Mining Claims Near the Grand Canyon
Posted on 05/06/2008 12:45:21 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
With minimal public notice and no formal environmental review, the Forest Service has approved a permit allowing a British mining company to explore for uranium just outside Grand Canyon National Park, less than three miles from a popular lookout over the canyon’s southern rim.
Mining Claims Near the Grand Canyon
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If the exploration finds rich uranium deposits, it could lead to the first mines near the canyon since the price of uranium ore plummeted nearly two decades ago. A sharp increase in uranium prices over the past three years has led individuals to stake thousands of mining claims in the Southwest, including more than 1,000 in the Kaibab National Forest, near the Grand Canyon.
To drill exploratory wells on the claims in the Kaibab forest requires Forest Service approval. Vane Minerals, the British company, received such approval for seven sites in December.
The Forest Service granted the approvals without a full-dress environmental assessment, ruling that the canyon could be “categorically excluded” from such a review because exploration would last less than a year and might not lead to mining activity.
On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors in Coconino County, Ariz., voted unanimously to try to block any potential uranium mines. It asked that the federal government withdraw large sections of land immediately north and south of the national park from mineral leasing.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
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FLAGSTAFF, Arizona, April 6, 2008 (ENS) - A federal judge Friday evening issued an injunction against the British mining firm VANE Minerals and the Kaibab National Forest, halting uranium exploration on public lands within a few miles of Grand Canyon National Park.
The order came after a day-long hearing in a case brought by three conservation groups - Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club, and Grand Canyon Trust - to challenge drilling taking place close to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River with no public hearing and no environmental review.
"This order stops uranium exploration on the banks of a national treasure," said Taylor McKinnon of the Center for Biological Diversity. "The Forest Service had allowed drilling to begin while the case was pending, so the order comes as a major relief. We're elated."
In December, the Kaibab National Forest approved exploratory uranium drilling by VANE Minerals at up to 39 locations across seven project sites just south of the Grand Canyon.
The approval was granted using a "categorical exclusion," the least rigorous public and environmental review available to the agency under the National Environmental Policy Act.
fyi
If you have ever wondered what government by special interests looks like, this is it. Ugly.
Why are liberals against nuclear power when nuclear produces virtually no greenhouse gases? It may not have the sex appeal of solar and wind turbines, but the technology is there, and we could expand it. I don’t think there has been a nuclear plant built in this country in many years.
I wish we could convince all these damn ecowackjobs to move to China and India. They are “needed” there a lot more, imho. ;-)
How does Bill Clinton get paid for this?
No, they belong to the major stockholders of oil and gas companies; IOW they're fascists.
By late fines to the Clinton library?
Why isn’t a US company doing this?
Probably a clever wording to invoke 3 mile island...
big load of crap...
How many accidents have happened with nuclear in how many years of operation...
PS, how’s the weather in Vic, we’re heading up in August for a wedding... then North to Comox and Campbell River!!
I hope you're not implying I'm clever. Three mile island never entered my mind. I was just making a glib remark about envirmentalists objecting to digging a hole three miles from where people gather to view a much bigger hole.
It also hadn't occurred to me that the envriowhackos could be clever. Devious, duplicitous, conniving — yes; but not clever. I guess you have to be somewhat clever to be those other things.
We're just entering our dry season here. The odds are very, very good that you'll enjoy sunny days, with ocean breezes during your whole visit. (All bets are off if Al Gore visits at the same time.)
no I meant the 3 miles in the article... looks planted to me...
So, now you’re saying I’m not clever? ;-)
LOL... now you have me all confused.. you must be clever!
Why the hell are we allowing Brits to drain our natural resources? Uranium prices are through the roof. Are there no American companies to mine American uranium?
Maybe they’re sitting back and letting the Brits go through all the headaches. ;-)
Thanks E.
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