CRAWFORD, Neb. (AP) — Federal regulators have granted a 10-year license extension for a uranium mine in the northern Panhandle of Nebraska.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission renewed the license for the Crow Butte Resources mine east of Crawford through Nov. 5, 2024.

Crow Butte’s parent company, Cameco Resources, filed for the 10-year renewal in 2007. The NRC allowed the operation to continue because of a huge backlog of license filings.

Environmental groups have opposed the operation, saying water carrying dissolved uranium has contaminated aquifers, including the Arikaree aquifer underneath the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, across the Nebraska state line in South Dakota.

The NRC said in announcing the extension on Thursday that “there would be no significant environmental impact from continuing operation for another 10 years.”