The million acre zone around the Grand Canyon will be safe from uranium mining for another 20 years as the Obama administration decided to place a ban on mining in the area. Uranium mining claims in the area had risen greatly over the last seven years.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said that uranium mining in the region would threaten water supply, air quality, wildlife and vegetation. He added that once lost the assets would never be reclaimed. The year ban and more scientific study were his solution.
The ban will please environmentalists and some law makers who have been pressuring the government to care for the national park and its environs by taking proactive action. A moratorium had been passed about two years ago to this effect when new mining claims and activity in the lands that border the Grand Canyon had become prolific.
Roger Clark, air and energy program director for the Grand Canyon Trust said that this was a big important step because we know there are rich claims out here that that mining industry would have gone after quickly. He added that mining would have affected the watershed, disturbed critical wildlife habitat, industrialized the perimeter of the Grand Canyon.
Carol Raulston, a spokeswoman for the National Mining Association said that the decision was scientifically unsupportable and sets a troublesome precedent as we struggle to create jobs and meet more of our future energy needs with domestic fuels.