Protect the Grand Canyon. Make this ban permanent.
Some places are too precious to mine. The Grand Canyon is one of them. It’s time to protect the Grand Canyon with a permanent ban on uranium mining.
Protect the Grand Canyon with a ban on uranium mining.
While the depths of Grand Canyon are protected as a national park, outside those borders, uranium mining threatens to poison and pollute this natural wonder. That’s why we’re supporting the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ), which protects 1 million acres of public lands adjacent to the Grand Canyon from uranium mining.1
The bill recently passed the House Natural Resources Committee.2 But it won’t be an easy path ahead. By joining together and raising our voices, we can urge the Senate to pass the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act.
Uranium mining is dirty and dangerous.
Uranium mining is a dirty, dangerous process. Workers are still cleaning up 16 million tons of radioactive sludge at the site of one of the nation’s first uranium mines near Moab, Utah.3
The land around the Grand Canyon already carries the deadly legacy of uranium mining. Toxic uranium has polluted the lands and waters, poisoning the environment. Many Navajo people have died of kidney failure and cancer, conditions linked to uranium contamination.4
The Obama administration’s 20-year moratorium on uranium mining to the north and south of Grand Canyon could be overturned by the Department of the Interior at any time — leaving one of the seven natural wonders of the world vulnerable to deforestation, degradation and erosion.5 If passed, the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act makes this ban permanent, meaning no new mining claims could be made in these public lands.
Support the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act.
For over six million years, the Grand Canyon National Park has been home to bighorn sheep, bison and elk, along with over 1700 known species of plants.6,7 It’s a sacred place to the Native Americans who have lived there for centuries.8
It would be a tragedy for mining companies to steal this natural wonder from the generations of animals, plants and people who have treasured it, as well as from the generations to come.
Ask your senators to support the Grand Canyon Centennial Protection Act and permanently protect one of America’s greatest treasures.
1. Kathleen B. Kunz, “Rep. Grijalva Wants a Permanent Moratorium on Mining Near the Grand Canyon,” Tuscon Weekly, February 25, 2019.
2. Andrew Nicla, “Bill to ban new uranium mining claims near the Grand Canyon passes House committee,” Arizona Republic, July 17, 2019.
3. “Grand Canyon at Risk: Uranium Mining Threatens a National Treasure,” Environment America Research & Policy Center, June 6, 2018.
4. Laurel Morales, “For the Navajo Nation, Uranium Mining’s Deadly Legacy Lingers,” National Public Radio, April 10, 2016.
5. Yessenia Funes, “Court Upholds Obama’s Grand Canyon Uranium Mining Ban,” Gizmodo, December 12, 2017.
6. “Wildlife,” National Park Service, Last accessed July 23, 2019.
7. “Plants,” National Park Service, Last accessed July 23, 2019.
8. Courtney Holden, “Grand Canyon’s Native American Tribes and Indian Nations,” My Grand Canyon Park, October 31, 2017.