Groups urge EPA to revoke uranium permit – Farmington Daily Times | NM Native News | Scoop.it
Groups urge EPA to revoke uranium permit – Farmington Daily Times ALBUQUERQUE Environmental groups are hopeful that a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider a permit for a uranium mining operation in western New Mexico could lead to the end to the project. Members of Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining and the New Mexico Environmental Law Center had voiced concerns to the EPA about deficiencies in the decades-old permit application. Larry King, a member of the Navajo group that has been fighting plans by Hydro Resources Inc. to start mining near Church Rock, said it’s crucial the EPA revoke an exemption that would allow for mining that could impact groundwater sources. “The EPA has a rare opportunity to right a terrible wrong before new damage occurs,” King said. He has started an online petition drive that calls on the EPA to protect Church Rock’s drinking water. He said the community has repeatedly expressed its opposition to in-situ leach mining in the area through resolutions, lawsuits and a 2005 Navajo law that banned uranium mining on the sprawling reservation over concerns about disease and death.