In late 2016, miners at Canyon Mine (subsequently renamed Pinyon Plain Mine) near Grand Canyon National Park pierced groundwater and water began rushing into the mine shaft. Since then, more than 66 million gallons of water containing high levels of heavy metals including uranium, arsenic, and lead have been pumped out of the mine into an evaporation pond. Some of this water has been misted into the air to speed up evaporation, or even trucked illegally over state lines to the White Mesa Mill for disposal. Every year, the mine's owner reports how much water it has pumped out of the mine, as well as water quality testing results, to state regulators at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. These reports are typically submitted to the agency in January of the following year and are made available to the public a few months later. The mine began extracting uranium for the first time in December 2023.
2023
Submitted on January 24, 2024, the Pinyon Plain Mine aquifer protection permit annual report for 2023 shows the mine pumped 9,369,426 gallons of water out of the mine shaft in 2023. Lead levels in the water were 812 times the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's drinking water limit, arsenic levels were 243 times the limit, and uranium levels were six times the limit.
2022
Submitted on January 27, 2023, the Pinyon Plain Mine aquifer protection permit annual report for 2022 shows the mine pumped 8,462,288 gallons of water out of the mine shaft in 2022.
2021
Submitted on April 15, 2022, the revised Pinyon Plain aquifer protection permit annual report for 2021 shows the mine pumped 8,261,406 gallons of water out of the mine shaft in 2021.
2020
Submitted on January 27, 2021, the Pinyon Plain aquifer protection permit annual report for 2020 shows the mine pumped 9,446,635 gallons of water out of the mine shaft in 2020.
2019
Submitted on January 27, 2020, the Canyon Mine aquifer protection permit annual report for 2019 shows the mine pumped 10,667,441 gallons of water out of the mine shaft in 2019.
2018
Submitted on January 29, 2019, the Canyon Mine aquifer protection permit annual report for 2018 shows the mine pumped 9,682,888 gallons of water out of the mine shaft in 2018.
2017
Submitted on January 29, 2018, the Canyon Mine aquifer protection permit annual report for 2017 shows the mine pumped 8,788,595 gallons of water out of the mine shaft in 2017.
2016
Submitted on January 23, 2017, the revised Canyon Mine aquifer protection permit annual report for 2016 shows the mine pumped 1,422,066 gallons of water out of the mine shaft in 2016.
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