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House Committee Invokes Rarely Used Powers To Block Uranium Mining Near Grand Canyon 6-26-08
As Senate leaders drag their feet on reform of the nation’s 136-year-old
mining law, a House committee today considers whether to exercise rarely used
emergency powers to protect the Grand Canyon from a surge in uranium mining
claims near the canyon rim.
The House Natural Resources Committee will take up a resolution by Rep. Raul
Grijalva (D-AZ) that would force Interior Sec. Dirk Kempthorne to ban new mining
claims on approximately 1 million acres adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park.
The resolution, which would have the force of law, would use the Federal Land
Policy and Management Act of 1976 to direct Kempthorne to withdraw the land from
mining activity.
Between January 2003 and January 2008, the number of claims within 5 miles of
Grand Canyon National Park increased from 10 to more than 1,100, according to
Bureau of Land Management data compiled by the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
Google maps of the claims are available at www.ewg.org/reports/grandcanyon.
Most, if not all, of the claims are for uranium, sparked by a surge in uranium
prices linked to renewed interest in nuclear power. In December 2007, the Forest
Service issued a permit to a British company to drill for uranium as close as 2
miles from the Park, citing the government’s inability to prevent the action
under the 1872 Mining Law.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California and the Southern Nevada Water Authority have all written to
Kempthorne with concerns about the surge of claims near the Canyon and the
effect uranium mining might have on Colorado River drinking water. The Colorado,
which flows through the Canyon, provides water for 25 million people including
residents of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego.
“This emergency action would help prevent uranium mining from harming the Grand
Canyon and polluting drinking water for millions,” said Dusty Horwitt, Senior
Public Lands Analyst at EWG. “The Senate should stop stalling and reform the
1872 Mining Law so that all Western public lands have full protection.”
A mining reform bill that would protect the Grand Canyon passed the House in
late 2007, but has been stalled in the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid
of Nevada, the nation’s leading mining state, is wary of large-scale changes to
the 1872 law. On Monday, three more mining-state governors – Bill Richardson of
New Mexico, Christine Gregoire of Washington and Ted Kulongski of Oregon, all
Democrats – sent a letter to the leadership of the Senate Energy and Natural
Resources Committee, saying the mining law was a relic of frontier-era America
and urging action.
Congress last invoked the Land Policy and Management Act in 1983, when the House
Interior and Insular Affairs Committee required then-Interior Sec. James Watt to
block new coal leases on federal land in Montana and North Dakota.
Watt refused to comply with the resolution and issued the leases, but a federal
court granted a preliminary injunction, forcing Watt to abide by the committee’s
action. The federal court found that Interior’s own regulations mirrored the
provision in the land management act and the Department was bound to follow
them. Those regulations (43 CFR 2310.5) are still on the books.
The House resolution would not impact valid claims already staked; companies
could still mine these claims even if their activities might threaten the Canyon
or the Colorado River.