Environmental groups, Ute tribe call for shut down of Uranium mill

SAN JUAN COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — The White Mesa Mill is the only operating conventional uranium mill in the United States, and its future is once again under fire.

Environmental groups and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe say it’s time to end operations, while the company behind it insists it’s safe.

Heal Utah and more than 20 other organizations signed a letter to state leaders and regulators this week, demanding the mill close, radioactive materials be removed from the site, and tribal nations be consulted before any future projects move forward.

Carmen Valdez with Heal Utah says that the mill’s operations could have long-term consequences for people living nearby.

“Living near mines can lead to illnesses and cancers,” Valdez says. “And we’ve already seen that. We’ve seen that history.”

Another concern is what happens if water sources near the mill are ever contaminated.

“That area, that water, if it ever gets contaminated, the people that are living there are sacrifice zones similar to when [nuclear] weapons are being detonated in Nevada,” Valdez adds.

She says those health and environmental risks are why the coalition is urging state leaders to take action now, before any potential impacts become irreversible.

“Utah knows these risks, this is part of our history,” Valdez says. “This is part of our legacy that no job or one industry should come at the cost of a worker, community, family or constituency’s health.”

Energy Fuels Inc., which operates the mill, pushed back, calling the facility “a clean, modern, highly regulated” site with “an exceptional track record of safety and environmental compliance.”

In a statement, the company said the mill is crucial to providing raw materials for clean energy, defense and other technologies, and that activists’ concerns are “mostly based on misinformation” and part of a broader agenda against domestic mining.

In the coming weeks, the message from Heal Utah will move from paper to the streets. The White Mesa Concerned Community will hold its annual Spiritual Walk and Protest on the first Saturday of October in White Mesa. On September 27, supporters will rally at the Utah State Capitol calling for the mill to close and for uranium contamination to be cleaned up.