Judge Upholds Uranium Mining Ban on One Million Acres Near Grand Canyon | Earthjustice

Judge Upholds Uranium Mining Ban on One Million Acres Near Grand Canyon | Earthjustice:

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Ruling upholds Interior Department’s authority to temporarily protect lands from destructive mining

MARCH 20, 2013

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, AZ — 

 

U.S. District Judge David Campbell todaydenied a uranium industry motion to overturn the Obama administration’s ban on new uranium mining on one million acres near the Grand Canyon. The ban was adopted January 2012 to protect the Grand Canyon’s watersheds. The withdrawal prohibits new mining claims and development on old claims that lack “valid existing rights” to mine.=

Uranium mine at the edge of the Grand Canyon.(Ecoflight)

“It’s a great day for the Grand Canyon, and for rivers, wildlife, and communities across the West,” said Ted Zukoski of Earthjustice, one the attorneys representing conservation groups and the Havasupai tribe in the case. “The uranium industry was hoping to cripple the Interior Department’seability to temporarily protect lands from destructive mining. Today’s opinion upholds the Interior Department’s authority to take such protective measures.”

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loss for rio tinto whom was one company that wished to mine area.  rio tinto owns american national can