The Water Information Program

A trio of environmental organizations filed suit Wednesday to block uranium-mining exploration near the edge of Grand Canyon National Park, claiming the U.S. Forest Service violated federal law when permits were issued. "Grand Canyon simply isn't the place for uranium development," said Taylor McKinnon of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity. "Our national treasures deserve better than the calamity of an adjacent industrial zone." In the past five years, uranium prices have soared from $3 per pound to more than $80 per pound, prompting a flurry of Arizona exploration by companies, especially in areas of northern Arizona, where formations of uranium-rich breccia pipe are found. Uranium mining is particularly controversial in northern Arizona, where high cancer rates have been attributed to radiation in water and debris near old mine sites, especially on the Navajo Reservation. The tribe adopted a ban on uranium mining in 2005.

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