A community group in White Mesa, Utah, on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation, is holding its annual spiritual walk and rally on Saturday to protest the nearby uranium mill. The White Mesa uranium mill, operated by the mining company Energy Fuels Resources, is the only one of its kind still operating in the United States. The mill is part of a legacy of uranium mining in Four Corners tribal communities, many of which are still dealing with the impacts of widespread environmental contamination as the result of mining activity. Scott Clow is the environmental programs director for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. He says he has concerns that the state of Utah’s regulation of groundwater usage by the uranium mill has been too lax, and has led to the degradation and contamination of the Burro Canyon aquifer underneath White Mesa.
Chris Clements is a former news reporter for KSJD. He had previously covered literary arts as a reporter for The Chautauquan Daily in Chautauqua, New York, and graduated with a degree in English from Arizona State University. At KSJD, Chris has collaborated with KUNC (northern Colorado NPR) on water conservation stories, and had his spots regularly featured on NPR's national newscasts.