{"id":135447,"date":"2025-04-16T09:53:46","date_gmt":"2025-04-16T14:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=135447"},"modified":"2025-04-16T10:10:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T15:10:16","slug":"cronkite-news-navajo-nation-forced-to-accept-transportation-of-uranium-through-reservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/04\/16\/cronkite-news-navajo-nation-forced-to-accept-transportation-of-uranium-through-reservation\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Navajo Nation forced to accept transportation of uranium through reservation"},"content":{"rendered":" \"'Radioactive'<\/a>
An image shared on social media by Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren shows a truck with a “Radioactive” warning on it traveling through tribal lands on July 30, 2024. Courtesy photo<\/figcaption>\r\n
Trucks with uranium cross Navajo Nation, reviving long-standing fears<\/div>\r\n
Wednesday, April 16, 2025<\/div>\r\n
By Emma McKissick<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nPHOENIX — Although the Navajo Nation has reached an agreement with Energy Fuels Inc. on uranium transportation through tribal land, many tribal members remain concerned it won\u2019t protect them from the harms of uranium contamination.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nTribal leaders say they had little choice but to enter the agreement, as federal law preempts any tribal regulations that conflict with it regarding the transportation of radioactive materials.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nIn between the four sacred mountains of the Navajo Nation, two large white trucks made a passage through the land coming from the Pinyon Plain Mine in Arizona\u2019s Kaibab National Forest which sits just outside the western boundary of the Navajo Nation, to the White Mesa Mill in southern Utah.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe vehicles traveled more than 260 miles along Highways 89, 160 and 191 carrying a chemical all too familiar to the Navajo people, and the one that haunted them for years: uranium.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n \"Pinyon<\/a>

Pinyon Plain Mine is on Kaibab National Forest land south of the Grand Canyon, near the Havasupai Tribe\u2019s sacred mountain, Red Butte. The mine is inside the boundary of the Baaj Nwaavjo I\u2019tah Kukveni National Monument. Photo by EcoFlight via Grand Canyon Trust<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nOn July 30, 2024, Energy Fuels Inc., a publicly traded company specializing in uranium mining and milling, among other things, sent the trucks with \u201ca very, very short notification time\u201d before the transport, said Stephen Etsitty, executive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, during a Navajo Nation Council meeting six months later.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThis led to months of negotiations and the eventual development of a transportation agreement between Energy Fuels and the Navajo Nation, to set safety requirements and ensure accountability.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nTitle 49 in the Code of Federal Regulations outlines transportation requirements and classifies uranium ore as a Low Specific Activity material, \u201cwhich is the lowest level of radioactive material hauled on roads and highways,\u201d said Kris Beecher, acting deputy attorney general for the Navajo Department of Justice, at the meeting.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThis means that moving uranium from one place to another is exempt from rigorous transportation requirements.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nIndigenous communities in the Southwest have taken steps to prohibit uranium mining and transportation on their lands due to the history of contamination, illness and death.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nIn 2005, the Navajo Nation enacted the Din\u00e9 Natural Resources Protection Act, which bans uranium mining and processing within its territory.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nIn 2012, the nation passed the Radioactive and Related Substances Equipment, Vehicles, Persons, and Materials Transportation Act, which prohibits the transportation of uranium on tribal lands.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nHowever, federal law, specifically the Atomic Energy Act and the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, regulates hauling of radioactive materials and overrides state and tribal regulations that go against them, also known as federal preemption.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cThe Navajo Nation has done the next best thing by entering into an agreement with Energy Fuels,\u201d Beecher said.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n \"Uranium<\/a>

Map of the Energy Fuels Inc. uranium truck route highlighting the Indigenous nations it passes through from its start at the Pinyon Plain Mine in Arizona and its end at the White Mesa Mill in Utah. Image courtesy of HaulNo!<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nAccording to the agreement, at no cost to the Navajo Nation, the corporation has agreed to clean up 10,000 tons of uranium-bearing materials from abandoned mines scattered throughout Navajo land.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe company will also pay 50 cents per pound of processed uranium produced at the White Mesa Mill, which will amount to approximately $40,000 to $50,000 a month, \u201cdepending on the richness of the uranium ore, with that rate to be adjusted annually for inflation,\u201d Beecher said during the meeting.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cThere will be approximately 10 trucks per day and the transport can take two to four years, depending on the amount of ore obtained from the (Pinyon Plain) Mine,\u201d Beecher said.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nEnergy Fuels also agreed to pay $1.2 million into the Navajo Nation CERCLA<\/a>. \u201cThat funds uranium transport program and any remaining funds may be used more generally to support education, the environment, public health and welfare, transportation safety and local economic development,\u201d Beecher said.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe company has plans to also mine uranium ore at the Roca Honda Mine near Mount Taylor in New Mexico.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nIf mining begins at Roca Honda, the existing agreement will apply to the transportation of uranium ore from that mine through Navajo land.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe Navajo Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency limited trucks to specific routes and hours of the day, prohibiting hauling during holidays and public events in respect of the culture and traditions of the nation.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nEnergy Fuels promised to give a 14-day warning in advance of its monthly schedule before entering the Navajo land.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cThe Navajo Nation has suffered longstanding impacts from uranium mining conducted during the Cold War era,\u201d said Mark Chalmers, president and CEO of Energy Fuels, in a press release earlier this year. \u201cThis has understandably caused mistrust toward the U.S. government and energy companies.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nNot all Navajo Nation officials were in favor of the terms of agreement, questioning their execution.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cWe will be continued to be lied to \u2026 We won\u2019t get the full packet,\u201d said Vince James, a Navajo Nation council delegate, during the council meeting.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nOther tribal members echoed that sentiment. Robyn Jackson, executive director of Din\u00e9 C.A.R.E., a nonprofit organization advocating for environmental protection, voiced her concerns over Energy Fuels\u2019 fulfillment of the agreement requirements, such as a dust cover as a preventative measure to ensure the radioactive debris does not escape the truck during transport.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cThese trucks are only covered by a tarp and material particles could get out,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cAnd since this is primarily going through Navajo Nation, that\u2019s Navajo communities that are being exposed to the uranium ore and radiation.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nJackson said each vehicle is required to have a symbol indicating that it contains radioactive material, but the symbol is too small for community members to see.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nToday, 85% of all Navajo people live in uranium-contaminated homes, according to an investigation from the Pulitzer Center<\/a>.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n \"Radiation<\/a>

The levels of radioactive materials showcasing the amount of radiation in uranium, according to Energy Fuels Inc. Image courtesy of Energy Fuels<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe effects of uranium vary, from shortness of breath and irritation to the skin after exposure to cancer and aggressive forms of autoimmune disease.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe stakes are higher for those on the Navajo land due to zinc deficiency, said Jonnye Lewis, director and founder of the Community Environmental Health Program (CEHP), which is dedicated to studying the environmental effects of uranium and mine waste exposure on tribal land.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cWhat we see, especially on Navajo, is that you have some basic fundamental deficits in nutrition, and those also contribute to the toxicity of the metals,\u201d said Lewis.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nFor almost 40 years, Navajo men, women and children worked in uranium mines, where radioactive contamination spread to livestock and farmland. Children often played in open pit mines, unaware of the health risks posed by radioactive waste.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nLeona Morgan did not grow up in a contaminated environment, but her family has seen the effects of uranium. She co-founded Haul No!<\/a>, a nonprofit organization that informs communities about nuclear mining and milling.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cPeople are scared, there are health problems, and the rez (reservation) doesn\u2019t have a cancer center,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cWhen people have kidney problems, they have to go to dialysis. They oftentimes drive four hours from the rez to somewhere and pick up people along the way, it\u2019s an all-day thing.\u201d\r\n

<\/P>\r\nIn the past, people affected by uranium could receive financial relief outlined in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act. The law failed to pass reauthorization and is no longer providing any compensation.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n \"Pinyon<\/a>

Energy Fuels Inc.’s Canyon Mine is located less than 10 miles from the gates of Grand Canyon National Park. Photo by Chris Cadeau \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nEnergy Fuels has not disclosed specific revenue figures solely from its Pinyon Plain Mine operations. However, in 2024, the company reported total uranium sales of 450,000 pounds, generating a gross profit of $21.32 million with a 56% gross margin, which means the company kept 56 cents per dollar as gross profit after covering the direct costs of production, such as mining, milling and transportation.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nThe average realized prices were $75.13 per pound when selling uranium under long-term agreements with buyers, and $91.51 per pound while selling uranium on the open market without long-term arrangements.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nPresident Donald Trump issued the Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production executive order on March 10, which encourages public and private partnerships and capital investment in domestic mineral production.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n\u201cWe are trying to fend off these renewed mining activities, but it is coming and we just have to continue to fight,\u201d Etsitty, with the Navajo EPA, said.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nFor more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A>.<\/STRONG>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

Note: This story originally appeared on Cronkite News<\/a>. It is published via a Creative Commons license<\/A>. Cronkite News is produced by the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication<\/A> at Arizona State University<\/A>.<\/EM>
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