The company that owns a now-active uranium mine 10 miles from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is calling on the Coconino County Board of Supervisors to retract a recent resolution urging the closure of the mine.
The five-page letter from Energy Fuels Resources President and CEO Mark Chalmers says the supervisors’ unanimous Feb. 20 resolution contains quote “false and defamatory assertions” about the Pinyon Plain Mine.
He writes that the mine is regulated by state and federal agencies and laws that protect public health and the environment. Chalmers also says scientific studies have shown the mine won’t contaminate local water resources.
The board’s resolution called for the closure of the site over concerns about uranium mining’s possible impacts to groundwater.
Supervisors also cited the threat they and area tribes say is posed to sacred and cultural sites.
At minimum, the board said more rigorous water and air quality tests are needed.
A county spokesperson didn’t comment directly on the letter, but tells KNAU the board stands by its opposition to uranium mining near the canyon.
President Joe Biden’s designation of the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument last summer, banned new uranium mining claims on almost a million acres.
The Pinyon Plain Mine is located within the monument but was allowed to continue operating because of preexisting rights.
