U.S.’s Ken Salazar Said to Ban Uranium-Mining Near Grand Canyon
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will announce a 20-year ban on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, according to an environmental group monitoring the issue.
Salazar will impose a moratorium today on new mining claims on 1 million acres of public land around the Arizona tourist site, according to a representative of the group who spoke on condition of anonymity before the official announcement.
A press conference scheduled in Washington will be about the “conservation of the Grand Canyon,” the Interior Department website said. Agency spokesman Adam Fetcher declined in an e-mail to provide details, which were reported earlier by the New York Times and the Associated Press.
In the proposal for the ban, published Oct. 26, the Obama administration planned to permit previously allowed mines, as well as development on existing claims. As many as 11 mines may operate in the area near the national park in the next two decades, the Interior Department said in October.
Environmental groups including the San Francisco-based Sierra Club have said mine-related waste threatens the region’s land, wildlife and drinking water.
Twelve lawmakers including Republican Senators John McCain of Arizona, and Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee of Utah, introduced a bill on Oct. 12 to prevent the administration from imposing the ban. The bill number is S. 1690.
The action would declare a “‘de facto’ wilderness” on land that had been accessible for mining, according to a statement posted on McCain’s website.
To contact the reporter on this story: Katarzyna Klimasinska in Washington at kklimasinska@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jon Morgan in Washington at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net
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