Trump's mining frenzy drives water fears in Utah

E&E News

17 hours ago

SAN JUAN COUNTY, Utah — President Donald Trump's push for a nationwide mining boom is rattling landowners in this remote and water-stricken part of southeastern Utah, one of the driest states in the nation.
About 40 miles east of the sprawling Bears Ears National Monument among the rust-colored mesas, gorges, canyons and cliffs near the La Sal Mountains, ranchers and owners of a bed and breakfast are girding for Lisbon Valley Mining to expand a nearby open-pit copper mine and other operations on more than 1,100 acres of public land.
This part of the state is considered prized conservation land among environmental groups and outdoor recreation enthusiasts. It's also seeing an uptick in bids to expand existing mines while other projects move quickly through a federal review process, bringing with them the prospect for more jobs — as well as intensified fights over dwindling water resources and fragile landscapes.
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David Roccaforte, a retired physician who co-owns the 3 Step Hideaway bed and breakfast about 4 miles away from the Lisbon Valley copper mine, worries the expanding operation could contaminate private wells that he and his neighbors say they use for drinking water and ranching purposes and are connected to the Burro Canyon aquifer. They're calling on EPA to reject a state-approved plan to exempt that aquifer from federal protection and allow Lisbon Valley Mining to inject mining fluids into the aquifer. Last summer, the state agency resubmitted a request for an exemption, this time with a smaller footprint that exempted one well.
'When an aquifer gets exempted, it's sacrificed. It can no longer be used for drinking water,' Roccaforte said. 'Mining is a very water-intensive endeavor, and there's just not a lot of water here.'
Proponents of mining projects like Lisbon Valley argue copper more domestic production is a necessity as the nation transitions to electric vehicles and renewables and moves away from supply chains that China dominates. It's one of the many projects Trump is advancing as he opens up more public lands, fast-tracks permitting, imposes tariffs on foreign imports of copper, and pushes for both copper and uranium to be added to the list of critical minerals to allow for faster permitting and more funding.
The copper project is one of many on Trump's radar moving through environmental reviews at the Bureau of Land Management and EPA, which is now considering the aquifer exemption. Brigit Hirsch, a spokesperson for EPA, said in an email that any exemption request must show that any aquifer serving as source of drinking water will not be affected. 'The Lisbon Valley Copper Mine request is a priority for the Trump Administration,' Hirsch wrote.
And mining companies maintain it can be done safely. Larry Giegerich, Lisbon Valley Mining's chief operating officer, said in an email that the company is 'committed to meeting regulatory requirements and obtaining and maintaining permits,' and has been working with all federal and state agencies that oversee its expansion plans. The project, he said, will accelerate the nation's independence and ensure the U.S. can meet increasing demand.
As Trump officials push a 'mine, baby, mine' strategy, Republican-led Utah is responding with fervor. Industry groups in the state are assembling a list of projects for federal government approval while the Legislature moves to make the state more pro-mining, including offering up targeted tax incentives for opening new mines, rehabilitating older ones or producing new minerals at existing sites.
'Utah is absolutely one of the most favorable jurisdictions for mining anywhere in the world,' said Brian Somers, president of the Utah Mining Association.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, is pushing a bill that would add copper and uranium to a list of minerals considered 'critical' for economic and national security, which puts them in line for more investment and streamlined permitting. They said that boost could bring big business to Utah, the nation's second-largest producer of copper. The state's mining industry was responsible for close to $4 billion in revenue last year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Companies in San Juan County are also exploring for lithium-rich brines.
Roccaforte's property sits 5 miles from Anfield Energy Resources' Velvet-Wood uranium and vanadium mine. It's the first project the Trump administration fast-tracked earlier this year, completing an environmental review in just 11 days. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum touted the approval as 'mineral security in action.'
But Steve Bloch, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance's legal director, said he's concerned the Trump administration is egging companies on to build more mines by undercutting environmental laws and rules, and noted that it's happening as Trump and Republicans mull moves to shrink Bears Ears and the Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, something the president did during his first stint in office.
Yet Bloch also noted that market conditions — not state or federal intervention — will ultimately decide whether mining projects across the state come to fruition, and he's skeptical that a full-fledged boom is on the horizon.
'I am concerned, but I'm circumspect,' said Bloch. 'We've seen the sort of boom-bust cycle come through Utah so many times.'
'A resurgence'
San Juan County has long experienced the ups and downs of the mining sector — especially for copper, uranium and vanadium — and the anxiety over water and pollution that brings.
Since the 1800s, places like Lisbon Valley boomed with copper mining while the discovery of rich seams of uranium put Moab on the map as the self-proclaimed 'uranium capital of the world,' fueled by demand for weapons and reactor fuel.
In those early days, the mining industry and Utah officials didn't realize how dangerous uranium ore was, said Kendall Laws, legal counsel for the Utah Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office.
Piles of refined uranium, or yellowcake, were sometimes left outside near a now-closed mill in the 1950s and '60s, and it wasn't uncommon for clothes hanging outside to be tinged yellow by the toxic dust, depending on which direction the wind blew. San Juan County, he said, became a hot spot for cancer. All of that has changed, said Laws, and state agencies are now focused on making sure land is reclaimed after mining activities. What's left has been remediated and is now a golf course, Laws said.
'In the Cold War boom, the goal was to get it out however you could,' Laws said. 'But people died, they didn't wear proper clothes — people were digging it out by hand.'
The boom of the early days fizzled in the1980s as uranium prices cratered, construction of nuclear reactors slowed and the Cold War came to an end. Today, most of the uranium ore used in U.S. reactors is imported from Canada, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Australia.
But things are on the upswing, said miners watching prices for uranium climb as Trump pushes policy to juice domestic production. 'You've just seen a resurgence on all things critical minerals,' said Mark Chalmers, president and CEO of Energy Fuels.
Local officials in Blanding, the county's largest city, are excited about the buzz.
Trent Herring, the city's former manager, said Blanding's 3,400 residents mainly rely on government jobs, the health care industry and tourists passing through on their way to Bears Ears, Monument Valley or Moab. The Lisbon Valley employs about 100 people, he said, a number he hopes will triple in the coming years.
'Fifty to 100 jobs is huge, for the economy it would be huge for Blanding,' Herring said. 'We don't want to see 10,000 people come in, nor do I think we ever will, but 100 new people is big deal in a town like Blanding.'
Somers with the Utah Mining Association said some of the highest-paying jobs in San Juan County are those tied to mining. He also blamed the many boom-and-bust cycles that have given Utah whiplash on countries like China, which has manipulated supply, demand and pricing.
Blanding is already home to Energy Fuels' White Mesa mill, the nation's only fully licensed and operating conventional uranium mill, where uranium ore is processed into a concentrate that's later used to make nuclear reactor fuel.
Energy Fuels is planning to expand and ramp up uranium and vanadium mines throughout the county, said Chalmers, and is already producing light rare earths at commercial scale at the White Mesa mill while nearing pilot-scale production of heavy rare earths. Chalmers also said that ore from Velvet-Wood mine could be shipped to the White Mesa mill to be processed.
But the mill and other projects have stirred worries about water and pollution.
The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and environmental organizations have long raised concerns about possible contamination of the Navajo Aquifer, and transportation of uranium ore to the mill has been an ongoing point of contention between Energy Fuels and the Navajo Nation. Earlier this year, the tribe reached an agreement with the company on the transport of fuel and cleanup. The tribes did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Herring said Blanding already provides water services to the White Mesa mill from its recapture reservoir, which is essentially gray water. The city is in talks to provide the White Mesa community of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe with potable water, and already provides water to western portions of the Navajo nation.
Blanding's water situation, he said, is better than others, and the city has undergone efforts to encourage residents to use less and to be more water conscious. But Herring acknowledges concerns remain, especially when talking about using more water.
'Our top priority is water,' Herring said. 'Our power system, which we own, we feel like is ready for growth. We're ready for natural gas realm, and there's plenty room in our wastewater lagoons. [Fresh] water is the one utility that always will have a question mark.'
'True backstop'
The Trump administration isn't just the catalyst for more mining activity. Agencies under the president's watch are also the last line of defense for some residents in Utah's lower Lisbon Valley worried about water.
That includes Roccaforte and his neighbors, who are calling on EPA to reject an aquifer exemption for Lisbon Valley Mining. The company wants to expand its open-pit copper mine in the lower Lisbon Valley using in-situ recovery. It's a process that involves injecting a leaching solution into the copper ore deposit and then pumping the copper-rich solution back above ground for processing.
In 2022, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality approved an underground injection control well permit for the company, but said EPA had to sign off on exempting the Burro Canyon Aquifer from the Safe Drinking Water Act before mining could begin.
At the same time, Utah officials submitted an aquifer exemption request to EPA for final approval. In that request, the state concluded that the Burro Canyon Aquifer didn't qualify as a source of drinking water because 'it does not currently supply any public water system and does not contain a sufficient quantity of water to supply a public water system.' Officials with the state said they do not track private well quality.
EPA in a 2024 letter viewed by POLITICO's E&E News rejected Utah's request, and said Lisbon Valley Mining hadn't shown the mine would be commercially viable.
According to a public dashboard where federal officials track the project, EPA is slated to decide on the aquifer exemption in 2026.
Hirsch, a spokesperson for EPA, confirmed the state issues those permits and that the BLM is reviewing a request from Lisbon Valley. Hirsch said any request must show there's no 'potential for the specified aquifer to serve as a source of drinking water.'
Somers with the Utah Mining Association defended the state's review of the exemption. 'The state does a very good job in following the authority that they have,' said Somers. 'EPA has to follow the law.'
But residents and landowners in lower Lisbon Valley refute the state's position and have told officials at EPA and the BLM that they are currently using the Burro Canyon Aquifer for drinking water and ranching purposes. They also contend that pulling more water from a drought-stricken area is unreasonable and have raised concerns about the possibility that mining chemicals could leach into the Navajo Aquifer — a critical source of drinking water — that sits below the Burro Canyon Aquifer.
Scott Stevenson, who co-owns the 3 Step Hideaway, said wells in the lower Lisbon Valley would be just hundreds of feet from the exempted area.
'Our place is going to be in an industrial zone, and no one is going to want to come. … It's a place of respite,' he said. 'The mine keeps moving down the valley because the aquifer is being depleted up farther towards their site.'
Michelle Fein, an attorney representing Roccaforte and his neighbors, said EPA was responsive to her clients' concerns under the Biden administration, but she's worried that could change given the Trump administration's focus on truncating reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act.
'It's like a perfect confluence of things. You have a really pro-mining state with a really pro-mining federal government,' said Fein. 'In the past, in Utah, the true backstop for environmental protection was the federal government, and that may be gone now.'