Navajo Nation’s Water in Danger
Federal appellate judges have upheld a Nuclear Regulatory Commission decision to issue permits allowing a company to leach uranium at an aquifer that supplies drinking water to thousands of Navajos in northwestern New Mexico.
A panel of the 10th U.S. Court of Appeals issued a 2-1 opinion Monday that concluded the NRC took the “hard look” required by the National Environmental Policy Act.
Eastern Dine Against Uranium Mining, Southwest Research and Information Center and ranchers Grace Sam and Marilyn Morris challenged the NRC’s approval of permits for Hydro Resources Inc. to do in-situ leach mining near the Navajo communities of Crownpoint and Church Rock.
The opponents contend the NRC violated federal law in issuing the permits.
