LAS VEGAS - Una prohibición de 20 años para nuevas denuncias de minas de uranio cerca del Gran Cañón ha sido finalizada por el Secretario del Interior de los Estados Unidos, Ken Salazar. La prohibición cubre casi un millón de acres hacia el norte y sur del Parque Nacional.

Scott Rutledge, director ejecutivo de la Nevada Conservation League (Liga por la Conservación de Nevada) dice que nuevas minas de uranio cerca del Río Colorado no solo potencialmente contaminarían el agua, si no que también los peces y otra vida silvestre, junto con las millones de personas que viven río abajo. Su grupo ha esperado ansiosamente la decisión por parte de la Administración de Obama.

"En lugar de hablar sobre esto cada dos años y regresar a la mesa y debatir lo mismo, el moratorio de 20 años asegura que Nevada tenga agua limpia durante las próximas dos décadas."

Cazadores y pescadores se unieron con los gobiernos tribales de Nevada haciendo saber que apoyan la prohibición de las denuncias de minas, pero miembros Republicanos del Congreso están patrocinando medidas que piden se levante la prohibición. La acción de Salazar no afecta las denuncias que ya han sido aprobadas anteriormente cerca del Cañón.

De acuerdo a la Agencia de Protección Ambiental (EPA, por sus siglas en inglés), el 40 por ciento de las líneas divisoras de agua que proveen a las comunidades del Oeste con agua potable han sido ya contaminadas con los deshechos de la minería de uranio. Ben Alteneder, miembro de la Mesa Directiva de la Arizona Wildlife Federation (Federación de Vida Silvestre de Arizona), dice que no vale la pena el riesgo de añadir más contaminación que traerían las nuevas minas.

"Existen varios estudios que se han enfocado en los riachuelos dentro del Gran Cañón que demostraron han sufrido los efectos de la minería de uranio en el pasado como el Arroyo Kanab; también solo tienes que ir unas cuantas millas dentro de la Nación Navajo para v er los impactos que la minería de uranio ha tenido ahí."

Las compañías mineras y algunos legisladores contienden que nuevas minas traerían nuevos empleos e incrementarían ingresos por impuestos en Nevada. Pero Scott Ruteldge dice que es un argumento falso y cree que la minería dañaría otro gran sector de empleos e ingresos.

"La industria de turismo de Nevada es una industria de billones de dólares. Proteger este tesoro nacional es mucho más importante que cualquier beneficio económico que sería perdido al no permitir nuevas denuncias de minas."

Rutledge nota que grupos de negocios también demostraron apoyo por la prohibición. Dice que la decisión de Salazar es crítica para la protección de uno de los lugares más preciados del mundo y asegurar que se mantenga conservado para las generaciones futuras.


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A new film documents the 2018 battle between Colorado environmentalists and the oil and gas industry over proposed fracking regulations.

The film also documents a grassroots effort by Colorado Rising to pass a ballot initiative which would create a 2,500-foot setback for all hydraulic fracturing wells in the state, particularly in disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Sarah Schulte, organizing committee member of GreenFaith Boulder County, which recently previewed the film for about 100 members, said the film has a strong message.

"What probably makes the film pretty dramatic and kind of shocking is the length to which oil and natural gas industries in Colorado set out to thwart them," Schulte pointed out. "Not only with some of the tactics you might expect, but also some kind of more nefarious tactics sabotaging their signature gathering, for example."

In the end, the petroleum industry defeated the measure after a $50 million campaign opposing it. Schulte acknowledged Colorado Rising raised only $1 million for its campaign. After the election, the state adopted a 1,000-foot drilling setback from schools and residential property lines.

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, involves drillers injecting a mixture of chemicals underground to break up the shale and free the oil. The chemicals used in the process, which are sometimes toxic, can pollute groundwater and make the surrounding land unstable.

Schulte emphasized the movie had a powerful effect on the group's members.

"I think most people were pretty angry and maybe even a little sad after seeing how these kinds of politics play out in Colorado," Schulte observed. "They asked questions like what can we do next? How do you keep going when it's so difficult to fight such a big and powerful industry?"

The film, Fracking the System: Colorado's Oil and Gas Wars, is currently being previewed by select audiences. It has won the "Spirit of Activism" award at the Colorado Environmental Film Festival
and the "Environmental Award" at the 2024 DOCUTAH International Film Festival.

As part of an effort to restore the Mississippi River delta, an organization is collaborating with nature to address environmental challenges.

The Big Muddy is the second-longest river in North America, flowing more than 2,300 miles.

Simone Maloz, campaign director for the group Restore the Mississippi River Delta, said the coalition uses nature-based solutions to help tackle some of the river's environmental problems in Louisiana and Mississippi.

"We use the power and the sediment the river provides to help us to put solutions into place," Maloz explained. "For example, we might have an area of wetlands that needs to be nourished with freshwater sediment, we can tap into that wonderful resource that we have."

Maloz pointed out some farmers are turning to nature-based solution, using cover crops like clover or other plants to protect the soil. Cover crops typically grow in between primary crops, or are planted in the offseason to help keep nutrients on the ground so they do not become toxic in the water as runoff.

Maloz emphasized nature-based solutions are key to building resilient communities, which she said are those communities thinking about how to plan for climate change, such as floods, droughts, and rising sea levels, wildfires, hurricanes and coastal threats.

"What we know about resilient communities, whether you're on the coast, or whether you're not on the coast, is about how you can brace yourself for these impacts and how you can more quickly recover," Maloz stressed. "We know that when you include nature in those plans, it helps you to better do that."

Maloz added her group is involved in various projects along the Mississippi River, using sediment to replenish marshes, rebuild ridges and barrier islands and create habitats for migratory birds.


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The Iowa Environmental Council has petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to invoke emergency powers to protect sensitive soil and groundwater in northeast Iowa.

The council is holding a public webinar today and wants the EPA to address groundwater contamination in northeast Iowa's so-called Driftless region. The groundwater there has a well-documented history of nitrate contamination.

Alicia Vasto, director of water program for the council, said the highly porous and soluble karst soil prevalent in the region is susceptible to contamination from centralized animal feeding operations.

"We did some analyses of private well data and public water systems and found that there was a lot of contamination of nitrate in those drinking water sources," Vasto reported. "The state has really failed to take action meaningfully that would address those problems."

The state has said it is constantly working to upgrade groundwater quality standards and is in the process of taking public input on creating yet another set of rules.

Vasto emphasized since the state has failed to address the water safety concerns for decades, the council and a coalition of other environmental groups have, in effect, gone above the state's head to the EPA, asking the agency to implement an emergency stop gap on nitrate pollution the way the agency did in neighboring Minnesota last year.

"We're asking that at, at minimum, the EPA would require the state of Iowa to do what they required the state of Minnesota to do under the same petition," Vasto explained. "Because the geology of northeast Iowa is the same as of southeast Minnesota."

The council's recommendations include calling on the EPA to create a communications plan with residents whose water could be at risk, create a drinking water sampling plan, and establishing a thorough permitting process for centralized animal feeding operations.


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