Among at least 100 people who attended a state uranium hearing December 4, 2015, in Grants, New Mexico, were leaders of the Navajo Nation and three Indian Pueblos opposing a request to reopen a polluted underground mine located at sacred Mt. Taylor. Photo courtesy Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment
Southwest Indians shun bid to reopen ‘zombie’ mine
By Talli Nauman
Native Sun News
Health & Environment Editor GRANTS, N.M. –– Among at least 100 people who attended a state uranium hearing Dec. 4 here were leaders of the Navajo Nation and three Indian Pueblos opposing a request to reopen a polluted underground mine located at sacred Mt. Taylor. The Mt. Taylor Mine near the village of San Mateo has been inactive and polluting the surrounding environment for the last 25 years. “We want the state agency to deny the permit and that Rio Grande Resources shut down and clean up the site so it's no longer a health risk for local communities,” Diné No Nukes organizer Leona Morgan said in encouraging followers to send comments about the uranium mine to the New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division.
Leona Morgan of Diné No Nukes
Rio Grande Resources Corp., a subsidiary of San Diego-based General Atomics, has controlled the Mt. Taylor uranium mine ever since its acquisition in 1991 from Chevron Resources. Although the operation, a conventional underground mine, contains the largest uranium resource in the United States, according to the company, production has remained idle on standby permits since 1990, due to depressed uranium markets.
Read the rest of the story on the all new Native Sun News website: Southwest Indians shun bid to reopen ‘zombie’ mine (Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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