EPA says Ariz. uranium mine operating illegally

A uranium mine north of the Grand Canyon is operating in violation of the law, and its owner could face thousands of dollars in fines as a result, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.

The agency issued a notice of violation this week to Denison Mines Corp. for its Arizona 1 Mine, which is about 20 miles from the Grand Canyon's northern border.

The EPA said Denison failed to notify the agency as to when it would resume mining and that it did not secure the necessary federal approval before ventilating the mine or testing emissions.

Denison President Ron Hochstein said Tuesday that he was surprised by the notice and believed the company was operating within the law. He said he was working with regulators to address those issues.

A determination on whether to assess fees or civil penalties would not be made until after a hearing is held on the violation notice.

Shelly Rosenblum, an environmental engineer with the agency's Pacific Southwest Region, said Denison has requested a hearing.

EPA approval was required before Denison began any construction or modification of the mine to allow ventilation and workers to enter, Rosenblum said.

A previous owner of the Arizona 1 Mine had that authorization from the EPA, but the approval is not transferable to another owner or operator and expires when the mine is inactive, the notice said.

Denison resumed mining at the site late last year after nearly two decades of inactivity. Hochstein said the company plans to extract 110,000 tons of uranium ore per year through 2012.

The EPA's notice of violation doesn't halt mining, but Rosenblum said Denison will be required to secure the necessary approvals, which could take months.

The Arizona 1 mine is the only active uranium mine within a 1 million-acre acre that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar set aside last year from any new hard-rock mining claims. His administration is studying whether mining on those lands should be permanently prohibited.

Salazar's action does not stop mining from going forward on claims already filed that have been proven. The Arizona 1 Mine sits on U.S. Bureau of Land Management land, about 35 miles away from Fredonia, which is a town of 1,000 closest to the mine.

Environmental groups sued the BLM last year, contending Denison's mine plan has expired, an environmental analyses is outdated and Denison has not proven its claims.

Roger Clark of the Grand Canyon Trust said the EPA's notice of violation is "just another example of how the uranium industry in general, and Denison in particular, tends to operate outside of the law.

"They keep telling us they're doing business differently than the uranium industry did 20 years ago," he said. "This indicates they are not doing everything that the law requires, to not only protect the landscape, but to protect the workers."