A coalition of Havasupai tribal members and environmental groups breathed a brief sigh of relief as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Fransisco, California handed down a verdict Dec. 12: the 20-year moratorium on new uranium mines was upheld.
The group had filed suit with the court more than a year earlier to save the moratorium put in place in 2012 by Barack Obama’s administration.
The National Mining Association had previously sued in a lower court to overturn the ban, which was put in place amid concerns that groundwater for millions might become radioactively contaminated. The ban also took into consideration the effect on Native American cultural sites and views from Grand Canyon National Park...