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Poll shows a majority of Arizona voters support a uranium mining ban near Grand Canyon

In 2012, the U.S. Interior Department put an end to new uranium mines in the Grand Canyon area.

A recent poll shows a majority of registered Arizona voters would like to see that continue.

The survey found that two thirds of the state’s voters would like to make the ban permanent.

Legislation to stop new mining has passed the House but stalled in the Senate, where it survived a recent committee hearing.

It was part of the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, but was later stripped out. Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva said at a press conference announcing the poll that support for a ban cut across party lines.

"Even in the times, where everything feels like a partisan issue, where everything feels so divisive, even at these times in the Grand Canyon, uranium mining is not one of those issues," Grijalva said. 

Tribal leaders from the Navajo Nation and the Havasupai tribe also support the ban.

Ron Dungan was a senior field correspondent at KJZZ from 2020 to 2024.