Experts tell Congress uranium mining near Grand Canyon risks polluting vital water supplies

Water experts: Mining near Grand Canyon is risky

WASHINGTON — Uranium mining near the Grand Canyon would court disaster, risking damage to critical water supplies, local officials and water experts told a House panel Tuesday.

A hyrdologist who has been conducting research on springs in the canyon for 25 years told the House Natural Resources Committee’s parks subcommittee that past mining polluted a stream that feeds the Colorado River, and that more pollution is likely should mining resume. A water utility manager said virtually all of Southern Nevada would be left without water supplies if a mining disaster should occur.

Two other scientists, however, said modern mining techniques have improved and development shouldn’t be prohibited because of past mistakes.

The committee is considering a bill by Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., that would permanently bar the filing of new mining claims on 1.1 million acres of federal lands north and south of the canyon. Renewed interest in nuclear power has led to a surge in uranium mining claims in the area.

There are as many as 10,000 existing mining claims on nearby federal lands for all types of hard-rock exploration and some 1,100 uranium mining claims within five miles of the canyon.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Monday that he is barring the filing of new claims on nearly 1 million acres of U.S. Forest Service and other public lands for two years while the administration studies whether mining on those lands should be permanently prohibited.

Neither the legislation nor Salazar’s action would stop mining from going forward on claims already filed.

David Kreamer, a professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, said his research found uranium levels three times greater than the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended limit for water supplies in a canyon creek. He said the pollution is the result of mining that ceased more than a decade ago.

“I believe that an assumption that uranium mining will have minimal impact on springs, people and ecosystems in the Grand Canyon is unreasonable, and is not supported by past investigations, research and data,” Kreamer said.

Kay Brothers, the deputy general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said her customers are almost entirely dependent on the river for their water supplies.

“That’s why we’re so concerned,” Brothers said. “You have to look at the potential for contamination to reach the river.”

However, Madan Singh, director of the Arizona Department of Mines and Minerals, said most of the present uranium contamination is the result of natural erosion, not mining.

“It’s important to separate real contamination issues from perceived contamination,” Singh said.

Karen Wenrich, a former geologist for the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the mining industry has “come a long way” and shouldn’t be punished for mistakes that took place when the risks of uranium were less well known.

Most of the claims for uranium are staked in the Arizona Strip, a sparsely populated area immediately north of the Grand Canyon National Park known for its high-grade uranium ore.

Operations in the area ceased some 20 years ago, when the price plummeted for uranium used for nuclear energy, weapons and medicine. With prices now around $55 a pound, the industry is eyeing restarting operations.

Toronto-based Denison Mines Corp. is about a year away from mining at a site about 20 miles from the canyon’s northern border if it secures an air permit with Arizona state officials.

On the Net: www.federalregister.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2009-17293(underscore)PI.p df www.doi.gov/documents/Petition(underscore)Application(underscore)for (underscore)Withdrawal.pdf

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