The Grand Canyon might disappear! This American symbol full of history is at risk because of human activity: uranium extraction. A uranium mine was found inside the Grand Canyon and they have lost no time in taking advantage of this mineral. This is considered one of the most important tourist attractions of the United States and it is really sad the news that you will read now.
The Grand Canyon
It is a huge deep canyon located in the North of Arizona, in the United States. Its features are 446 km long and between 6 and 29 km wide with a depth of 1,800 m. The creation of the Grand Canyon was totally natural through millions of years because of erosion caused by the Colorado river.
Americans have a place in their hearts for this place and tourists are very interested in visiting it, so the Grand Canyon National Park was created in 1919 to protect it as much as possible. However, attempting to protect it was not enough.
Uranium means money
Uranium is used to make nuclear energy, which every country aspires to use, and means a huge amount of income and jobs. The extraction of this mineral is being done in many countries and in the Grand Canyon too and this is the main reason for the damage of this nature’s grand beauty.
The main problem of the Grand Canyon is found in a mine called Pinyon Plain Mine, located 10 km from the indigenous community of Havasupai near the Grand Canyon. This mine activity started in 2024 and it has been a controversy between scientists, the American government, private companies and the indigenous communities for more than 10 years – you should know this mine was built over a decade ago, so the argument started right after the mine construction started.
The Havasupai and scientists’ take on this issue
There are two groups against this mine: the indigenous community of Havasupai and scientists. They share a common element to go against the uranium extraction in the Grand Canyon, water.
On the one hand, the Havasupai indigenous community has always lived near the Grand Canyon and their culture and way of living revolve around the pure water of the natural springs, rivers crossing the canyon and waterfalls like the Havasu Falls, which is very photographed because of its turquoise color.
On the other hand, scientists explain this mine is on top of a groundwater reserve which provides water to many places. Scientists who have studied the location say that the faults are used to move water through the layered subsoil. This means toxic material like uranium could be transported into the pure water of rivers and spring waters and pollute them.
Negative consequences
Having in mind the previous data, this mining activity could lead to water pollution used by the Havasupai, the Grand Canyon ecosystem and millions of American people from the southeast of the U.S.A. Apart from affecting humans, animals would be victims of this uranium extraction, as they bathe in these waters and they could swallow toxic materials too. All of these reasons are why scientists and the indigenous communities are fighting for the prohibition of this activity.
It is important to protect our cultural heritage because the more human activity we do in natural places like the Grand Canyon, the more damage we will receive from the environment. We need to be aware of the importance of the meaning of nature and let its natural rhythm flow. Also, these places mean tourists coming to visit them and it translates into another type of income. We’ll see how this goes, but you should visit the Grand Canyon if you have the chance, just in case it disappears.