White Mesa sets tenth walk against nearby uranium mill

The walk is set for Saturday, 17 October, the tenth year the community has held it. A rally opens at 11 a.m. MDT at the community centre on the west side of Highway 191. People then walk about five miles on fairly level pavement to the Energy Fuels uranium mill. Bears Ears National Monument lies to the mill's east, and the plant itself is on the community's north side. Tribal citizens, Utah residents and others in Indian Country are invited, as a show of support for places dealing with uranium extraction and radioactive waste.

The White Mesa Mill is run by Energy Fuels Resources, which processes ore brought from south-western mines. Ore from the Pinyon Plain Mine, near the Grand Canyon, is hauled more than 300 miles. The Havasupai Tribe has opposed that mine, citing effects on ancestral land and water. Further ore comes from the La Sal Mines Complex, owned by the company and about 60 miles away. The report says environmental advocates count at least 72 new mining claims on land removed from the monument. It also links the rise in mining and transport to a push by the Trump administration and Utah for more domestic uranium and nuclear power. Haul lorries use Highway 191 through White Mesa, a road local children also take to school, and residents say a crash or spill would add danger. At least two uranium lorries have crashed on the Navajo Nation during this year. The company has also pursued projects using material from abroad, including Madagascar, where Indigenous communities have opposed mining.

Yolanda Badback, who helped found White Mesa Concerned Community, said the operator wants the waste pits extended south, toward the reservation. She said the community is small and cannot do the work alone, that children need water fit to drink and air fit to breathe, and that the radioactive waste is unwelcome. Anferny Cly, of the same group, said water under the mill is growing more polluted and moving toward the community, with acidity and heavy metals both rising. He said people no longer drink spring water for ceremonies, and no longer hunt near their homes or gather plants for baskets and meals. The community and the environmental office of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe have raised concerns about contamination from the mill and about possible harm to sacred sites. Organisers say the march is meant to stand with Native communities and with other places living alongside uranium extraction, radioactive material or nuclear waste. A limited number of vehicle seats are available for elders and people who cannot finish the route. Drivers turn west at the gas station and go one block south.

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