The Issue
Mining
EWG’s maps revealed a surge in uranium mining claims near the Grand Canyon and helped win protections for 1 million acres near the park and the Colorado River. Read more about our mining work.
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The Latest on Mining
Marking a major victory for efforts to protect the iconic Grand Canyon National Park and the Colorado River, a U.S. district court judge last week upheld the Obama administration’s moratorium on new mining claims on a million acres surrounding the Canyon.
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Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s decision to bar new uranium mining claims on 1 million acres around the Grand Canyon marks a decisive victory for efforts to protect the iconic national park and the Colorado River, the source of drinking water for 26 million Americans.
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People are messy. So is nature. And what people do when nature unleashes its fury often makes things worse.
The staff at Environmental Working Group took a look at the major environmental news stories of the year and came up with two lists: the Top 10 Good News stories and the Top 10 Bad News stories.
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The Obama administration today took an emergency measure to bar new mining claims on a 1-million-acre area around the Grand Canyon until December. At that time, administration officials indicated they hope to come up with a more comprehensive solution to protect one million acres around Grand Canyon National Park from new mining claims for the next 20 years.
Read MoreThe Obama administration’s imminent decision on the future of uranium mining near the Grand Canyon could be swayed by the analysis of a mining industry consultant who stands to reap hundreds of thousands of dollars if the moratorium on new uranium claims is lifted, according to a new report from Earthworks and the Environmental Working Group.
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Uranium mining near the Grand Canyon could have health impacts and erode trust in the safety of drinking water supplies for 26 million residents of Southern California, Nevada and Arizona, the region’s water suppliers warn.
Read MoreLast week, those who support EWG saw some very tangible and important results, as we achieved a major victory in our quest to protect the Grand Canyon from additional uranium mining operations. U.S.
Read MoreU.S. Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, today proposed to place off-limits to new mining activity approximately one million acres near the Grand Canyon for up to 20 years. The proposal prohibits the staking of new mining claims for up to two years to allow for various studies to be performed. Previous attempts by a House committee to protect the Grand Canyon were ignored by the Bush administration.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of the Interior last week authorized mining for uranium on federal land near Grand Canyon National Park in an apparent violation of a Congressional resolution passed last June that declared more than 1 million acres around the Park off-limits to new mining activity.
Read MoreThe antiquated 1872 Mining Law, a relic of America’s westward expansion, has fought off many attempts at reform. Currently hardrock mining companies, many of them foreign, pay no royalties for the resources they extract and engage in environmentally destructive practices that often employ highly toxic chemicals in their mining efforts.
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The Bush administration allowed Phoenix-based Neutron Energy to stake 20 new mining claims south of the Grand Canyon on August 7, in violation of an emergency Congressional resolution passed seven weeks earlier that declared off limits to mining activity approximately 1 million acres adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park.
Read MoreWASHINGTON - The Bush administration allowed Phoenix-based Neutron Energy to stake 20 new mining claims south of the Grand Canyon on August 7, in violation of an emergency Congressional resolution passed seven weeks earlier that declared off limit
Read MoreA House committee today exercised rarely used emergency powers to protect the Grand Canyon from a surge in uranium mining claims near the canyon rim.
Read MoreIn response to the threat that surging mining claims along the Colorado pose to drinking water in Las Vegas, the General Manager for the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), Patricia Mulroy, sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne requesting that “Interior carefully evaluate the implications for water quality in the Colorado River before authorizing [hardrock] mining operations within its watershed.”
Read MoreMining claims near the Colorado River have doubled in the last five years, raising fears that the West’s most important waterway – a source of drinking water to 25 million people – could become contaminated by toxic heavy metals, including radioactive uranium waste.
Read MoreSince the Sagebrush Rebellion of the late 1970s, industries that profit by taking resources from Western public lands – logging, oil and gas drilling, and mining – have stirred up opposition to increased environmental regulation by pai
Read MoreAs pressure mounts to overhaul the antiquated 1872 Mining Law, two high-profile mining operations have come to a halt - one along the south rim of the Grand Canyon, and the other right above the Colorado ski town of Crested Butte.
Read MoreSoaring prices for gold, copper, and uranium have sparked an explosion of mining claims that are encroaching on booming cities, sprawling suburbs, small towns and rural recreation havens throughout the western United States, according to a new analysis of federal records.
Read MoreIn an ominous move that threatens the integrity of the nation’s most iconic natural treasure, the Forest Service has approved drilling for uranium at as many as 39 sites near the south rim of the Grand Canyon.
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