New Uranium Mining in Grand Canyon Temporarily Barred

Flagstaff, AZ – An Obama administration official says Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will announce today that his department is temporarily barring the filing of new uranium mining claims on about one million acres near the Grand Canyon. The official says the land with be "segregated" for two years so that the department can study whether it should be permanently withdrawn from mining activity. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The official says the acreage being set aside does not include thousands of uranium mining claims already filed near the canyon. The official also says it's not possible to prevent mining on existing claims under the general mining act of 1872 unless Congress appropriates money for the department to buy up the claims.