A human burial ground reportedly has been disturbed at Grand Canyon National Park/Rebecca Latson file

A burial ground has been disturbed at Grand Canyon National Park during work on the Transcanyon Pipeline, according to reports Thursday.

“The park is currently in the process right now of taking initial steps to secure and protect the site and undergo tribal consultations with associated tribes of Grand Canyon," Joelle Baird, the park spokesperson, told KNAU radio station.

The report did not provide any details of the disturbance, such as where in the canyon it was located or how extensive it was.

An email to the park was not immediately answered.

The Park Service is replacing the pipeline because it is beyond its expected useful life, experiences frequent failures, and requires expensive and continuous inner canyon maintenance work to repair leaks. Since 2010, there have been more than 85 major breaks in the pipeline that have disrupted water delivery. Costs for a single isolated break often exceed $25,000. Conditions in the inner canyon include extreme terrain and high temperatures, which increase risk to employees during repair operations. The system also supplies water for fire suppression for all South Rim and inner canyon facilities, including more than 800 buildings listed in the National Register of Historic Places. 

Originally built in the 1960s, the pipeline is a 12 ½-mile waterline that provides the potable water for all facilities on the South Rim and inner canyon facilities within the park. The rehabilitation project will move the water intake for the system from Roaring Springs to Bright Angel Creek near Phantom Ranch. This location will greatly reduce the length of the pipeline and eliminate a portion of the current waterline north of Phantom Ranch that experiences the most frequent failures. The water intake at Roaring Springs will continue to provide water to the North Rim.