WASHINGTON - Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) praised the Department of Interior today for their actions to prevent the expansion of potentially damaging uranium mining surrounding the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Natural Resources Democrats passed in 2008 a resolution requiring then-Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to suspend mining operations. The Bush administration ignored the recommendation, but the Obama administration is following those recommendations today.
"Stopping unnecessary expansion of uranium mining at the Grand Canyon is the best way to avoid a grand mistake in the future," said Rep. Markey, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over energy extraction on federal lands and national parks. "The Grand Canyon is a national symbol, and the Colorado River is a source of drinking water for Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, among other cities. Allowing destructive uranium mining could be devastating to local Native American culture, and the health of American citizens throughout the West."
