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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Water experts are telling Congress that uranium mining near the Grand Canyon would court disaster.
Witnesses told a House panel Tuesday that the risk of polluting the Colorado River is high if mining is permitted. They want lawmakers to make permanent a decision announced this week by the Obama administration that temporarily bars the filing of new mining claims on nearly 1 million acres.
Hydrologist David Kreamer says it is "unreasonable" to believe uranium mining doesn't risk polluting streams and groundwater that feed the river.
Kay Brothers, the deputy general manager of a Nevada water utility, says if a mining disaster should occur, nearly all of Southern Nevada would be left without water supplies.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
