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Grand Canyon uranium Mining
The Huffington Post, July 28, 2011

Grand Canyon: Iconic Landscape, Unprecedented Threat
By Kierán Suckling

Few places inspire like the Grand Canyon.

Not only is it a geological wonder, it's also one of the most biologically diverse national parks in the United States -- home to more than 1,000 species of plants, 76 species of mammals, 299 bird species, 41 reptiles and amphibians and 16 species of fish.

That's why it's so astonishing that some members of Congress would put this world-famous icon in jeopardy.

...If the rider passes, the iconic wildlands around Grand Canyon would be dramatically transformed. Roads and mines would be built. Wildlife habitat would be destroyed. The risk of pollution in streams, creeks, seeps and springs would skyrocket. The place that millions consider a national treasure could become a radioactive industrial zone.

Unfortunately, pollution from past uranium mining already plagues springs, creeks and soil in and around Grand Canyon National Park.

Hydrologists warn that more mining would further pollute and deplete aquifers feeding Grand Canyon's springs and creeks -- pollution that would be impossible to clean up. Almost all the Grand Canyon's perennial surface water, aside from the Colorado River, comes from aquifer-fed springs; these team with life, supporting up to 500 times as many species as adjacent uplands, including rare, endemic, threatened and endangered species -- like white-flowering redbud trees, humpback chub and Kanab ambersnails.

The prospect of more uranium mining has already prompted protests, litigation and proposed legislation. Scientists, tribal and local governments, water municipalities and businesses groups have all voiced opposition to new mining.

...But some in Congress want to make pork of public lands by handing the Grand Canyon's watershed over to the uranium industry. Their rider would foreclose any possibility that these 1 million acres -- acres that belong to the public and are cherished for their beauty and ecological importance -- get the protection they deserve.

Left unchecked, this proposal will ultimately convert one of the most extraordinary landscapes on the planet into just one more place scarred by industrial greed and burdened with a long, polluted legacy. That's hardly a fate that befits this national treasure.

Copyright © 2011 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.

This article originally appeared here.

Photo © Paul S. Hamilton