Grand Canyon uranium mining ban upheld by Supreme Court

Environmental groups and Native American communities declared victory when, on the first day of its fall season, the bench announced that the uranium extraction ban was among cases it refuses to review.

An appeals court decision from December 2017 that the ban is legal will now stay in place. Hundreds of mineral deposit claims from Canadian, British and US interests that want to seek out and exploit uranium deposits close to Grand Canyon National Park now remain on hold.

Under Barack Obama, the interior department announced in 2012 a 20-year ban on fresh mining activity, which protects a million acres of public land in the vicinity of the canyon. The ban, also known as a mineral withdrawal, has faced a series of legal challenges from commercial interests………

Meanwhile, concerns remain about a uranium mining operation that is planned to be revived five miles from the rim of the canyon, which predates the ban and sits on public land above the groundwater that ultimately supplies the Havasupai’s village in the canyon. Protesters plan to gather there this Thursday. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/01/grand-canyon-uranium-mining-ban-upheld-as-supreme-court-declines-to-hear-challenge