Hopi Tribal Council will hear new allegations about original Black Mesa coal and water leases
KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz., January 17, 2005
Black Mesa Trust representatives are encouraged by the Hopi Tribal Council's Jan. 5 request that three months from now the Trust present to the Council new evidence of John Boyden's alleged double-dealing back in the 1960s when the original leases for coal and water mining on Black Mesa were negotiated between Peabody Coal and the Council.
"The Hopi Tribal Council has nothing to lose and much to gain. Perhaps this is our last opportunity to try to correct a monumental injustice perpetrated on us by our lawyer [John Boyden], Peabody Coal, and our trustee the U.S. government. I want the future generations of Hopi to know that we tried to correct an injustice, that we didn't ignore it and simply walk away," said Leonard Selestewa, Black Mesa Trust president.
Last November Black Mesa Trust presented a petition to the Council asking that all current negotiations with Peabody about possible future coal mining, coal washing, groundwater use, and transportation of coal from Black Mesa Mine to Mohave Generating Station be suspended until the Council's attorneys—and by extension the Department of the Interior—could look into allegations against John Boyden, the attorney who, with the approval of DOI, represented the Hop Tribe in the negotiations.
“Our worst fear is that Peabody has mined 400 million tons of coal and 40 billion gallons of unrenewable drinking water—natural resources of which the Hopi people are stewards—based on leases that are not valid because the Hopis’ lawyer, John Boyden, was working for Peabody at the same time he was supposedly representing us,” said Black Mesa Trust Executive Director Vernon Masayesva in November.
At the beginning of Jan. 5 Council meeting, one Councilman said he was prepared to make a motion to dismiss the petition because the issues raised had been settled. In addition, Councilman Phillip R. Quochytewa, Sr. argued that the Council should not pursue the allegations because the statute of limitations had expired and, in any case, John Boyden died several years ago and his firm no longer exists.
Black Mesa Trust argued that they were bringing these concerns to the Council—and possibly to court— on different grounds. "We are seeking remedies under the legal doctrines governing equity, not common law where the statue-of-limitation laws strictly apply," Mr. Masayesva told the Council. He pointed out that the lawsuits leading to the multi-state tobacco settlement also dealt with abuses that took place decades ago and that no statute of limitations had stopped that case.
"The history of the 1966 Peabody lease shows conclusively that the lease was obtained through fraud," said Mr. Masayesva. "I read into the {Hopi Tribal Council] record portions of [Group Executive for Peabody's Southwest Operations ]John Wasik’s August 2004 letter in which he denied that John Boyden worked for Peabody during the period when the 1966 lease was being negotiated.
"And I also read into the record Mr. Boyden’s personal and confidential letter to Peabody requesting payment for expenses incurred as a result of work done for Peabody from 1964 to 1967. The first statement of billing was dated November 24, 1964 and he continued billing Peabody through 1967," said Mr. Masayesva.
In addition, Mr. Masayesva noted that Black Mesa Trust has given the Tribal Council copies of documents including minutes of Mr. Boyden's presentation to the Utah Water Board in which he introduced a Peabody vice president and said that he was at that meeting on behalf of Peabody. Mr. Boyden talked about the opportunity to secure rights to Indian water, and Mr. Masayesva said he suspects that the granting of rights to Peabody was one outcome of this presentation. It is the N-aquifer that Peabody has been using for its coal mining and coal slurry operations on Black Mesa for the past 30 years and which it wants to continue using as a back-up to the C-aquifer pipeline, should that be developed.
Black Mesa Trust contends that Mr. Boyden's conflict-of-interest while negotiating the leases may make those leases—which are the basis of today's relationship between the coal company and the Tribe—invalid. "After almost seven hours of discussion," said Mr. Masayesva, "Councilman Jerry Sekayumptewa, Sr. said that he would not put forward his motion to dismiss the petition on condition that Black Mesa Trust return to the Council in three months with new information about Mr. Boyden's alleged duplicity in his dealings with the Tribe. "This is a very significant development," said Mr. Masayesva, and Black Mesa Trust is pleased that after hearing us out the Council decided to ask us to present our concerns formally in April.
" Black Mesa Trust is a grassroots organization dedicated to preserving the N-aquifer for future generations of Hopi and Navajo children and to working for the preservation and equitable distribution of fresh water resources around the world.
