This week, the Navajo Nation Council amended a 2012 tribal law that banned the transport of radioactive materials through its reservation in response to last month’s unannounced trucking of uranium ore from the Pinyon Plain Mine through Navajoland by the mining company Energy Fuels.
The resolution to amend this statute was sponsored by Navajo Nation Council Delegate Casey Allen Johnson and co-sponsored by Resource Development Committee Chair Brenda Jesus and fellow Delegate Danny Simpson. A special council session met on Monday, unanimously approving the emergency legislation.
Navajo Nation Vice President Richelle Montoya said: “Our president, our council delegates asked those questions to say, ‘Are you sure this is safe enough to come through our lands?’”
Revisions to the Radioactive and Related Substances Equipment, Vehicles, Persons and Materials Transportation Act grant authority to the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency to issue interim regulations that take effect immediately until final ones are approved after a 30-day public comment period within the next year.
“It’s not just a concept. It’s something that’s alive and that is real,” Navajo EPA Executive Director Stephen Etsitty said. “The reason we wanted to make some changes to that bill is because back when the law was initially passed, we did not have to contend with the real, live renewal of uranium mining.”
The Nation’s amended law states advance notice of any shipping must be made a week beforehand, rather than four days. Field citations, temporary restraining orders, preliminary or permanent injunctions and even civil penalties in the amount of $25,000 a day, could also be issued now under the new measures.
Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch shared that discussions are still underway with the company, while the hauling of uranium ore has been put on hold until a mutual agreement is reached.
She explained how this line of communication is essential “to make sure that if there’s any transport on the Nation, that it’s done in a responsible and careful manner that provides maximum protections to the public and minimizes any contamination that might occur in the process.”
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren signed the resolution during an outdoor ceremony at the Window Rock Veterans Memorial Tribal Park on Thursday. Nygren thanked Gov. Katie Hobbs and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes for their continued support.
“Our message today is respect tribal sovereignty and work with us,” Nygren said. “We were able to speak in English, and this day and time, we’ve got our own attorneys, our own lawyers, and that we’re more than capable to come up with deals and solutions. So don’t just think that we’re not here to talk and have those discussions that not only benefit the state of Arizona, but benefit America as a whole.”
Energy Fuels’ Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Development declined to comment to KJZZ News on this latest development.
