Op-ed: Coconino Voices - Grand Canyon too precious to risk; Grand Canyon Protection Act would keep it safe
This piece originally appeared as an op-ed in the Arizona Daily Sun on October 28, 2021. By Viviana Reyes 10/28/2021
I was born and raised in Arizona. I grew up in Phoenix, and like many Arizonans, my family visited the Grand Canyon time and time again. The first time I saw it, it took my breath away. The contrasting shades of vermillion and coral — I felt as if I was standing in a picture-perfect postcard. When I took my daughter for the first time, she became enamored with the starry night skies. The Grand Canyon is a magical place, but if not properly protected, it could be destroyed beyond repair.
Beginning in the 1950s, uranium mines sunk deep shafts, piercing the rock layers in and around the Grand Canyon leaving behind a toxic legacy that continues to pollute the land, water, and air today. As the market for uranium declined, mining companies abandoned mines, but the uranium industry’s harmful impacts to human health and the environment continue, contaminating drinking water in Northern Arizona and across the Navajo Nation to this day.
Studies have found that exposure to uranium leads to health problems including birth defects, cancer, respiratory illnesses, and more. As of October 2020, there were still over 600 active mining claims around the Grand Canyon. [https://www.grandcanyontrust.org/map-active-mining-claims-within-grand-canyon-withdrawal-area-october-2020]
Thankfully, in February 2021, Representative Raúl Grijalva and 15 co-sponsors including Representatives O’Halleran, Gallego, Stanton, and Kirkpatrick introduced the Grand Canyon Protection Act to ban new uranium mines on public lands around the Grand Canyon forever. It passed the House with bipartisan support, and Arizona Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly introduced their own version of the bill in the Senate where we eagerly anticipate a vote.
Millions of people travel to appreciate and take in the Grand Canyon, to step inside that postcard view. There’s nothing like it in the world. Which is why it has such a profound appeal for visitors who choose to spend their dollars in Arizona. Grand Canyon visitors contribute $1.2 billion to local economies, supporting over 12,500 jobs, making the national park a significant economic driver for Northern Arizona’s economy.
Meanwhile, uranium contamination threatens all of this. But uranium mining around the Grand Canyon is completely unnecessary; only 0.2 percent of all uranium resources in the country exist on public lands around the Grand Canyon where the Grand Canyon Protection Act would ban new mines. [https://www.grandcanyontrust.org/identified-uranium-resources-united-states-map] In order to continue to draw visitors and their pocketbooks, the Grand Canyon – and its spectacular tributary canyons, forests, and mountains must remain protected. The Grand Canyon is just too precious to risk.
As a mother, taking my daughter to see the Grand Canyon was an amazing experience. It’s such a significant place for us, and I know that in time, she’ll take her own children on trips there as well. It’s a profoundly meaningful place for my family, and I know that many Arizonans can identify with this and agree. To permanently protect the Grand Canyon, we need our senators to pass the Grand Canyon Protection Act to permanently protect the Grand Canyon from uranium mining.
Viviana Reyes is the Culture, Engagement, and Communications Manager for Coconino County Public Works and an Advisory Board Member for Hispanics Enjoying Camping, Hunting, and the Outdoors (HECHO).