Stop toxic mining: The fight for the Grand Canyon

With one of the world’s great natural treasures threatened by a modern-day gold rush, Environment America is working to win new protections for the Grand Canyon and other national parks.

In the past five years, mining companies have staked more than 800 claims within five miles of the Grand Canyon—a perilously close distance, given the way that mining waste contaminates waterways. We’re urging Congress to permanently protect the Grand Canyon and other national parks by preventing nearby mining.

On Jan. 24, a key Senate committee took up legislation that would permanently protect the Grand Canyon from toxic mining waste. A similar bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives last year with our support.

A national treasure
Each year, more than 4 million people come to see the majesty of the Canyon. They might catch a glimpse of a bobcat, a soaring bald eagle or a bighorn sheep—all of which call the Grand Canyon home. It’s illegal to drill or mine within the border of the Grand Canyon because of its status as a national park. Unfortunately, the Grand Canyon is facing a growing threat from toxic mining that is proposed just outside its borders.

The rising price of gold and other metals has brought about a modern-day gold rush. Because hardrock mining uses highly toxic chemicals—such as cyanide and sulfuric acid—the risk it poses to the Grand Canyon and its wildlife is grave. In 1992, one mine in Summitville, Colo., released toxic chemicals that killed wildlife in a 17-mile section of the Alamosa River. If full-blown mining operations begin on even a fraction of the 805 claims bordering the Grand Canyon, there’s a good chance that a similar catastrophe could befall the Colorado River that winds through the Grand Canyon. Late last year, we made some remarkable progress: We helped persuade the House of Representatives to pass the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007, which would prohibit mining in any place where it would impair the natural resources of national parks or monuments. The bill passed 244 to 166 in the House.

Claims on senators
The question for 2008 is whether the Senate will muster ther political will to pass the same bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), and the two ranking members of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee—Sens. Jeff Bingaman (N.M.) and Pete Domenici (N.M)—hail from states where the mining industry has considerable influence.

Nonetheless, working with our state organizations at a March lobby day, Preservation Advocate Christy Goldfuss enlisted the support of 16 senators. They signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), asking him to support provisions that would strengthen the Senate bill.

Earlier in the spring, thousands of Environment America members and volunteers voiced opposition to Vane Minerals, the first mining company to try to turn a claim into an actual uranium mine—in this case, just three miles from the southern lookout point of the Grand Canyon. Our members were responding to an e-mail alert that we sent in February.

The Grand Canyon.