Semitruck rollover marks 2nd uranium hauling crash in Arizona in less than 2 months

On Tuesday afternoon, the Navajo Police Department were dispatched in response to a rolled-over semitruck returning from a Utah mill to the Pinyon Plain uranium mine near the Grand Canyon’s South Rim.

Also there at the scene was the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Arizona Department of Transportation, Kayenta Township Fire and the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency.

The accident happened between the Diné communities of Shonto Junction and Tseji along the U.S. 160 — just south of Kayenta. Police say flooding from heavy rain was partly to blame.

Officials are reassuring the public there’s no danger — because the truck was empty. The driver was injured, but is being treated by a local hospital. This marks the second uranium trucking crash in Arizona in less than two months.

The mining company Energy Fuels told KJZZ that an ADOT-approved environmental contractor will be onsite Wednesday to finish any additional cleanup of diesel fuel that leaked from the vehicle.

In a statement, Energy Fuels shared that “the safety of our employees, contractors, and the public remains our highest priority,” adding that the company is going to conduct its own “root-cause investigation.”