Salazar Orders Moratorium to Uranium Mining Claims in Northern Arizona, Near Grand Canyon. By David A. Fahrenthold, WashPost, July 21, 2009. "Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on Monday ordered a 'time out' for mining companies staking claims to uranium deposits on federal lands in northern Arizona, saying he wanted to determine how the mining might affect the nearby Grand Canyon. Salazar's order affects nearly 1 million acres of high-desert land owned by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. About 10,600 different claims have been made in the area, under a 137-year-old law that allows prospective miners to claim mineral deposits they find on federal lands. The order would not allow any new claims to be made for two years. It does not affect the existing claims -- most of which are inactive, a Bureau of Land Management official said. There is no uranium mining going on in the area now, but at least three potential mining operations are waiting for permits from the state of Arizona."
2009-07-25
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