The drills next to the Grand Canyon have stopped for now. A federal judge halted all plans by a British mining company called VANE Minerals to drill for uranium less than three miles from the national park. U.S. District Judge Mary Murguia issued a temporary restraining order late on April 4. VANE Minerals immediately turned off the drills off at several sites.
“Unfortunately, these drills can only be temporarily silenced by the courts,” said Environment America Preservation Advocate Christy Goldfuss. “We need Congress to pack them up and send them away for good to permanently protect this national treasure.”
Environment America has worked to organize 16 U.S. senators to push for strong mining law reform that would protect Grand Canyon National Park and other national parks. Specifically, the senators led by Maria Cantwell (Wash.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.) asked that the government be given the power to stop any mine that would damage the natural resources of a national park. Environment America helped to pass a similar provision last year in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Without changing the current mining law, the Forest Service claims it has no choice but to approve permits such as those given to VANE Minerals. In this case, the Forest Service used a loophole to issue the permits, allowing the British company to avoid environmental review. However, the judge determined that this project does not qualify for this loophole, so VANE Minerals will likely have to go through the environmental reviews required by law. Despite the outcome of those reviews, without a fundamental change in the law, the Forest Service will still have little power to stop VANE from going forward in the future.
