Tribes force uranium miners to seek permit in Wyoming

At a meeting with tribal leaders in June our Cheeto-dusted Führer said tribes should simply break federal law on energy issues.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has failed to adequately address Sioux tribal cultural, religious, and historic resources in the licensing process for the proposed uranium mines and mill at the Dewey Burdock site in the southern Black Hills, federal administrative overseers ruled October 19. The appeals board found the results of this offer insufficient to uphold the agency’s responsibilities under the National Environmental Protection Act, or NEPA, “to protect and preserve cultural, religious, and historical sites important to the Native American tribal cultures in the Powertech project area.”

Read that here.

Powertech USA, part of Canadian firm Azarga Uranium, is ignoring regulatory requirements and identified a potential satellite mine across the border in Wyoming.

Bruce Ellison, a Rapid City attorney who represents some of the project opponents who have intervened in the regulatory process, characterized Azarga’s reaction as overly optimistic. “This mining operation is a long way off,” Ellison said. [Rapid City Journal]

David Ganje, a Rapid City-based attorney practicing environmental law, says any uranium mining in the region needs far more study.

Lots of reader interest in our report of Trump’s meeting with the tribal leaders. Here’s the unfiltered scene. https://t.co/3NXP8g4g4z

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) November 6, 2017