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Sacred Mountain Threatened
    zReportage.com Story of the Week # 443: Sacred Mountain Under Threat - Launched October 16, 2012 - Full multimedia experience: audio, stills, text and or video: Go to http://www.zReportage.com to see more - The deep blue sweep of 11,301-foot Mt. Taylor looming west of Albuquerque is the origin of
the only permanent water source in west-central New Mexico. Its high-elevation snows feed springs and the San Jose River. For the last four years, it has also been the source of a bitter quarrel between two longstanding traditions - Indian tribes that have lived in and used the area for centuries and heirs to land grants handed down by the king of Spain in the 1700s. Mount Taylor sits atop one of the richest known reserves of uranium ore in the country. Current high demand for the ore has resulted in a renewed interest in mining the uranium deposits beneath the sacred peak. Much of the area is governed by the 1872 Mining Law, which permits mining regardless of its impact on cultural or natural resources. Uranium mining may contaminate or impair the primary water source for Acoma Sky City, the oldest inhabited community in the United States. The New Mexico Supreme Court has so far, given no indication of how they will rule. Or when.
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