Активисты требуют запретить строительство нового уранового рудника Roca Honda в Нью-Мексико

For many people in Western New Mexico, uranium mining is etched into our history, our economy, our scarred landscapes and our impacted communities. Families throughout this region have experienced the short-term economic benefits of uranium mining but those benefits pale in comparison to the long-term consequences of radon exposure, contamination, abandoned mine sites, damaged water resources and unfinished cleanup that still haunt our communities half a century later. That history and lingering legacy is why we oppose the proposed Roca Honda uranium mine near Mount Taylor. The mine is owned by Roca Honda Resources, LLC, a subsidiary of Energy Fuels Resources, Inc. Energy Fuels also owns the Pinyon Plain uranium mine near the Grand Canyon in Arizona and the only operating uranium mill in the country near the Ute Mountain Ute community in White Mesa, Utah. Both facilities are sources of air, soil and groundwater pollution related to the mine and mill. Individuals now have an opportunity to participate in regulatory proceedings to influence the final decisions that are made. Written comments on Roca Honda Resources’ new mine permit application are due Sunday. The company’s mine operations and reclamation plan is currently under review by the New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division. Our opposition to new mining in the San Mateo Creek Basin is rooted in decades of lived experience and the belief that New Mexico should not repeat the same mistakes that have caused continuing harm to our communities. Additionally, new mining in the basin will thwart New Mexico’s efforts to conserve our scarce surface water and groundwater sources over the next 50 years. Legacy contamination has continued to mar landscapes and harm public health across Western New Mexico while unseen groundwater plumes threaten regional water supplies. Our communities have been forced to bear these environmental and health burdens long after the companies responsible have moved on. New mining developments will add new sources of pollution before the old ones have been resolved. We urge New Mexico to address the long-lived legacy of uranium mining for the sake of our children, our wildlife and natural ecosystems that have been degraded as baseline data is gathered and updated. We ask the Mining and Minerals Division to consider whether environmental restoration or restorative justice can be achieved for our communities before permitting another uranium mine. Roca Honda’s application also implicates issues about water scarcity in New Mexico’s drying climate. Persistent groundwater contamination plumes and degradation throughout the basin provide clear examples of the overriding need to conserve and restore our state’s shrinking water supplies. We know New Mexico is becoming hotter and drier, making every groundwater resource in this region increasingly important. The Roca Honda mine project would require more than a decade of groundwater pumping in a water-stressed basin and the discharge of treated mine water into the Rio San Jose. Our communities deserve reassurance that these significant impacts will be carefully evaluated — not only for this project, but alongside other uranium proposals advancing in the region. The San Mateo Creek Basin receives vital runoff and recharge from Mount Taylor, a prominent feature on the horizon in all directions. New Mexico has formally recognized the mountain as a traditional cultural property and a sacred landscape for all Native nations in New Mexico and beyond. Decisions about industrial development on this iconic landscape should reflect its cultural, spiritual and historical significance — not simply its economic potential. Viewed together, these concerns point toward a more panoramic view of the affected landscape. The Roca Honda mine is one of several uranium projects around Mount Taylor seeking agency approval from federal and state regulators. Looking at each proposal in a vacuum risks overlooking their combined impacts on water resources, culturally significant places, and communities that have already sacrificed more than their fair share. The decisions that New Mexico makes today will shape this region for generations. We believe those decisions should reflect the lessons of the past, the realities of the present and our responsibility to protect the landscapes that sustain us. The Mining and Minerals Division should take a long view and reject the proposed Roca Honda uranium mine. Ava Curtis of the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment and Wendy Atcitty of the Southwest Research and Information Center are members of the New Mexico Mining Watch Steering Committee, a coalition of organizations working to safeguard our water, our community health and promote meaningful public participation in mining decisions across New Mexico. Learn how to submit comments at the New Mexico Mining Watch Facebook page. Links below are provided by a third-party ad network (RevContent). This publication does not endorse or guarantee the products, services, or claims featured.