GRAND CANYON, Ariz. — In an unprecedented collaboration, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Havasupai Tribe have published a report unveiling potential radiation exposure pathways stemming from uranium mining as it relates to the tribe’s traditional uses and cultural values.
Recently uncovered exposure routes for the Havasupai include inhalation, ingestion and absorption through traditional food, medicines and ceremonial practices. Integrating these pathways into future research and risk assessments promises outcomes that better reflect Tribal resources and culture, the USGS said.
“To get a true picture of how environmental contaminants impact communities, it is critical to understand how all local communities use the land and its natural resources, “said Dave Applegate, director of the U.S. Geological Survey. “This understanding is only possible by inviting those communities
to share their knowledge and cultural perspectives so they can be incorporated into the work.”
Advancing the scope was rooted in the foundational aspects of the Havasupai ceremonial wheel, encompassing food, environment, belief system and ceremony. The framework was then applied to assess the impacts of uranium development near Red Butte, a significant gathering site for various federally recognized tribes, including the Havasupai, Hopi, Navajo and Zuni.
After decades of litigation and challenges by tribes and environmental groups, Pinyon Plain Mine, a uranium mine located approximately 6 miles from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon began production Dec. 21, 2023.
Pinyon Plain, formerly known as Canyon Mine, is located on Kaibab National Forest, near the Havasupai Tribe’s sacred mountain, Red Butte. It is inside the boundary of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni National Monument, designated by President Joe Biden at the request of tribes in August 2023. Pinyon Plain is the only active mine in the region that was officially grandfathered into the monument and allowed to operate despite the national monument.
Concerns about potential effects to water from uranium mining was a driving factor of the mining withdrawal.
USGS uranium mining assessment efforts have focused on the risk to wildlife, rather than humans, because other agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are generally responsible for such assessments. However, USGS interactions with Grand Canyon National Park and Kaibab National Forest tribal liaisons revealed an overlap of ongoing USGS research initiatives with mining exposure concerns of different tribes.
“It is likely that the potential impacts to tribal resources could not be mitigated. Any mining within the sacred and traditional places of tribal peoples may degrade the values of those lands to the Tribes that use them…,” the report revealed.
The area was designated as a Traditional Cultural Property by the U.S. Forest Service in 2010, but this designation did not exempt Red Butte and the surrounding area from renewed mining operations at the Pinyon Plain Mine.
As descendants of the original peoples who have lived in the Grand Canyon for centuries, the Havasupai have long and deep connections to water, plants, animals and geology throughout the Colorado Plateau.
The Havasupai Tribe has spoken out against mining at the Pinyon Plain Mine through lawsuits, injunctions and protests. They have voiced concerns to the U.S. government and the international community that uranium mining may cause death and destruction to their waters and to the existence of their life and traditional practices.
Their village, known as Supai, is only accessible by foot, horse or helicopter. The Havasupai’s indigenous aboriginal territory includes the Grand Canyon National Park, which is home to sacred trails, prayer areas, mountains and burial sites.
The Pinyon Plain Mine is above a primary aquifer, the Redwall-Muav aquifer or R-aquifer, on the Colorado Plateau.
“If the R-Aquifer becomes contaminated, and we must abandon our ancestral home of Supai Village, we will leave the blue-green waters of Havasu Creek behind and consequently will cease to be the Havasuw baja,” Havasupai Vice-Chairman Edmond Tilousi was quoted in the report. “While we may still breathe air, we, the People of the Blue Green Water, will have become extinct.”
The Havasupai’s communion with plants and animals can also introduce unique exposure pathways not considered in the original conceptual risk framework
“The Havasupai have long been known for the quality of their tanned deer-hides,” the report stated. “Traditional hide processing includes hand and mouth contact with deer organs and fluids, which could expose hunters to contaminants in the animal.”
Another potential exposure pathway from the Pinyon Plain mine is the medicinal and ceremonial use of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) collected near Red Butte.
The Havasupai are particularly concerned about inhalation of uranium and other elemental contaminants moving through the air from the mining operations to the surrounding area, including Red Butte.
Traditional ceremonies such as dancing, praying and singing held at Red Butte are also important to consider in the updated conceptual risk framework. The area of Red Butte is essential for purification or cleansing for the Havasupai people and other tribes. Specific ceremonies take place at critical points in a Havasupai member’s life—infancy, adolescence and adulthood. Sweat lodges near Red Butte are also used for traditional practices and also pose unique scenarios for contaminant exposure.
In a 2022 interview with the Navajo-Hopi Observer, Curtis Moore, vice president of marketing and corporate development at Energy Fuels Resources, said he saw no reasonable chance for the aquifer to become contaminated because of the mining.
“We have a multitude of protections in place. We installed protections and there are natural protections. We voluntarily lined the bottom of the mine with epoxy, but the biggest protection is the 1,500 feet between the mine and the regional aquifer,” he said. “It’s very clear that there is no risk to groundwater or other health or environmental impacts.”
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