Save Mount Taylor from uranium mining 🏔️

Please deny the Roca Honda mining proposal

I am writing to express my deep concerns and opposition to the proposed Roca Honda uranium mine. The proposed mine poses serious risks to water resources, Mount Taylor's cultural significance, environmental justice, and the long-term impacts of uranium mining in New Mexico. According to project documents, the mine would require extensive groundwater pumping in order to access uranium deposits. Communities throughout western New Mexico rely on groundwater for drinking water, agriculture, domestic use, and cultural practices. Given increasing water scarcity and climate pressures, I urge the Mining and Minerals Division to carefully evaluate the long-term impacts of groundwater pumping, aquifer drawdown, water quality, and cumulative impacts from multiple uranium projects proposed near Mount Taylor. I am also concerned about the legacy of uranium mining in New Mexico. Communities across the Grants Uranium Belt and the Navajo Nation continue to live with contamination, abandoned mine sites, and lasting environmental impacts decades after mining ended. Many affected communities are still waiting for cleanup and accountability. The proposed mine is located near and partially within the Mount Taylor Traditional Cultural Property. Mount Taylor holds deep cultural and spiritual significance for many Indigenous communities and should not be evaluated in isolation from the other uranium mining proposals advancing in the region. A cumulative impact analysis should be required. I urge the Division to consult the Multistate Guidance on Environmental Justice issued by 14 state Attorneys General, including New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez to fully consider environmental justice concerns, meaningful Tribal consultation, and the disproportionate impacts uranium mining has had on Indigenous and rural communities. I am also concerned that federal efforts to fast-track uranium development could undermine thorough review of projects like Roca Honda. Decisions that could affect water, culturally significant places, and future generations deserve careful scrutiny and meaningful public participation and Tribal consultation. For these reasons, I respectfully request that the Mining and Minerals Division: -- Conduct a cumulative impacts analysis for uranium projects near Mount Taylor. -- Fully evaluate long-term water impacts and future climate conditions. -- Consider environmental justice concerns and engage in meaningful Tribal consultation. -- Hold a public hearing in the affected region. Until these concerns are fully evaluated and addressed, the Roca Honda proposal should not move forward.