Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren marched with protestors on Aug. 2, 2024, in Cameron, Arizona, to oppose the transportation of uranium across Navajo land. Courtesy Photo by the Navajo Nation Office of the President
By Shondiin Silversmith | AZ Mirror
Tribal leaders from the Havasupai Tribe and Navajo Nation were led to believe that Energy Fuels Resources, Inc., would give their communities two weeks’ notice before they started hauling uranium ore from Pinyon Plain Mine near the Grand Canyon.
However, that wasn’t the case when Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and the Havasupai learned on July 30 that two trucks hauling uranium ore were already en route to the uranium mill in Utah.
“They snuck through the Navajo Nation,” Nygren said.
By the end of the day, Nygren was informed that two trucks carrying uranium ore from the Pinyon Mine had passed through the Navajo Nation and reached Utah.
“They operated covertly to travel (through) the Navajo Nation illegally,” Nygren said. “They smuggled uranium across our nation, which is very inappropriate.”
