The Democratic governors of New Mexico and Arizona are calling on the Biden administration to create a new federal process for cleaning up hundreds of abandoned and polluting uranium mines in their states.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said Tuesday in a letter to Brenda Mallory, chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, that no federal regulatory program exists for cleaning up uranium mines, even though many of those projects in the past supported federal interests — namely, national security.
“A new federal, state, and tribal governance structure is needed to bring rapid and transformative changes to communities that have suffered for decades from abandoned uranium mining sites,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “New Mexico is committed to nimble decision-making while ensuring safe cleanup and disposal of these legacy wastes.”
Uranium mining in states like Arizona and Utah has been recently revved up as prices soar and lawmakers worry about Russia’s prominence in the market.
