The Navajo Nation is developing regulations for transporting uranium ore via reservation

Coverage of tribal natural resources is partially supported by Catena Foundation

Gabriel Pietrorazio/KJZZ

The Pinyon Plain Mine shaft is approximately 470 meters deep and is used to extract uranium ore from below the surface.

The Navajo Nation Department of Justice has revealed it plans to impose transportation regulations in response to uranium ore being mined near the Grand Canyon’s south rim.

Contractor Energy Fuels, the company that oversees the Pinyon Plain Mine, is scheduled to begin transporting radioactive materials – sometime this summer through the largest U.S. reservation on the way to the White Mesa Mill near Blanding, Utah – a plan that the Navajo Nation opposes but does not may prohibit.

Dan Moquin is the chief legal officer for the Navajo Nation Department of Justice’s natural resources unit and is leading efforts to draft legislation that could include curfews, driver licensing requirements, inspection stations and even fees.

“You don’t do this for the money. We don’t want shipments, period, and if the price of uranium drops, those fees could break the deal if they don’t want to ship,” Moquin said during a recent virtual discussion with Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch about the legal tools the Nation has at its disposal. “I don’t anticipate it, but as costs increase it will only be to our advantage.”

Branch and Moquin cited the Radioactive Equipment, Vehicles, Persons and Materials and Related Substances Act, a 2012 tribal law passed by the Navajo Nation Council that prohibits the transportation of uranium on the reservation, as its legal authority to develop any regulations.

Six to eight trucks are expected to travel from the Pinyon Plain Mine through the Navajo Nation each day; Escorting these vehicles could be another regulatory solution.

“We’re trying to thread that needle. It’s very difficult, but we haven’t completely ruled out escorts,” Moquin explained. “But we understand that requiring what is not done under federal or state regulations increases the risk that regulations will be preempted and found unenforceable.”

While he said “we’re still making changes every day,” Moquin added that “they’re very close to finalization.”

A period of public meetings is planned at which comments, opinions and suggestions for improvement can be submitted. When asked for comment, Energy Fuels said it was unaware of the statement from the Navajo Nation Department of Justice.

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