The Navajo Nation has come to terms with the prospect of renewed shipments of uranium ore from the Pinyon Plain mine in northern Arizona through its lands on the way to the last uranium mill in the United States near Blanding, Utah.

Two shipments of ore by Lakewood-based Energy Fuels Inc. from the mine on June 30, 2024, triggered an angry response from Navajo tribal authorities and prompted Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren to issue an executive order banning the transport of nuclear materials through the 25,000-square-mile reservation.

“The company’s failure to seek approval from the Navajo Nation for the transport of radioactive materials across its land disregards the Nation’s governmental authority and sovereignty,” Nygren said in a statement.

But Stephen Etsitty, executive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, told The Denver Gazette in an October interview that because the highways are state and federal public highways, the executive order would probably be of limited value.

What the controversy did was pique the interest of Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, who intervened in the dispute in an attempt to negotiate a solution acceptable to all parties in October.

“Last week, we finalized an agreement with the Navajo Nation. The agreement covers a couple of main areas,” Curtis Moore, senior vice president of marketing and corporate development for Energy Fuels Inc., told The Denver Gazette last month. “The first is that they are consenting to our ore trucks traveling on the federal highways that cross the Navajo Nation. Secondly, we have agreed to assist the Navajo Nation in the cleanup of some of the abandoned uranium mines that are on their land, leftover from old government weapons programs that began in the 1940s. So, we’re extremely proud of that. It was a very productive process, and honestly, very cordial for the most part. I think it’s a real win-win for both Energy Fuels and the Navajo Nation.”

Energy Fuels has been pursuing voluntary cleanup of radioactive mine waste in the Navajo Nation for some years now.

Moore said much of the mine rubble and waste with low levels of uranium can still be profitably processed at the company’s White Mesa Mill.

“We’ve committed to allowing Navajo Nation to perform inspections of the trucks, and we agreed to do some additional decontamination of the trucks — wash the trucks off before they leave the site. Also, wash the trucks off before they leave the white Mesa Mill site,” said Moore. “We agreed to collaborate on testing out some new technologies just to confirm that no harmful levels of dust or other particles are coming off of the loads as they drive down the road.”

Moore also told The Denver Gazette that Energy Fuels has never had a truck accident while hauling uranium ore anywhere in the region, which its been doing from other mines for decades.

“The Navajo Nation has suffered longstanding impacts from uranium mining conducted during the Cold War era, resulting in numerous abandoned mine and mill sites on their lands. This has understandably caused mistrust toward the U.S. government and energy companies,” said Mark Chalmers, president and CEO of Energy Fuels, in a news release. “I am personally honored that the Navajo Nation was willing to work with us in good faith to address their concerns and ensure that uranium ore transportation through the Navajo Nation will be done safely and respectfully.”

Etsitty, the executive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, said in the release: “We have a settlement agreement that will allow the Navajo Nation to monitor and inspect the haul trucks and that provides financial compensation for the expenses to improve safety and protect the environment. The Navajo Nation appreciates the support from Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, who facilitated the pause in transport activities, which helped the Navajo Nation and Energy Fuels conduct the negotiations.”

“We appreciate the sincere approach the Energy Fuels’ negotiation team took with the Navajo Nation. They demonstrated a genuine understanding for the Navajo Nation’s and the Navajo People’s trauma regarding uranium and engaged as a partner in good faith to build a trusting relationship,” said Arizona acting Attorney General Heather Clah in a statement. “We look forward to Energy Fuels fulfilling their commitments to the Nation.”

Conditions in the agreement include:

• Limiting transportation to specified routes and hours of the day

• Not transporting ore on days involving celebrations or public events in respect of the Navajo Nation’s culture and traditions

• Clearly spelled out emergency response procedures, notices and reporting requirements

• Additional insurance requirements

• Additional driver qualification and training requirements

• Obtaining Navajo Nation transport licenses

• Use of state-of-the-art cover systems to prevent fugitive dust from transport trucks

• Provisions for escorts and blessings at the discretion of the Nation

• Additional inspection procedures that will enable the Navajo Nation to ensure that all applicable rules and agreements are being satisfied.

The mine, located on federal land south of the Grand Canyon, has been the center of controversy in the region since 2013. Recently, a jump in uranium prices made the reopening of the mine profitable. First approved by Arizona and federal agencies in 1986, the mine had been largely dormant for years until the uranium market price upswing.

Energy Fuels soon reopened the mine and completed work on the 1,400-foot-deep shaft needed to access the ore body and haul ore out of the mine’s unusual geological formation. The formation is called a “breccia pipe” that is only about 250 feet in diameter with a vertical ore body starting about 800 feet underground.

The company estimates that there are about 3 to 5 million pounds of marketable refined uranium oxide in the lode.

The Navajo Nation did not respond to a request for comment.