Pinyon Plain Mine (formerly Canyon Mine) is a controversial uranium mine near the Grand Canyon. In late August, the Navajo Nation passed emergency legislation to tighten regulations on uranium ore transport across its lands.
Meanwhile, a representative of the mine’s owner, Energy Fuels Resources, dismissed the new rules as “a little excessive” and said the company doesn’t expect to be required to follow them.
Negotiations between the Navajo Nation and the company are ongoing.
On September 20, Arizona’s governor, Katie Hobbs, urged the U.S. Forest Service to update its nearly 40-year-old environmental review of the Pinyon Plain Mine in light of major changes in circumstances.
This comes just weeks after Arizona’s attorney general made a similar ask on account of new scientific information that has arisen since the mine’s initial approval. The Forest Service responded, indicating it could be open to a new review.
And a recent analysis of fatal accidents along the haul route shows an elevated risk along long stretches, especially on the Navajo Nation.
Some areas of the haul route are between 240% and 700% more dangerous than an average stretch of road in the United States per mile driven.
That means that any vehicles traveling along these sections face an elevated risk of fatal accidents.
Statistically, the most dangerous sections of the Pinyon Plain Mine uranium truck haul route have been:
- East of the Mexican Water Trading Post, on Highway 160, near the Highway 191 junction
- In Doney Park, along Highway 89, east of Flagstaff
- East of Tuba City along Highway 160
- East of Dennehotso along Highway 160
- In the area around Tsegi Canyon along Highway 160, west of Kayenta
Four of the five most dangerous sections of the route are on the Navajo Nation.
On October 12, 2024, the White Mesa Ute community will lead a protest and spiritual walk from their reservation in White Mesa, Utah, along the haul route, to the uranium mill where ore from Pinyon Plain Mine is trucked for processing. All supporters are welcome. Hope to see you there.