Native Americans in Utah are in an uproar after a uranium mine near a sacred site uncovered a massive cache of radioactive material.
Workers at the La Sal Complex, located 32 miles from Moab, have returned to the mines after the facility opened, closed and reopened over the years.
With the recent increase in the price of uranium, production of this precious material has returned to the Beehive State.
Other sites in the state include White Mesa Mill in nearby White Mesa, both facilities are owned by a company called Energy Fuels.
Ian Lange, professor of economics and business at the Colorado School of Mines, said fox 13: ‘It’s certainly very hot, isn’t it? The prices are high.’
Despite this, uranium mining in the area has drawn the ire of Native American tribes, especially as they believe the mine is on top of an ancient burial site.
With the recent increase in the price of uranium, production of this precious material has returned to the Beehive State. Here you can see part of the La Sal Complex
Malcolm Lehi, a representative of the White Mesa tribal government, said they are also concerned about possible contamination.
He told Fox: ‘If it was up to me, I’d shut it down. This uranium mine will be there long after we are gone. It does not matter that. It will be there for thousands of years.
‘What they are doing to Mother Earth, drilling and extracting different minerals or whatever, thinking that it is going to [make] things better, but it is not.
“That’s part of climate change that we’re taking away from Mother Nature.”
Energy Fuels’ Curtis Moore told Fox there are better standards to protect health and the environment than in the early days of uranium mining.
Moore said: “Today we have a great understanding of what the dangers of uranium mining and milling are.”
In a report last year from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, they ruled that it was “unlikely” that anyone would be harmed by water or air at White Mesa.
Malcolm Lehi, a representative of the White Mesa tribal government, said they are also concerned about possible contamination.
Bill Hemphill, seen here, told Fox that the clicking of his Geiger counter was music to his ears while mining.
Hemphill worked at La Sal in 1977 and his father also worked there as a uranium miner. Now her two sons work in the mine.
Bill Hemphill, one of the workers inside La Sal, told Fox that the clicking of his Geiger counter was music to his ears.
“When it really happens like that, you know you’re in your hood with uranium,” Hemphill told the outlet.
Hemphill worked at La Sal in 1977 and his father also worked there as a uranium miner. Now her two sons work in the mine.
He described mining as a physical and intellectual challenge and said: ‘Drilling. Searching for the mineral, that’s the most fun part.
Uranium appears as yellow streaks along the walls of the mine and must be chased with drills and explosives.
Professor Lange has attributed rising uranium prices to work on developing nuclear reactors and the war in Ukraine.
Another company has announced plans to restart a mine in the city of Ticaboo, Utah, but Moore added that he believes the glory days of uranium mining are over.
The area was previously the main source of American uranium, and post-World War II production was measured in millions of pounds a year.
Professor Lange has attributed rising uranium prices to work on developing nuclear reactors and the war in Ukraine.
Uranium is minimally radioactive, but its extraction causes the release of radioactive radon gas into the air.
He said: ‘Those days are over. “We’re never going to have an industry like that.”
In nearby Arizona, a uranium mine opened near the Grand Canyon last year despite warnings that it could harm the environment and local water sources.
A 20-year law banning mining in the uranium-rich lands surrounding the national park expired in 2023, allowing the Pinyon Plain mine to open in December, about 10 miles south of the Grand Canyon’s South Rim.
The mine’s proximity to the national park has drawn pushback from environmental activists who fear radioactive chemicals will contaminate the water and pose a health hazard to people living in the area, as well as tourists.
The Havasupai Tribe has repeatedly tried to prevent the mine from opening, arguing that it will contaminate local groundwater and threaten cultural and spiritual religious sites.