Black Mesa Trust says Peabody's coal and water leases may be invalid

KYKOTSMOVI, (Ariz.) November 11, 2004

Black Mesa Trust today formally asked the Hopi Tribe-and by extension the Department of Interior-to investigate whether attorney John Boyden's duplicity in the mid-1960s invalidates the Tribe's coal and water leases with Peabody Coal. "Our worst fear is that Peabody over the past four decades 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. "This would constitute a massive illegal depletion of Hopi assets that the Department of Interior was and is required to hold in trust for the Hopi people."

After three blocked attempts to deliver the petition signed by Black Mesa Trust Board members to the Tribal Council, Mr. Masayesva today took it to Tribal headquarters and requested that it be read into the Council record.

"We're hearing this will happen in December," he said, "and we will be extremely disappointed if the Council does not act before December 15. We are asking the Tribe to hire attorneys who specialize in legal ethics to look at the events that took place during the negotiations for the original leases, and to stop all current negotiations with Peabody until this matter is resolved."

In the late 1960s, the Department of Interior attempted to investigate Mr. Boyden's actions, but closed the investigation in the mid-1980s for lack of evidence.

Since then, however, new evidence has come to light. Charles Wilkinson, a distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Colorado, discovered records showing that Mr. Boyden had represented Peabody in another matter at the same time as he was representing the Hopis in their negotiations with Peabody. Then in August of this year, Group Executive for Peabody's Southwest Operations John Wasik in a letter to Black Mesa Trust acknowledged that John Boyden did do work for Peabody in the 1960s, but "explained" that the work was done after the coal lease negotiations were approved."[However,] in November 1967, Mr. Boyden wrote a "Personal and Confidential" statement of work to Peabody 'for work done to date.' The statement of work went back three years to 1964 during the height of coal lease negotiations.

"Coal lease negotiations between Hopi and Peabody started on August 5, 1963, and continued through 1964 and 1965. Hopi Tribal Council approved the coal lease with Peabody on May 16, 1966," reads the petition. "We believe that the investigation we are requesting will also bolster the Tribe's position in the RICO [Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations] case against Peabody that it is currently pursuing with the Navajo Nation," said Mr. Masayesva.

"That lawsuit alleges that Peabody and the Department of the Interior colluded in the mid-1980s to give the Hopi and Navajo Tribes a lower coal royalty rate than they were entitled to receive. The lawsuit seeks to invalidate the 1987 lease amendments and asks for triple damages of more than half a billion dollars," he explained. 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.