Black Mesa Trust urges grassroots people to attend OSM conferences on Peabody mining application in Northern Arizona

KYKOTSMOVI, (Ariz.), December. 6, 2004

Black Mesa Trust President Leonard Selestewa is urging grassroots Hopis and Navajos to attend the informal conferences that the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) will hold in Northern Arizona during the first two weeks of January, 2005. The conferences, scheduled for January 3-13 (see schedule below), are being held as part of the process that OSM has undertaken to evaluate Peabody Coal's new mining permit application for the Black Mesa Mine.

"Peabody's plan to continue to use the N-aquifer as the source of water for the coal slurry, the uncertainties about the proposed coal washing facility, the fact that Peabody's water impoundments on Black Mesa are destroying our Moencopi farmers' ability to grow crops, the lack of a bond to protect against damage to our groundwater, and the dishonest dealings of the Hopis' lawyer during the 1960s negotiations with Peabody are just some of the issues we must take to the Office of Surface Mining during these conferences," said Mr. Selestewa.

"We must make sure the Department of Interior understands what is at stake here-our sole source of water for our Hopi people now and the generations of our people yet to come! Since the day the mines on Black Mesa opened our traditional ways and values have been threatened, and each day brings further damage and degradation to our sacred lands and our way of life. And this goes to the heart of our religious and cultural heritage as Hopi people!" he continued.

Peabody's mine permit application does not preserve the N-aquifer or stop pumping of the aquifer by the end of 2005 as demanded by the tribes and by Black Mesa Trust. Under the terms of the application, in which Peabody strongly and repeatedly asserts that it has a legal right to pump as much N-aquifer water as it wants for as long as it wants, the N-aquifer would be used for the coal slurry operation until an alternative water source is available sometime after 2008. The problem is that there is no guarantee that the alternative water source-the C-aquifer-will be shown to be a feasible option or that the C-aquifer pipeline will ever be built.

Between 2005 and 2008, Peabody-the second largest user of water in Northern Arizona after the City of Flagstaff-will need to pump 32% more water from the aquifer than it is now taking to move enough coal to feed a more efficient Mohave. And even if the C-aquifer pipeline is built and usable after 2008, Peabody still plans to use between 500 and 3,600 acre feet a year of N-aquifer water as emergency backup and for maintenance, almost as much as the 4,000 acre feet a year the coal company is now taking to slurry coal from Black Mesa to the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada, Mr. Selestewa explained.

In its application, Peabody proposes to build a coal washing facility on Black Mesa in order to provide the quality coal that the Mohave owners demand. This facility, said Mr. Selestewa, is a totally unknown factor. The application does not include the data that would be needed to assess the potential environmental or human health impacts of the facility, nor does it state how much water the facility would use. It does state that Peabody is planning to dispose of the highly toxic waste from the coal washing facility into unlined pits at the mine site on Black Mesa, but the application does not indicate what safety measures would be implemented to protect surface water, groundwater, land, plants, animals, or humans from the waste.

Another critical issue is that of the water impoundments on Black Mesa.

"It has always bothered me, my dad [Elliott Selestewa], and my uncle Gilbert Naseyouma that Peabody is allowed to impound our water at the mine site, thus reducing the flow of Moencopi Wash to the point where it does not flow most of the year. We have seen the devastating effects of the existing impoundments to the wetlands, wildlife, plants and farmers downstream who rely on and depend on the water for their survival-and now Peabody wants to build more impoundments, even though we think the existing impoundments may not be legal. They are permitted by the Army Corps of Engineers under what is called a 'Nationwide Permit,' and a recent court case in another part of the country has invalidated the use of a Nationwide Permit where the activity permitted affects surface water," Mr. Selestewa said.

The question of a bond for damage to water resources is another that Black Mesa Trust believes is critical. As Peabody's permits now stand, the coal company has posted no bond to ensure that the tribes' water sources are not damaged or diminished by the mining activities. "Right now," said Mr. Selestewa, "we have no recourse at all if Peabody has permanently damaged the aquifer-nor does Peabody have any financial incentive to avoid damage to the quantity or quality of water that is available from the N-aquifer. Already we have compelling evidence that the drawdown of the aquifer has significantly reduced the water level in wells in the area and that the aquifer may be collapsing.

" Then there is the question about whether the coal and water leases were ever valid in the first place. The Hopi Tribe's lawyer in the negotiations with Peabody in the 1960s was working for Peabody at the same time, a clear conflict of interest that may mean the last forty years of mining Native American resources on Black Mesa is based on a fraud perpetrated by the coal company, attorney John Boyden, and the Department of Interior.

Other issues that must be examined include land subsidence (sinking) and other land disturbance on Black Mesa that may possibly be caused by overdrafting the N-aquifer, the fact that the industrial use of groundwater is ka'Hopi and is disrespectful to the water that plays a critical role in the traditional cultures of the Hopi and Navajo people, the impacts of pumping the C-aquifer on major population centers in the Black Mesa area and on the Hopi and Navajo Reservations, and the fact that the current state of Peabody's application makes it impossible for laypeople to use-Peabody assumes that the reader has access to its earlier application, the instructions for inserting new sections into that application are extremely difficult to follow, and the grassroots people who this mining permit application will affect most seriously have limited resources to track and comment on complex regulatory applications.

The informal conferences, at which OSM and other federal agencies will listen to comments regarding Peabody Western Coal Company's pending application for the Black Mesa and Kayenta Mine Life-of-Mine Plan Extension are scheduled as follows:

Saint Michaels, Arizona, on Monday, January 3, 2005, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Saint Michaels Chapter House on Indian Route 12 about 2 miles south and west of Window Rock, Arizona.

Forest Lake, Arizona, on Tuesday, January 4, 2005, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Forest Lake Chapter House on Navajo Route 41 about 20 miles north of Pinon, Arizona.

Kayenta, Arizona, on Tuesday, January 4, 2005, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Kayenta Chapter House on Highway 163 at the intersection with Navajo Route 6485, Kayenta, Arizona.

Kykotsmovi, Arizona, on Wednesday, January 5, 2005, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Community Center, Kykotsmovi, Arizona.

Leupp, Arizona, on Thursday, January 6, 2005, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Leupp Chapter House on Navajo Route 15, Leupp, Arizona.

Flagstaff, Arizona, on Thursday, January 13, 2005, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Coconino County Board Room, 219 E. Cherry, Flagstaff, Arizona.

A letter to the 104 people who requested informal conferences was sent by OSM the week of November 29, 2004. A public notice of the informal conferences will be placed in newspapers and broadcast on the radio