Governor Spencer Cox
Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson
The Utah State Legislature
Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control
August 12, 2025
Subject: Letter of Unity Against Energy Fuels Uranium Mill Near The Ute Mountain Ute White
Mesa Reservation
To Whom It May Concern,
We, the undersigned, stand in firm solidarity with the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, White Mesa Ute
Community, White Mesa Concerned Community group, and all impacted communities in opposing the
ongoing operation of Energy Fuels’ White Mesa uranium mill. The mill, located adjacent to the White
Mesa Ute Community in southern Utah represents a clear and continued threat to the health, land, water,
sacred sites, and cultural landscapes of the Ute Mountain Ute people and surrounding communities.
We oppose continued operation and any further dumping of radioactive waste, including alternate feeds,
and the shipment and processing of uranium ore at the Energy Fuels uranium mill. This practice
perpetuates environmental harm and systemic injustice against Indigenous peoples who have long borne
the disproportionate impacts of the nuclear industry. White Mesa must not continue to be treated as a
sacrifice zone for international radioactive waste dumping by the nuclear industry and governments.
Our concerns extend to all communities impacted at every stage of the nuclear supply chain, from
uranium mining to radioactive waste disposal, and to those advocating for the cleanup of existing uranium
sites on or near tribal lands and ancestral homelands. We stand with the Havasupai Nation in rejecting the
operation of the Pinyon Plain uranium mine on their sacred traditional lands near the Grand Canyon. We
also stand with uranium-impacted communities including those on the Navajo Nation, Havasupai Tribe,
San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe and Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in opposing the transportation of radioactive
materials through their lands. As we collectively face the ongoing consequences of uranium
contamination, we emphasize the urgent calls for cleanup efforts on the Navajo Nation including proper
disposal of waste which does not further perpetuate harm to White Mesa or any other Indigenous
community. Justice demands that no community bear the burden of toxic and radioactive waste.
We call on the government and private companies to assume responsibility and take action to establish
long-term, safe, and equitable solutions for radioactive waste disposal, including uranium, alternate
feeds, and rare earth minerals. This includes developing regulations and better practices in collaboration
with Native communities that do not compromise the well-being or sovereignty of communities and the
environment. We call for the cleanup of contamination from the Energy Fuels’ uranium mill near White
Mesa, which should include disposal of all materials at another site that the Tribe, af ected communities,
and appropriate regulatory agencies agree upon. We demand that free, prior, continuous, and informed
consent processes guide regulations and proposed siting of projects across the supply chain. We firmly
reject the development of any new nuclear weapons or nuclear energy projects when they continue to
perpetuate an already too long history and present realities of the environmental injustices they cause and
the reality that there remains no safe, permanent, waste disposal solution for radioactive waste.
We stand together in demanding accountability, environmental justice, and a future free of uranium
contamination.
In solidarity,
Organizations:
White Mesa Concerned Community
Environmental Justice Clinic, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law
New Mexico Environmental Law Center
4Corners Broadband, Great Old Broads for Wilderness
The Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah
Northern San Juan Broadband, Great Old Broads for Wilderness
Sheep Mountain Alliance
Uranium Watch
Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM)
Ute Mountain Ute Environmental Programs Department
Grand Canyon Trust
Black Hills Clean Water Alliance
Information Network for Responsible Mining
Colorado Citizens Against ToxicWaste (CCAT)
Party for Socialism and Liberation – Salt Lake Branch
Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE)
Sierra Club of Utah
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Diné C.A.R.E.
Haul No!
Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN)
Click here to Download the Letter of Unity
