County officials recently wrote in an op-ed that "the uranium mining industry has gone out of its way to protect the environment." But the uranium industry's track record tells a different story.
Over 1 million gallons of toxic mine waste spilled into the Animas River, turning it an eerie orange. This should make us think twice about mining uranium near the Grand Canyon.
While speculators may see their investments fall flat, those of us who actually live here face a much more dismal reality: the prospect of permanent radioactive contamination threatening Grand Canyon’s viability as the backbone of our region’s economy and as an internationally treasured landscape.
What the park service didn’t disclose in the list of potential dangers I’d encounter on my hike was perhaps the scariest of all – a radioactive creek whose uranium levels exceeds EPA safe drinking water standards.
