Navajo Nation in ‘business with Energy Fuels’

Indigenous and environmental activists grapple with landmark decision allowing uranium on sovereign lands

Brisa Karow | Published by The Lumberjack

Feb. 14, 2025

Photo by Beck Toms/The Lumberjack

After a six-month transportation pause, Energy Fuels Inc. resumed hauling uranium through northern Arizona on Feb. 12, sparking the latest round of community outcry in a longstanding battle against uranium mining in the region.

For the next three to four years, trucks will travel a haul route from the Denver-based energy company’s Pinyon Plain Mine near the Grand Canyon to its White Mesa Mill in Utah. On weekdays, between two and 12 trucks a day will travel through Flagstaff and Navajo Nation residential areas carrying loads of potentially harmful uranium ore.

The decision to resume hauling comes from a landmark agreement between Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and Energy Fuels, which was announced in a press release on Jan. 29 after months of negotiation. 

Environmental and Indigenous organizations, including the Sierra Club, Northern Arizona Climate Change Alliance and Bidí Roots, protested outside Flagstaff City Hall on Monday before the hauling began on Feb. 12. It was planned in solidarity with Diné activist group Haul No!, which has been the main advocacy group against uranium mining in the region.

Response to Nygren’s agreement varied among community activists, many of whom have fought for the mine’s closure since it opened in the 1980s, citing water, land and air contamination, health concerns and desecration of sovereign lands. 

“The most egregious part of the agreement, which is something I don’t think anyone was expecting, is that the Navajo Nation agreed to go into business with Energy Fuels,” said Leona Morgan, co-founder of Haul No!, Wednesday evening at a virtual public information session.

Negotiations between the Navajo Nation and Energy Fuels added safety protections and guidelines for the energy company to abide by when hauling — along with added transportation of waste from abandoned mines. 

The agreement requires Energy Fuels to limit transportation to week-day daylight hours, avoid hauling on days of traditional celebrations or national holidays, use state-of-the-art dust covers — rather than previous tarps — to prevent fugitive uranium particles and follow Navajo Nation inspection procedures. 

“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,” Stephen Etsitty, executive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency (NNEPA), said in the press release. 

Energy Fuels is responsible for planning emergency response procedures and reporting truck transportation schedules to the Navajo Nation two weeks before travel. 

As part of the agreement, the energy company pledged to transport up to 10,000 tons of waste materials from abandoned uranium mines across the Navajo Nation left by the federal government’s nuclear programs during the Cold War. 

“This is not cleanup,” Morgan said. “It’s essentially production of rare earth elements and will result in a lot more waste being produced and stored at the White Mesa Mill, impacting our Ute Mountain Ute relatives.”

The only operating uranium mill in the United States, White Mesa Mill processes radioactive waste from around the country and the world. It is located less than three miles from the White Mesa community on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation. The mill has been found in violation of proper storage practices, and the Ute Mountain Ute and other neighboring communities have stated their concerns about the mill’s impacts on their health, water, land and air. 

Morgan said Haul No! has been in contact with the Ute Mountain Ute community in the aftermath of the recent agreement. 

“They’re not too happy with us,” she said.

She questioned the Navajo Nation’s reasoning in allowing this agreement to go forth, given the tribe’s history of advocating for other tribes through waste cleanup from other sites.

“We don’t dump on another tribe,” Morgan said. “As Indigenous peoples, we should never dump our radioactive waste -- even though it’s not our waste. It’s the United States’ waste.”

Diné C.A.R.E., a non-profit environmental advocacy organization on the Navajo Nation, joined Haul No! at the public information session on Wednesday. 

Diné C.A.R.E’s executive director Robyn Jackson continued to bring focus back to Energy Fuel’s involvement in the negotiations.  

“Part of the issue with Navajo Nation is that legally, their hands are tied on this issue,” Jackson said. “I think that they were trying to make it known to this uranium company that uranium, the hauling of it, the mining of it, transport, anything, is not allowed. But this company proceeded to go forward anyway.”

In late July 2024, Nygren issued an executive order to halt unsafe transport of radioactive material after Energy Fuels sent trucks through the Navajo Nation and failed to give prior notice to tribal authorities. Nygren’s emergency legislation at the time reinforced prior laws banning the transportation of radioactive material across the Navajo Nation. Now, under the new agreement, the hauling of uranium ore is allowed.

Eric Descheenie, a former Arizona representative who attended the protest at City Hall on Monday, disagreed with the Navajo Nation president taking part in negotiations. 

“For decades, it’s been illegal to do so, and there’s very good reason for that,” Descheenie said. “For him to break from that historical purpose is something that I don’t understand, and I don’t think he can convince me otherwise that it’s a prudent thing to do.”

At Monday’s protest and Wednesday’s information session, Indigenous community members questioned why tribes had not been consulted in the Navajo Nation’s decision. 

Descheenie said this falls back on Nygren and creates unnecessary divisions in the community.

“Negotiating these types of agreements without the community’s input sends a clear message that we’re not part of his community,” Descheenie said.

The full agreement has not yet been made public. 

In an Instagram post on Thursday, Nygren outlined the regulations and the federal limits to banning transportation of radioactive materials across the Navajo Nation.

"This agreement reflects our Nation’s commitment to protecting our people and asserting our sovereignty," Nygren said in the post. 

He claimed the NNEPA held a joint online public forum with Haul No! last week to address community concerns. Haul No! objected to this statement, saying it does not work with the NNEPA or any government.

Community members along the haul route have expressed concern about a lack of Navajo Nation emergency procedure planning, regulation training and safety — if Energy Fuels does not follow proper protocol and the Navajo Nation inspections cannot catch it due to insufficient training or staffing.

“Right now, the transport is being allowed, even though we don’t have the regulations in place,” Morgan said.

She and Jackson urged community members to check with their chapters for information on safety procedures — and to make local emergency response plans. 

Their goal remains to shut down uranium mining near Indigenous communities and hauling on the Navajo Nation indefinitely; for now, the short-term work of helping their communities is the focus. 

“I know there’s a lot of emotions at this time with our people,” Jackson said. “There’s fear, there’s anger, there’s sadness. And so, I think we want to make sure that we’re supporting one another, that we’re coming together and that we’re sharing whatever available information we come across.”

Katie Tsoukatos contributed to this article.