Protesters urge mining delay
Tribes team to push for hold on Black Mesa coal mining permit

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — A delegation of 35 Navajo and Hopi tribal members, including Hopi Tribal Chairman Ben Nuvamsa, met Monday with the U.S. Office of Surface Mining in Denver in hopes of delaying a record of decision on the proposed Black Mesa Project.

The record of decision is the final stage of the permitting process. Peabody Western Coal Co. is proposing to revise its “life-of-mine” operation and reclamation plans for its permitted Kayenta mining operation and incorporate into those plans surface facilities and coal-resource areas at the Black Mesa Complex. Black Mesa is regarded as a sacred mountain to the Navajo people.

The group of protesters want the record of decision delayed until President-elect Barack Obama’s new administration takes office. Navajo and Hopi representatives met for three hours with Office of Surface Mining officials and presented documents and petitions ratified by their communities urging the federal agency to suspend its decision.

“Although we represent two different tribes, we come today united to protect our shared land and water. Water is the life source to both our peoples, and Peabody has failed to understand this connection,” the group said in a unified statement. “If the Office of Surface Mining grants a permit to Peabody, our way of life and spiritual balance will be severely disrupted and altered.

“Currently, we are already suffering the damage this industry has caused over the past 30 years. We believe OSM has been negligent in fulfilling the (National Environmental Policy Act) process, and if OSM issues a record of decision, that would be a breach of the federal trust responsibility. United, we ask the Office of Surface Mining to stop the record of decision process.”

However, the group stated in a press release that Western Regional Director Al Klein told them the Environmental Impact Statement process is finalized, “the decision before us is very minor and we are on track to release it on Dec. 15.” Tribal representatives disagreed that it is a minor decision.

Outside the meeting with federal officials, 60 local supporters accompanied the rest of the Navajo and Hopi delegation to rally, protest, and show support. This included hanging a 10-by-16 foot banner that stated, “Navajo & Hopi Say NO COAL MINING!” from a nearby parking garage.

The Independent attempted to contact Dennis Winterringer and Richard Holbrook, spokesmen for the project, at the federal agency’s Western Regional Coordinating Center on Monday and Tuesday but received only automated messages.

Agency officials were asked whether they would consider suspending the record of decision, but the group said Klein told them, “We have a set of regulations, and when a company puts on paper in their application how they will fulfill the requirements, we do not have discretion. We have to grant them a permit. ... At this point we will not be changing the calendar of events on this decision.”

The decision comes in the midst of Hopi political turmoil.

Chairman Nuvamsa, representing the Hopi and Tewa people, said, “Due to lack of representation on the Hopi Tribal Council, the Village of Tewa was never afforded the opportunity to participate in any discussion of the Draft EIS as it applies to Hopi people and land.”

“Hopis believe that this time of year is a very sacred and sensitive time that prevents us from stepping outside our home area, because it’s the time of renewal for all life,” Racheal Povatah, a Hopi tribal member, said.

“We are taught not to be disruptive and confrontational during this time. It is such a big sacrifice for us to be here in Denver, but OSM continues to release critical decisions during this time; so many of our people have not been able to voice their grave concerns about this Black Mesa Project. We feel an obligation to our families, clans, and future, so we have come here despite our cultural restrictions.”

Navajo and Hopi citizens say they were given 45 days to comment on a revised Black Mesa Project draft EIS and were never offered a public commenting period. Requests for extensions were denied by the federal agency as well as requests for agency officials to come to Navajo and Hopi lands for question-and-answer meetings, the group said.

Black Mesa supplied coal to Mohave Generating Station near Laughlin, Nev., from 1970 until December 2005 when Mohave suspended operations. The draft document was distributed in November 2006 and Peabody submitted an amended request on July 2, 2008, to remove proposed activities associated with supplying coal to Mohave.

The Office of Surface Mining first offered a 60-day comment period when the draft document was announced in November 2006 but then extended the comment period 15 days through Feb. 6, 2007. In recognition of Hopi traditional religious ceremonies in January and February 2007, the agency accepted comments from practitioners of Hopi traditional religion through May 11, 2007. During that comment period, the agency received 17,873 comments.

After a one-year suspension of work on the Environmental Impact Statement, the Office of Surface Mining resumed work on the document and reopened the comment period on May 23, 2008, for 45 days, until July 7. It received an additional 1,247 submittals.

Under the amended request, Black Mesa Pipeline Inc. no longer plans to operate the coal-slurry preparation plant or to reconstruct the 273-mile-long coal-slurry pipeline. Until December 2005, approximately 4,400 acre-feet per year of Navajo-aquifer water were withdrawn from within Peabody’s lease for its coal operations. Under Alternative B, the preferred alternative since closure of Mohave, Peabody’s usage of N-aquifer water would be reduced to 1,236 acre feet per year.

“For decades coal and water from our lands have been taken to power Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Yet we have suffered the loss of our sole source drinking water to accommodate the over consumption of these areas,” said Wahleah Johns, co-director of Black Mesa Water Coalition.