A provision in the secret, controversial agreement allowing a private company to transport uranium ore across the Arizona side of the Navajo Nation has New Mexico anti-nuclear advocates increasingly worried about the prospect of new mining activity near a mountain sacred to the Navajo people.
The Navajo Nation in late January agreed to let Energy Fuels transport uranium ore from its Pinyon Plains Mine in Arizona to its mill in White Mesa, Utah. Neither party has released the agreement, calling it confidential, they have described what it says in broad terms, and a transport policy, overseen by the United States Forest Service, details plans in case of an emergency.
Two to three truckloads a day are making the trek across the western edge of the Navajo Nation into Utah, officials have said at recent public meetings. That number could increase to 10, said Stephen Etsitty, director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, at recent chapter house meetings, according to video attendees shared on social media. …