NAVAJO NATION, AZ — The Navajo Nation now has stronger requirements for companies that want to transport radioactive materials across their land. Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said the change sends a message to “respect tribal sovereignty.”
Leaders recently passed updates to the 2012 Radioactive and Related Substances, Equipment, Vehicles, Persons and Materials Transportation Act.
The updates further regulate the transportation of uranium across the nation and requires companies to give a full week’s notice before doing so.
“The world today is very different from how it looked back in 2012 in regard to what people were doing with uranium and the state of uranium mining,” Navajo Nation EPA Executive Director Stephen Etsitty said. “This set of amendments and regulations that it authorizes, communication is key.”
This change comes during ongoing negotiations between the tribe and the company Energy Fuels Inc., which operates a uranium mine just miles from the Grand Canyon.
The company began extracting ore from the site in January and made two shipments in late July.
The U.S. Forest Service says on July 30, Energy Fuels informed them about the transport of uranium that day.
“The Forest Service had requested advance notification; however, there were no requirements for the mine to do so,” the US Forest Service website says.
Energy Fuels spokesperson Curtis Moore said the company also notified the Navajo Nation prior to the shipments. However, President Nygren said they did not provide notice.
The transport of uranium has stopped while talks continue between the two.
Indigenous activists and environmentalists have held multiple protests over the mine in recent weeks.
Activist and co-founder of “Haul No!” Leona Morgan says she wants to see even more done to address the community’s concerns over the use of the mine and the route taken across the nation.
“The risk of exposure to Uranium radiation. I think the biggest concern is accidents,” Morgan said. “Our tribe is actually doing what it can to uphold its sovereignty, but regulating is, it's a little bit of a compromise. When we say, no transport, no means no.”
Energy Fuels released a statement in August on the ongoing negotiations:
“We have had productive discussions with the Navajo Nation, and we believe the parties will be able to come to a reasonable agreement that ensures coordinated emergency management and the protection of public health and safety at all times, matters which are of prime importance to both the Navajo Nation and Energy Fuels.”
