New Mexico is still living with the damage from decades of uranium mining. Now a company wants to dig another uranium mine in the Cibola National Forest, and residents have a narrow window to weigh in.
The US Forest Service (USFS) has opened up a 30-day public comment period for a controversial mine proposed on 87 acres inside the Cibola National Forest. The project would also “disturb” 279 acres outside of USFS lands, according to the agency.
An environmental impact statement is expected in January 2028, according to the USFS documents.
Leaders with Energy Fuels, Inc., which has spent more than a decade seeking to establish the Roca Honda Mine in McKinley County, led a presentation at a recent legislative hearing in which they promised not to leave a “mess” behind, according to Source New Mexico.
While presenting to legislators on the interim Radioactive and Hazardous Waste Committee on Sept. 11, company officials acknowledged the long history of mining in the state and its negative impacts on the environment and public health, but promised to do better.
“We understand why the history shapes the questions people are asking about Roca Honda today,” said Nick Martin, an environmental manager at Energy Fuels, Source New Mexico reported. “We’re not here to tell anyone that history didn’t happen, or those concerns aren’t legitimate. But you have our commitment that we’re not going to just stop at acknowledgment.”
The company has submitted a reclamation plan with a 21-year timeline: 11 years of mining, followed by a decade of restoring the land.
How would the Roca Honda uranium mine affect land and water in New Mexico?
In a Substack post, Will Pattiz with More Than Just Parks details what the government means when it says that hundreds of acres will be “disturbed.”
“On Cibola National Forest, the company wants to ‘disturb’ about 87 acres for groundwater wells, ventilation shafts, pipelines, drilling, power lines and roads,” Pattiz writes. “Another 279 acres of state and private land would be torn up for the mine shafts, waste rock, ore storage, ponds, roads and a water-treatment plant.”
Pattiz also voices concerns with the vast amounts of groundwater that will be pumped out of the mine every day—an estimated average of 6.8 million gallons every day—to extract the uranium below.
How do I comment on the Roca Honda uranium mine?
He encouraged residents to engage during the public comment period and have their voices heard.
“Tell them to look hard at what pumping millions of gallons of groundwater every day would do to wells, springs and aquifers,” Pattiz urges his readers. “Tell them to examine radon exposure. Tell them to account for the uranium contamination already sitting across this landscape. Tell them you want to know exactly which protections for water, tribes and cultural resources would have to be waived or changed to make this mine fit…And tell them whether you think another uranium mine belongs here at all.”
Residents can submit comments through the Forest Service’s online form or mail them to the Cibola National Forest Supervisor’s Office. The public comment period for this project closes on Oct. 14 at 11:59 p.m. MST. Anyone who wants the right to formally object to the final decision later must make an identifiable comment now.
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