<\/p>\n
A federal judge has lifted a seven-year ban on uranium leases in Southwest Colorado after a U.S. mining program was shown to have no harmful effect on four endangered fish species in the Colorado River.<\/p>\n
The Department of Energy program to mine uranium in the Paradox Valley area was put on hold in 2011, when a court injunction required an additional environmental review on potential impacts to the fish.<\/p>\n
In March, Colorado U.S. District Judge William J. Martinez ruled DOE complied with the court\u2019s directive, and he approved DOE\u2019s motion to lift the injunction, which barred mining leases at 31 uranium mines on 25,000 acres in the Uravan Mineral Belt.<\/p>\n
The main question was whether water discharged from mining activities might affect the endangered humpback and bonytail chubs, Colorado pikeminnow and razorback sucker.<\/p>\n
U.S. Fish and Wildlife concluded in its review there was no likelihood that mining would jeopardize or threaten the species\u2019 habitat.<\/p>\n
The 2011 injunction was granted after environmental groups filed a lawsuit in 2008 claiming the DOE\u2019s water-use analysis that it submitted to Fish and Wildlife in 2008 did not include the water demands of the proposed Pi\u00f1on Ridge uranium mill.<\/p>\n
But since then, plans for the mill to be built west of Naturita stalled, and DOE decided the mill\u2019s water use should be in the analysis.<\/p>\n
In April 2018, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment revoked the mill\u2019s radioactive materials permit after a District Court judge concluded that the proposed mill project failed to demonstrate adequate environmental protections.<\/p>\n
To comply with the court order, DOE did include Pi\u00f1on Ridge\u2019s potential water use in a revised biological report to Fish and Wildlife, according to the order lifting the injunction.<\/p>\n
But in its response to the recent supplemental biological analysis, the wildlife agency stated that Pi\u00f1on Ridge was no longer a \u201creasonably foreseeable action that must be considered\u201d and announced that its 2008 biological opinion was still accurate in \u201cpredicting no jeopardy to the Colorado River endangered fishes\u2019 habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n
In court briefings this year, DOE cited company reports for the mill that stated \u201ca surge in uranium exploration, mining, and permitting is anticipated if the mill is constructed.\u201d<\/p>\n
DOE went on to say that \u201cthis statement may have been appropriate at that time; however, since then, various world events happened (e.g., Fukushima in 2011) that contributed to continued low uranium ore prices \u2014 lower than economically feasible for new mining or a surge in mining.\u201d<\/p>\n
The plaintiffs who argued against the motion to dismiss the injunction were Colorado Environmental Coalition, Information Network for Responsible Mining, Center for Biologic Diversity and the Sheep Mountain Alliance.<\/p>\n
They argued that DOE cannot move to dissolve the injunction without first lodging a new or supplemental administrative record.<\/p>\n
Martinez rejected the claim and ruled that \u201cDOE committed no error.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that assembling an administrative record would take more time and likely more briefing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Court finds that it would not be in the interest of justice to delay resolution of the matter any further,\u201d Martinez wrote. \u201cThis case is almost eleven years old, and the Court\u2019s injunction has been in place for more than seven years.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor all these reasons, the Court holds under the unusual circumstances presented here that DOE need not have assembled and disclosed a full administrative record before seeking review of its limited, Court-ordered re-consultation with FWS.\u201d<\/p>\n
The low price of uranium at $25 per pound has restricted investment and mining, which typically needs a $60 or more per pound for profitability.<\/p>\n
Travis Stills, an attorney representing the environmental groups, called the ruling \u201cdisappointing,\u201d and added reclamation efforts need to step up on long-abandoned mines.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been no serious effort to mine, and these mines need to be cleaned up and come into compliance with the Mined Land Reclamation Board,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n