The Navajo Nation and another local Indigenous group in Arizona are outraged over unauthorized uranium ore transport on their lands.
Yesterday, Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) sent two haul trucks carrying radioactive material from the its Pinyon Plain Mine near Arizona’s Grand Canyon park to the White Mesa uranium mill in Utah. Despite the recent ban on uranium mining in the Grand Canyon, Energy Fuels can still extract the commodity there because of its pre-existing permits.
By doing so, the trucks had to travel about 300 miles through Navajo land. Upon learning that they were on route, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren deployed members of his police force to intercept the shipment, but they were unsuccessful. By the end of the day he received a report that they had reached Utah.
“They snuck through the Navajo Nation and they made it onto the Utah side, outside of the reservation,” Nygren unhappily described. Energy Fuels operated covertly and illegally, he says.
“It’s very disappointing that they did that, that they smuggled uranium across our Nation, which is very inappropriate.”
I have deployed Navajo Police to stop the illegal transport of uranium across the reservation.
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – “I am very disappointed that uranium is being hauled across our Navajo Nation right now,” President Nygren said. “I was notified 30 minutes ago, and I have… pic.twitter.com/2HLKv2g7u8
— Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren (@BuuVanNygren) July 30, 2024
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Notification lies and no communication, they say
Arizona’s Havasupai Tribe isn’t happy about it either. This Indigenous group’s Tribal Council says Energy Fuels claimed it would offer ample notice prior to transporting uranium through Navajo lands, but went back on its word.
The uranium producer only notified the U.S. Forest Service hours prior to the trucks’ departure. It had promised to give at least two weeks notice months ago, the Havasupai say.
Neither the Navajo or Havasupai gave their consent or were notified. Energy Fuels had previously claimed that no material would be shipped until this fall.
Uranium shipments on Navajo lands have never resulted in an environmental accident or spill, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, but the historical impact of uranium mining on Indigenous groups in the American southwest has been terrible.

The Energy Fuels route. Map credit: Grand Canyon Trust
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The Havasupai Tribal Council says it opposes uranium mining because of the danger it poses to the water supply and the health of tribe members and tourists.
“Our tribe remains well-versed with the wide array of health risks associated with radioactive contamination,” the council said in a bulletin.
Navajo Nation Attorney General, Ethel Branch, said that even though there is a state right of way on a portion of the route that the trucks took, it doesn’t mean that the Indigenous group does not have the right to regulate its territory.
The transport of uranium through the Navajo Nation has been banned per tribal law for over a decade… and yet, despite the tireless work of Haul No and others, Energy Fuels trucks have started hauling uranium as of yesterday. https://t.co/s8DJE6jbGA
— Dr. Adeene Denton (@SpaceWhaleRider) July 31, 2024
rowan@mugglehead.com
