Let your district members of the South Dakota House and Senate know your concerns and how important protecting water in the Black Hills is for the health and wellness of people, wildlife, outdoor recreation, hunting and fishing, and the state’s tourism dollars.
January 6th: Pre-Hearing on Uranium Drilling Near Craven Canyon
Last spring, “Clean” Nuclear Energy Corporation (CNEC) applied for an exploratory drilling permit on state lands adjacent to Craven Canyon, an inestimably important cultural and archeological area north of Edgemont, in Fall River County.
Dakota Rural Action worked with several allied organizations and local residents to educate the public and recruit individual intervenors to contest the case, which includes up to fifty drill holes through aquifers, and in an area that has numerous unreclaimed past drilling sites, raising the risk of water contamination. Thirty-five intervenors joined the case–including 31 individuals, two Tribal governments, and two organizations.
On Tuesday, January 6th, there will be a pre-hearing at Matthews Training Center in Pierre to discuss the Hearing Chair’s refusal to grant a change of venue request by Oglala Lakota & Fall River Counties, as well as a refusal to consider Fall River County’s uranium mining nuisance ordinance, and CNEC’s motion to quash discussion of treaty obligations on the unceded territory. The final hearing date and location will also be set.
You can listen in to the hearing, which starts at 11am CT/10am MT by dialing in to:1-605-679-7263 and entering passcode: 461974 74#

Protecting Craven Canyon from Uranium Exploration!
CNEC application for exploration of uranium on state lands adjacent to Craven Canyon is now a contested case. To go directly to those documents and notices for this case click HERE or https://danr.sd.gov/public/ccdocs.aspx?CCID=CCID123
Note: This link takes you to the SD DANR website for Contested Cases at https://danr.sd.gov/public/ContestedCase.aspx. There you can click on the highlighted Documents link under each cases listed.
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