grand Canyon Chapter, (602) 999-5790, sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org

Roger Clark, Grand Canyon Trust, (928) 890-7515, rclark@grandcanyontrust.org

Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (801) 300-2414 tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.org

Kevin Dahl, National Parks Conservation Association, (520) 603-6430, kdahl@npca.org

 

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK— The Havasupai Tribe and conservation groups decried a House subcommittee hearing today where lawmakers considered lifting a 20-year ban on new uranium mining across 1 million acres of public lands near Grand Canyon National Park. The ban, instituted by the Department of the Interior in 2012, was upheld by a 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals decision earlier today. It prevents further soil and water pollution from uranium mining and gives researchers time to study its risks to the Grand Canyon’s aquifers and springs.

The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, chaired by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), provided a forum for the National Mining Association to attack the uranium-mining ban that is supported by tribes, regional businesses and the public. The hearing comes days after President Trump ordered more than 2 million acres slashed from Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah.

Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), who spearheaded the attacks on the national monuments, has called for lifting the Grand Canyon uranium-mining ban. The Trump administration also recommended rolling back the ban in a November U.S. Forest Service report.

“The Northern Arizona Mineral Withdrawal must remain in place,” said Havasupai tribal Vice Chairman Edmond Tilousi. “Opening the doors to uranium mining before we understand how it will affect our waters gambles with the very survival of the Havasupai people. We have always been the protectors of the Grand Canyon, and have faced new threats with every generation. My heart hurts knowing that these companies will stop at nothing to make a profit for themselves today, with complete disregard for the consequences for those of us left to live with their mess. These profiteers do not care if they destroy our waters. They do not care if the waste they make today poisons or kills our tribal members as it seeps into our springs. The 20-year ban and the studies it mandates are the only things protecting us. They need to continue until completion.”

The Havasupai Tribe, Grand Canyon Trust, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and National Parks Conservation Association have for years worked to protect the Grand Canyon region from uranium-mining impacts. They’ve intervened on the side of the government to defend against a uranium-industry lawsuit challenging the 2012 withdrawal. A 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision today upheld that ban, calling it a “cautious approach” and “risk-averse” to potentially permanent damage from uranium mining.

“The Department of the Interior’s decision to enact these critical protections was met with resounding support from a diverse array of stakeholders nationwide,” said Ted Zukoski, an attorney with Earthjustice. “Given the potential for irreversible uranium contamination to Grand Canyon’s aquifers and springs, and the direct threat this poses to a critical source of life and identity of the Havasupai Tribe, it made perfect sense in 2012, and it makes perfect sense now.”

In 2007 more than 10,000 uranium-mining claims were staked on public lands surrounding the Grand Canyon, raising concern among tribes, businesses and local governments. The ban followed an exhaustive environmental impact statement assessing uranium-mining risks. According to Interior’s study, new uranium mining could harm springs, wells and aquifers, including increasing levels of uranium beyond federal drinking-water standards, severely depleting aquifers, endangering public health and wildlife, and compromising the values of the tribes who consider the springs sacred.

Interior’s study showed that without a mining ban, 26 new uranium mines and 700 uranium exploration projects would be developed, resulting in more than 1,300 acres of surface disturbance and the consumption of 970 acre-feet of water. More than 500 abandoned uranium mines still pollute land and water on the Navajo Nation, which has banned uranium mining. Water in Horn Creek, in Grand Canyon National Park, exceeds federal uranium standards owing to pollution from the abandoned Orphan mine on the canyon’s south rim.

“Multinational uranium companies export processed uranium mined from our nation’s public lands,” said Roger Clark with the Grand Canyon Trust. “We are alarmed that this administration favors the interests of foreign investors at the risk of poisoning places like the Grand Canyon, while potentially adding to the more than $1 billion debt that U.S. taxpayers must pay for cleaning up the mess from our region’s last uranium boom.”

“There is every reason to keep this mining ban in place and no good reason to reverse it,” said Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon chapter director. “In fact, public lands around Grand Canyon should be permanently protected from uranium mining and other destructive measures that threaten waters, wildlife, and tribal resources. These public lands are significant in their own right, plus protecting them helps to protect the watershed for Grand Canyon.”

The Grand Canyon is the most spectacular gorge in the world and a biodiversity hotspot that anchors the tourism economy of the Four Corners region. The canyon area is home to indigenous people, including the Havasupai, and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. In 2016 the greater Grand Canyon region attracted a record 6 million tourists and recreationists, and Grand Canyon National Park tourism alone contributed $904 million to local economies and supported nearly 9,800 jobs.

“We must uphold the current, commonsense plan to protect Grand Canyon National Park and vital tribal water sources,” said Kevin Dahl, Arizona program manager for National Parks Conservation Association. “The purpose of the moratorium is to stop any risk to the limited underground water that feeds Grand Canyon’s important seeps, springs, and side creeks — and the entire water supply of the Havasupai people. Let’s stick with this prudent effort until we can be absolutely sure mining won’t pollute the aquifer.”

“Any effort to lift this crucial ban will meet fierce opposition,” said Taylor McKinnon with the Center for Biological Diversity. “There’s every reason to believe uranium mining will permanently damage Grand Canyon’s precious aquifers and springs. That’s an unacceptable risk, and it’s immoral of Congress and Trump to even consider it.”

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Appeals Court Upholds Grand Canyon Uranium Mining Ban

Havasupai Tribe, Conservation Coalition Celebrate Key Win for Water, Wildlife, Sacred Lands

In the 9th Circuit decision, Judge Borzon referred to John Wesley Powell’s description of Grand Canyon, “the most sublime spectacle in nature.”

For Immediate Release, December 12, 2017

Contacts:

Ted Zukoski, Earthjustice (303) 996-9622 (w), (303) 641-3149 (c), tzukoski@earthjustice.org

Don Watahomigie, Havasupai Chairman, (928) 448-2731, htchair@havasupai-nsn.gov

Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club – Grand Canyon Chapter (602) 999-5790, sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org

Roger Clark, Grand Canyon Trust, (928) 890-7515, rclark@grandcanyontrust.org

Taylor McKinnon, Center for Biological Diversity, (801) 300-2414 tmckinnon@biologicaldiversity.org

Kevin Dahl, National Parks Conservation Association, (520) 603-6430, kdahl@npca.org

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK— The Havasupai Tribe and a coalition of conservation groups praised today’s decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the Department of the Interior’s 20-year ban on new uranium mining claims across 1 million acres of public lands adjacent to Grand Canyon.

The court ruled that the ban, adopted in 2012, complies with the Constitution and federal environmental laws, and that the protected area was not too large, as plaintiff mining companies had argued. The ban protects the aquifers and streams that feed the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon from toxic uranium-mining waste pollution and water depletion.

The Havasupai Tribe, Grand Canyon Trust, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity and National Parks Conservation Association intervened in the case in 2013. The groups and the Department of Justice won a 2014 decision by U.S. District Court in Arizona, which upheld Interior’s 2012 uranium mining withdrawal. Mining companies appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit.

Unfortunately the court also rejected a challenge to the Canyon Mine, a uranium mine located on the Kaibab National Forest six miles south of Grand Canyon National Park. The court’s decision allows Energy Fuels Inc. to mine without initiating or completing formal tribal consultations and without updating an obsolete federal environmental review dating to 1986.

“The Havasupai people have been here since time immemorial. This place is who we are,” said Don Watahomigie, the Havasupai Tribal Chairman. “The Creator made us protectors of the Grand Canyon. The Havasupai Tribe is gratified to know that the court has recognized the validity of the mineral withdrawal and what we have always known — that this place, these waters and our people deserve protection. The lives of our children and the purity of our waters are not to be gambled with and are not for sale.”

“This is a great day for the Grand Canyon, for the Havasupai people who rely on its sacred waters, for the people who love this wonder of the natural world, and for the wildlife that call it home,” said Ted Zukoski of Earthjustice.

In January 2012 then-Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued the 20-year ban that prohibits new mining claims and mine development on existing claims without valid permits. The mining industry claimed that the Interior Department’s exhaustive, 700-page evaluation of environmental impacts was inadequate. Interior’s study of the mining ban showed that without a withdrawal in place, 26 new uranium mines and 700 uranium exploration projects could be developed, resulting in more than 1,300 acres of surface disturbance and the consumption of 970 acre feet of water.

Under the 20-year ban, existing mine operations are projected to have about one-tenth of the surface impacts and one-third the water usage. According to Interior’s study, new uranium mining could have major impacts on springs, wells and aquifers, including increased levels of uranium beyond the Environmental Protection Agency’s drinking water standards and severely depleted groundwater, endangering public health and wildlife, and compromising the values of the tribes who consider the springs sacred.

“This decision rewards years of cooperation toward protecting the water, air, and people that mining near the Grand Canyon puts at risk,” said Grand Canyon Trust’s Roger Clark. “History has shown us how uranium mining can go wrong on the Colorado Plateau, we’re glad for more time to make sure the same legacy isn’t also bestowed upon the Grand Canyon.”

Uranium pollution already plagues the Grand Canyon and surrounding areas. Proposals for new mining have prompted protests, litigation, and legislation to make the ban permanent. Dozens of new mines threaten to industrialize iconic and sacred natural areas, destroy wildlife habitat, and pollute and deplete aquifers. Scientists, tribal and local governments, and businesses have all voiced support for the protections enacted by Interior.

“Sierra Club applauds this decision to uphold the limits on mining on public lands adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park and to protect the park and the greater Grand Canyon region from the hazards of uranium mining, which poses a threat to the people, lands, water, and wildlife of the region,” said Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon chapter director. “We are disappointed that the court did not uphold the challenge to Canyon Mine, however, and we will continue to do all we can to ensure permanent protection of these lands.”

One of the great symbols of the American West, the Grand Canyon was first protected as a national monument by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908. The canyon is surrounded by millions of additional acres of public lands that include wilderness areas, two national monuments, lands designated to protect endangered species and cultural resources, and old-growth ponderosa pine forests. The canyon area is also home to indigenous people, including the Havasupai, Kaibab Band of Paiutes, Hualapai and Navajo tribes, and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. In 2016 the greater Grand Canyon region attracted over 6 million tourists and recreationists, and Grand Canyon tourism contributed $904 million to local economies and supported nearly 9,800 jobs.

“This victory is wonderful news for a region already riddled by decades of uranium industry pollution and plunder,” said Taylor McKinnon of the Center for Biological Diversity. “This decision is critical to protecting the Grand Canyon’s precious aquifers, biodiverse springs and surrounding public lands for future generations.”

“After an extensive review process and substantial public participation, the Department of the Interior’s decision to protect one of the world’s most enduring landscapes and the sustained health of indigenous communities that live within the watershed of the Grand Canyon was a strong and appropriate one,” said Kevin Dahl of the National Parks Conservation Association. “The court’s action in upholding this ban is commendable.”

The uranium mining companies have 45 days to seek a rehearing by the three-judge panel or by the 9th Circuit sitting en banc. The companies also have 90 days from this decision, or from a denial of rehearing (whichever is later) to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for review of the 9th Circuit Court decision. Such petitions are granted in only a tiny fraction of cases.

Download the decision here.

Uranium Company Calls Us “Egregious”? Sierra Club Offers Defensible Facts.

In the Phoenix New Times story, Canyon Mine Faces Accusations of Environmental Racism by Navajos, Sierra Club (March 21, 2017), the vice president for marketing and corporate development at Energy Fuels Nuclear (USA) Inc., who owns Canyon Mine, had a few interesting things to say.  Unfortunately, he put forward no evidence behind his statements, and we have photos and documents to back up ours.

 

1.) Water being trucked from Canyon Mine has elevated levels of uranium, and possibly other toxic chemicals too.  The Phoenix New Times article reported: 

…a spokesman for Energy Fuels previously told the Arizona Daily Sun that the water being trucked through the Navajo Nation has three times the amount of dissolved uranium than is considered “safe” to drink. And in a November report to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, the company noted that the water contains 30 times the recommended level of arsenic.

But now Curtis Moore, vice president for marketing and corporate development at Energy Fuels, says that the water is not contaminated. “The excess water we are managing is relatively clean, and contains only trace amounts of natural uranium,” he wrote in an e-mailed response.

“In fact, the water we are trucking offsite either meets – or comes very close to meeting – EPA drinking water standards for dissolved uranium.”

FACT: Energy Fuels Nuclear (USA) Inc. told the Arizona Daily Sun that the water contained 90 micrograms per liter, three times the drinking water “standard” of 30 micrograms per liter set by the EPA.  This level of uranium contamination was confirmed in a conversation between Sierra Club and the Kaibab National Forest on March 17, 2017. This level is lower than the amount that Energy Fuels Nuclear (USA) Inc. reported to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality in its “General Aquifer Protection Permit Annual Report for 2016”, when they reported 130 micrograms per liter of uranium (over four times the drinking water standard) and 292 micrograms per liter of arsenic (over 29 times the drinking water standard for arsenic) in water taken from the shaft of Canyon Mine on November 9, 2016.

 

2.) Contaminated water is being sprayed in the air – and radioactive mist is drifting into the Kaibab National Forest.

Making matters even worse, the Sierra Club says, Energy Fuels is now spraying some of the water from the mine into the air in an attempt to get it to evaporate. Photos captured by Sierra Club and Haul No! volunteers appear to show radioactive mist drifting into the Kaibab National Forest, which surrounds the mine…

Curtis Moore of Energy Fuels disputed the environmental group’s claims.

“We are not blowing water into the forest, as the Sierra Club claims,” he wrote in his e-mailed response.

“We have employed some commonly utilized enhanced evaporation machines that creates a mist over the pond to speed evaporation rates, which we shutdown during high-wind days to avoid the potential of the mist of this relatively clean water from crossing our fence-line.”

FACT: Here’s a picture taken at Canyon Mine on March 12, 2017, outside the perimeter fence of Canyon Mine, on a day when the average wind speed was only 4mph at the nearby Grand Canyon Airport, with gusts of 20 to 30 mph.

Overspray of radioactively contaminated water drifts into the Kaibab National Forest near Canyon Mine. Klee Benally photo.

 

Aaaaaand, here’s another one:

Overspray of radioactively contaminated water drifts into the Kaibab National Forest near Canyon Mine. Klee Benally photo.

Sure looks to me like the toxic mist is hitting the forest…

 

3.) Trucks moving uranium-laced water through the Navajo and Ute Nations are mislabelled or poorly marked.

FACT:  This photo shows a truck arriving at Canyon Mine’s front gate to pick up a load of water headed for the White Mesa uranium mill in Blanding, Utah.  The placard says “1268” which is a marking indicating the truck is hauling petroleum products.  Nothing indicates the presence of uranium in the truck’s contents.

A truck arrives at Canyon Mine to pick up radioactively contaminated water to haul to the White Mesa uranium mill in Blanding, UT. The placard is labelled for petroleum products. Ryan Beam photo.

 

Facts.  Nothing but facts here.

Please let us know what you think.