The transportation of uranium ore through portions of northern Arizona including the Navajo Nation is on hold until concerns are addressed.
Energy Fuels Resources Inc. began transporting ore from its Pinyon Plain Mine just south of the Grand Canyon to a southern Utah mill Tuesday. The trucks traveled through the Navajo Nation as well as Hopi and Havasupai lands.
Multiple tribal and state leaders called out the company for starting the hauling without providing promised advanced notice to both local and Navajo Nation officials.
Late Thursday, Navajo President Buu Nygren’s office says Gov. Katie Hobbs persuaded Energy Fuels to halt the shipments yesterday to give both sides a chance to negotiate.
She also instructed the Arizona Division of Emergency Management and Assistance to partner with the Navajo Nation to develop an emergency response plan in case a road incident occurs.
"I recognize the fraught history of uranium mining and the devastating impacts it has historically had on tribal nations," Hobbs said.
The Navajo Nation outlawed uranium transportation in 2012, but state and federal governments maintain jurisdiction over the highways.
The Pinyon Plain mine has long been controversial in northern Arizona and began operation earlier this year.
Energy Fuels maintains that ore transport is safe and the company has gone beyond its legal requirements to inform and engage local communities.
