Red Lodge Clearinghouse

VANE had drilled exploratory wells at three test sites since the lawsuit was filed last month, but the judge's order immediately halted the operations.

The restraining order cannot permanently stop exploration, but the judge indicated the environmental groups would prevail at the hearing, forcing the Forest Service to conduct a full environmental assessment. The assessment would consider the mines' proximity to the park, the controversy about uranium mining and the combined effects of the proposed drilling with four other uranium exploration projects in the area.

When the Forest Service initially approved the mining plan, it said drilling on public lands was accepted under the 1872 Mining Law and qualified for only a minimal environmental review.

"She basically told the Forest Service that uranium mining and exploration near the Grand Canyon, two miles (3.2 kilometers) from the park, is not routine, not noncontroversial and they misused the categorical exclusion," said Sandy Bahr, conservation outreach director for the Arizona chapter of the Sierra Club, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit (AP/International Herald Tribune, April 5).

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