Navajo government officials sought to reassure tribal members that uranium shipments traversing the Navajo Nation have enough safeguards to keep people safe. They also say they didn’t have a choice but to allow it.
Acting Attorney General Heather Clah and Navajo EPA Administrator Stephen Etsitty gave some new details into how the shipments from the Pinyon Plain uranium mine south of the Grand Canyon will be moved through Northern Arizona to Utah for processing.
Trucks will be limited to 25 tons of uranium ore at a time and can only carry the ore between 830 a.m. and 3 p.m. when children are in school. Trucks won’t transport during inclement weather, during holidays and when there are expected large events like the Navajo fair.
"There’s a limited that I don’t think anybody understands or appreciate that we’re under in order to make sure that we do get some sort of agreement together," Clah said.
They also addressed the risk of spillage from a full truck. Although the trucks are tarped, Etsitty noted a small gap remains. The tribe wants to develop better technology to scan for radioactive particles that could be released from the trucks.
"That is something that’s not even in the federal or state regulations," Etsitty said.
He noted that uranium prices have fluctuated but ultimately, remain valuable. And he said that for uranium companies, it’s all about money.
