The Center for Biological Diversity is touting their agreement with the US Forest Service over requiring a full EIS for uranium exploration in northern Arizona near the boundaries of the Grand Canyon park, but yesterday they filed suit in U.S. District Court against the Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne, Dept. of Interior, and BLM for reportedly defying a US House resolution calling for halting of exploration activities. [right, geometry of a typical breccia pipe in the Arizona Strip. Credit, Quaterra Resources, Inc.]
Interior argued that the House committee was 3 members short of having a quorum and therefore the resolution was not binding.
Since the resolution passed in June, companies filed four new mining claims and four notices for uranium exploration were accepted by BLM in the lands designated by the House committee.
The Grand Canyon Trust and the Western Mining Action Project joined CBD as plaintiffs.