PHOENIX — The Navajo Nation is taking a stand against the transportation of uranium ore shipments through their land.
A pause in the shipments of uranium from a mine south of the Grand Canyon through the Navajo Nation to Utah brokered by Governor Katie Hobbs' administration is in effect, but what's unclear is how long it will last.
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On Friday, a group of protestors walked on Highway 89 in Cameron, Ariz., protesting Pinyon Plain Mine owner Energy Fuels trucking uranium ore through the Navajo Nation to Utah.
Uranium has a long history of impacts on the Navajo Nation and its people since the 1940s.
"We've seen the effects of these things in the past on our land, the spills into our rivers, into our communities, the residual effects on our on our health, of our children, our elders," Cameron resident Adair Klopfenstein said. "It's awful, and we don't want it to happen again."
The Pinyon Plain Mine, formerly known as Canyon Mine, began mining uranium ore in December and is expected to be actively mining for at least five years. The company had told 12News at the end of June it would start transporting the uranium ore to a mill in southeast Utah in July or August.
That hauling appears to have started before the pause was put in place.
"I call it illegal smuggling across our border and then through the Navajo Nation," Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said.
Nygren said he was grateful to Governor Katie Hobbs' administration for working out a pause of the trucking with Energy Fuels.
In a statement to 12News, Energy Fuels said they did give notice of transport and have followed federal law and permits.
"Unlike gasoline, diesel, propane and other toxic and hazardous materials that travel on the roads, highways, interstates and rails daily, the transport of uranium ore presents far fewer risks to human health or the environment," Part of the statement read.
However, Nygren said they're not following Navajo Nation law.
"Everything about it was illegal," Nygren said. "Obviously their attorneys probably didn't understand the regulations and the laws across the Navajo Nation."
As controversial as the shipments are, the mine itself has been controversial for years.
"I have serious questions about whether that uranium mine ever should have been permitted in that location," Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told 12News Political Insider Brahm Resnik on Sunday Square Off.
Mayes told Resnik new information had come to light and that her office had been looking into the mine.
"A new study that shows great concern about whether or not it could penetrate through the aquifer wall and endanger the Havasupai tribe's only drinking water supply," Mayes said.
When Resnik asked Mayes if there was a potential of her office shutting down the mine or stalling operations, Mayes said the office is "looking at all of our options"
The study from the University of New Mexico that Mayes references was released earlier this year.
"I think what would be most fruitful now would be to revisit the situation of the mining," Laura Crossey, the lead author of the study and a Distinguished Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico said.
Crossey added that potentially a stop to the mining or a closure of the mine might be warranted following a closer look.
While Energy Fuels said they agree to the voluntary pause to address any 'reasonable' concerns Nygren has, the company said it can "legally restart transport at any time."
"It needs to stop," Klopfenstein said. "We need to protect our children and our future and our sovereignty and stand up against this."
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