This was up to Arizona standards in 1872, as well
Environmental groups plan to appeal a federal judge’s decision that would allow a uranium mine south of Grand Canyon National Park to operate.
In 2012, the Obama Administration passed a 20-year ban on new mining claims on more than a million acres of land surrounding Grand Canyon National Park.
Environmental groups recently sued the Forest Service saying it violated federal law by allowing the Canyon Mine, an old mine, to reopen without going through a new environmental permitting process, coming up with a cleanup plan and consulting with the Havasupai Tribe.
U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell rejected those claims saying the old mining right is valid under the 1872 mining law.
The Grand Canyon Trust’s Roger Clark is concerned about water contamination. He pointed to studies that found contamination in 15 wells and springs near Grand Canyon.
“All of this information is since the 1986 decision by the Forest Service to allow Canyon Mine to mine without any kind of ground water monitoring,” Clark said.
Energy Fuels plans to open Canyon Mine this spring. The price of uranium has picked up to $39 a pound after it dropped to a multi-year low.
That’s all that really counts with extractive industries. How much profit can they make for the number of dollars of effort they invest in their project. Health of the ecosystem, the people, future generations, all are meaningless.
These creeps would pay miners to extract the minerals from your bones if they could get away with it and it was profitable.
Eideard 
“Grand Canyon is our home. Uranium mining has no place here.” By Carletta Tilousi https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/26/grand-canyon-uranium-mining-pollution “The Havasupai resided in and around Grand Canyon for many centuries. This region is sacred – that is why we oppose the pollution of our land and water” (Carletta Tilousi is a member of the Havasupai Tribal Council).
High Court Won’t Hear Grand Canyon Mining Case : The U.S. Supreme Court Monday declined to hear a case that challenged a uranium mining ban on land surrounding Grand Canyon National Park. https://fronterasdesk.org/content/706849/high-court-wont-hear-grand-canyon-mining-case n 2012 the Obama administration banned new mining claims on 1 million acres outside the national park. In March the mining industry asked the Supreme Court to review the ban, saying it was based on an unconstitutional provision of federal law. The high court’s decision is a victory for environmentalists as well as the Havasupai Tribe, who lives in and around the Grand Canyon. They have been fighting to protect their drinking water as well as their sacred sites for decades.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a new opinion in a decades-long battle involving uranium mining on land outside Grand Canyon National Park. But some say the decision may be too late.
In 1988 when the Forest Service first approved the Canyon Mine south of the park, all the proper environmental and historical assessments were done. At the time the neighboring Red Butte was not on the National Register of Historic Places. Today it is. The Havasupai Tribe considers Red Butte to be sacred. [see http://kjzz.org/content/10565/earthbone-part-4-havasupai-stand-mining-company ]
So the 9th Circuit panel said Canyon Mine should no longer be exempt from the mining ban and sent the case back to District Court.
But Grand Canyon Trust’s Amber Reimondo says groundwater may already be contaminated. The recently sunk mine shaft breached an aquifer that now requires constant pumping to remove contaminated water from the mine.
In 2012 the Obama administration banned all new mining claims on land surrounding Grand Canyon National Park. Energy Fuels Resources argued that Canyon Mine should be exempt, because the company had valid and existing rights. So, the Forest Service gave the company permission to mine again. http://fronterasdesk.org/content/717941/9th-circuit-changes-mind-grand-canyon-mine-claim