Navajo President Nygren Wants Uranium Deliveries to Reservation Suspended

Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said Thursday he remains steadfastly opposed to the shipment of uranium ore through Navajo territory. He will join First Lady Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren at a protest march in Cameron on Friday.

Nygren sent Navajo police Tuesday to intercept trucks carrying ore from the Pinyon Plain mine south of the Grand Canyon to a mill near Blanding, Utah. Police issued tickets to the truck drivers returning from the mill.

Energy Fuels Inc., the company that operates the mine, sent the first trucks Tuesday on U.S. Highway 89 and U.S. Highway 160 through Coconino County and the Navajo Nation, but Nygren and other Navajo leaders say they learned of the decision only through social media.

On Wednesday, Nygren issued an executive order requiring Energy Fuels to sign an agreement with the tribe before transporting radioactive materials through the Navajo Nation. The executive order will remain in effect for the next six months, he said.

“What we did two days ago was make sure people understood that when you enter the Navajo Nation border, you are on Navajo land,” Nygren told The Arizona Republic. “And you have to abide by the laws that have been passed in the Navajo Nation. We are not a place where there are no laws governing who we are as a nation. We are a government of laws, and I decided to send in the Navajo Nation police because we had people breaking the law.”

First Lady Blackwater-Nygren and others will participate in a protest march against illegal uranium shipments through the Navajo Nation on Friday in Cameron. The march will begin at the parking lot southwest of Highway 89 and Highway 64 near Navajo Arts and Crafts and end at the Cameron Chapter House.

Tribal officials worried about accidents

After Nygren dispatched police, Energy Fuels left a voicemail for Stephen Etcitty, director of the Navajo Environmental Protection Agency, regarding a meeting scheduled to develop plans for transporting uranium ore through the Navajo Nation.

Nygren was unaware of the meeting and said that at that point “we were done talking.”

“No one from the Navajo Nation will be going to this meeting because of the actions they committed today. It was very disturbing because they just moved without telling us,” Nygren said. “Talking is not an option.”

Energy Fuels’ legal counsel also contacted the Navajo Department of Justice to discuss the situation. Nygren said that while the NDOJ can listen to their perspective, it will not participate in the discussions because of “their lack of respect for the Navajo Nation and its rights.”

“My position is that we signed this executive order for six months and whatever they think, nothing will happen in the next six months,” Nygren said. “We’ll see what they come to the table with.“

Even after receiving photos of trucks transporting uranium ore through the Navajo Nation, leaders reached out to the U.S. Forest Service for confirmation. In an email to the Navajo Council and Speaker Crystalyne Curley, the Forest Service confirmed that Energy Fuels notified the agency on the day of the shipment, despite requesting at least two weeks’ notice. There is no requirement for the company to do so.

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Nygren said he believed that because the Navajo DOJ and Navajo EPA were in the process of developing licensing and permitting regulations — which would have made it nearly impossible to transport uranium ore through Navajo Nation territory — Energy Fuels decided to take the risk and proceed with the shipment without prior notice.

“They just wanted to test the waters because the Nation is in the process of finalizing these regulations,” Nygren said. “We just don’t want that, and they have to respect that. Respect the fact that the Nation has banned uranium.”

He said people could argue that these were state rights of way, but they were granted by the Navajo Nation, “so we still have the authority.” His biggest concern was that no one knew about this haul, so what if an accident happened?

“If nobody knew about this acquisition, imagine if there was an accident and there was no contingency plan,” Nygren said. “And there would be no emergency response ready to go. That would be catastrophic.”

Mark Chalmers, president and CEO of Energy Fuels, issued a statement in response to Nygren’s executive order. Chalmers acknowledged that uranium mining has left a harmful legacy for the Navajo Nation and highlighted improved industry regulations and practices, citing Energy Fuels’ 20-year record of compliance.

“We are heavily regulated, and the current regulatory framework fully protects human health and the environment,” he said, emphasizing the importance of moving away from Russian uranium and toward supporting clean, zero-emission nuclear energy in the U.S.

Chalmers said he welcomes the opportunity for a constructive dialogue about the transportation of materials through Navajo Nation lands.

“We remain open to continuing to engage with the Navajo Nation through good faith conversations that address legitimate concerns,” he said.

Uranium supplies pose ‘unacceptable risk’

In 2005, the Navajo Nation Council approved the Diné Natural Resources Protection Act, which was signed into law by former Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. The act prohibits uranium mining on Navajo Nation lands.

In 2012, the late Ben Shelly, former Navajo President, signed the Radioactive and Related Substances, Equipment, Vehicles, Persons and Materials Transportation Act. The act prohibits the transportation of radioactive waste by the Navajo Nation, with the exception of uranium ore left on the reservation from more than 500 abandoned uranium mines, the result of nearly 40 years of uranium mining.

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Nygren and Curley sent a letter to President Joe Biden in March calling on him to prevent the shipment of uranium from the Pinyon Plain mine through Navajo Territory.

“The transportation of uranium continues to pose unacceptable risks to the well-being of our people and the sanctity of our lands,” Nygren and Curley said in the letter. “There are alternative routes that can and should be used to avoid crossing Navajo lands. Utilizing these alternative routes would be a sign of respect for our sovereignty and a commitment to our collective health and safety.”

Nygren said he has encountered people who do not understand the turbulent and destructive past of the Navajo Nation, its people and the land’s ties to uranium.

“I have a lot of people who don’t understand the problem,” Nygren said. “They tell me uranium development is good, good for energy. Good for national security. I tell them the Navajo Nation has done its part. More than half of all uranium that’s been mined has come from the Navajo Nation.”

The Atomic Energy Commission announced in 1948 that it would guarantee the price and purchase of all uranium ore mined in the United States. Uranium was discovered at Cove, on the Navajo Nation, and later elsewhere on the reservation. Four mining and milling operations were in operation near Shiprock, New Mexico; Monument Valley, Utah; Church Rock, New Mexico; and Kayenta in northern Arizona.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 523 abandoned uranium mines in the Navajo Nation, 111 of which are located in the western region. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, between 1944 and 1986, mining operations on the Navajo Nation produced approximately 30 million tons of uranium ore.

“We have hundreds of abandoned mines and thousands of people have died because of uranium and families are still affected to this day,” Nygren said. “And the sad thing is we couldn’t even get RECA amended last year so that people from 1971 onwards could get the benefits they deserve. I think people who wonder why the Navajo Nation is opposed to uranium development are doing it because we did our part. Our people are still suffering. Our communities are still suffering, they need to understand that.”

Personal involvement in this matter

He said the First Lady’s grandfather was a uranium miner who lost his life to mining, so the issue is near and dear to her. He said he will be there to join the march.

“The first lady is like many families on the Navajo Nation and has been affected … she lost her grandfather to uranium because he was a uranium miner,” Nygren said. “Her grandparents are from the Sweetwater area, and there are a lot of abandoned mines in that area.”

Nygren said Navajo Special Tactical Unit officers are now stationed in Cameron, where a protest will be held to prevent trucks from bringing uranium through the area.

He stressed that they would stop and turn back any trucks trying to get through. When Navajo Nation police were first dispatched Tuesday, they stopped empty trucks in Tuba City that were returning from Blanding, ticketed them and told them not to return through the Navajo Nation.

“We’ve told them very clearly not to pull trucks through the Navajo Nation,” Nygren said. “When it comes to how many people have died, how much suffering, how many people are still hurting us, this is where we need to come together … as a nation and make sure that there’s no trucking through our land. We don’t even want to risk a truck tipping over. I’m glad that there’s going to be a march to raise awareness.”

Arlyssa D. Becenti covers Native American affairs for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Send your ideas and tips to [email protected].

Trilce Estrada Olvera, a journalist from the Republic newspaper, contributed to the preparation of this material.