Desert Rock right of way mulled

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The Resources Committee will consider a resolution this week to approve rights of way for the Desert Rock Energy Project and related infrastructure.

Developers Diné Power Authority and Sithe Global Power already have received approval for the lease, tax and water agreements, according to DPA General Manager Steven Begay. Rights of way would be assigned to Desert Rock Energy Co. LLC and permitted assignees. The legislation is sponsored by Resources Chairman George Arthur and member Norman John II.

“The only piece missing is the rights of way for the water, the road, the transmission line, and then anything else like waterlines, smaller distribution lines, or fiber-optic lines.

Those are all included in the right of way request,” Begay said last week from Las Vegas.

“We need the rights of way to get all this stuff to connect and build the plant, run the plant, and send the power to market via the transmission lines,” he said.

Begay has been presenting details of the rights of way during work sessions to various committees of the Navajo Nation Council and is hoping to do a work session before the full Council prior to presentation of the resolution.

“Twenty minutes isn’t enough time to go through the entire right of way, so we’re trying to have work sessions ahead of the regular meeting,” he said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved an air permit for the project, however, it currently is being appealed by environmental groups and the state of New Mexico. URS, a company out of Phoenix, is finishing up on the final environmental impact statement for the project, according to Begay.

“Once that’s finished, the final EIS (environmental impact statement) will be done and there would be a record of decision on that as well, and similar to air permit it will probably get appealed by the opposition as well,” Begay said. “The final EIS will probably be completed in spring 2009 and the appeal process probably will go through the spring and summer, so by end of summer hopefully we’ll have the final decision on the EIS. The air permit, I think will get through the appeal process this spring.”

Begay said the air permit which regulates emissions from the proposed 1,500 megawatt coal-fired plant is critical. “If you don’t get that you have no project. I don’t think they’ll be successful in stopping the plant,” he said. He believes the permit will be issued but with some additional conditions to combat global warming. “We already have the emissions controls and they’re the lowest in the country for any plant.”

They also are trying to address global warming issues. “It just it takes money, and Congress is not putting money behind their mouth, I think. So if they put money behind what they’re saying, this will be a pilot project for carbon capture.”

A lot of that technology is new and is being experimented at a small scale, according to Begay, “so to switch it from a small scale to a supercritical 750 megawatt unit, we’ll have to pilot test the design.”

Though developers are having trouble getting approval for the two 750 megawatt units, they already are looking at a third unit and Begay said that unit could be their carbon sequestration pilot project. “I think we can do Unit 3 on our own, the Navajo Nation, once we get one and two going.”

DPA also is working on developing wind energy with Citizens Energy as well as the Navajo Transmission Project. Resources Vice Chairman Curran Hannon said recently that he doesn’t believe DPA should be working on wind projects at the moment. “DPA doesn’t have enough funding to be doing this. They need to be concentrating on Desert Rock.”

Chairman Arthur expressed the same concern. “I don’t think they have the time, finances or capability to do it,” he said.