Mining for uranium at the Grand Canyon

The Pinyon Plain uranium mine is a decades-old, but recently activated uranium mine roughly 10 miles from the Grand Canyon National Park. 

The mine sits is inside the boundaries of the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument but due to a 1872 mining law, it side-steps the monument’s restrictions against damaging activity like mining. The General Mining Act of 1872 protects mining rights as long as the mine is in operation prior to newly passed laws or land protections. 

Despite outcry from tribal, environmental and health officials, Pinyon Plain is allowed to mine for uranium—a practice that can have drastic health and ecological effects. 

Mining for uranium at the Grand Canyon poses the following risks:

Ground water contamination

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has said that the rock layer between the Uranium deposits and the aquifer beneath is impermeable, so the risk of water contamination from the mine is unlikely. 

The surety that contaminated water will not enter the groundwater is not universal. A 2024 study, looking at decades of data, has come to an alternate conclusion—that there is little evidence that the Pinyon Plain Mine will not contaminate groundwater. The risk that the uranium mine will pollute the springs in the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River—a waterway relied on by 40 million people—is too great.

Waste water tanks harm wildlife

The Pinyon Plain Mine produces water contaminated with, among other pollutants, arsenic and uranium. The disposal method for this water—tens of millions of gallons—is open-air water storage tanks where the water will slowly evaporate. 

Wildlife, such as birds and small animals, use the pond for drinking and bathing, exposing them to unsafe levels of radiation. Further, the mine uses water sprayers to increase the level of evaporation in the storage tanks which often spray contaminated water outside of the pools and into unprotected soil.

The Havasupai Tribe has expressed concern that the wastewater could contaminate plants and animals used in traditional practices. 

Radioactive dust threatens people and the ecosystem

Uranium mines have the potential to release radioactive dust into the environment. This can happen either during the mining process or when the wind blows through ore stockpiles.

Dust from uranium mines can blow into the Kaibab National Forest and risk exposing the people and animals living in the area. Airborne effects of radioactive dust can range from asthma and lung damage to water and soil contamination. 

You can file a complaint

From the improper disposal of contaminated water to a violation of its air quality permit, the Pinyon Plain Mine has breached environmental and safety regulations multiple times. The ADEQ can revoke a permit to operate if the permit conditions are not met. Submit an environmental complaint form.