Black Mesa Trust vows to save sacred water
KYKOTSMOVI, (Ariz.), November 16, 2004
Black Mesa Trust directors, members, and supporters think they see light at the end of the tunnel-and it isn't produced at Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada. California Public Utility Commission Administrative Law Judge Carol Brown issued a proposed decision on the future disposition of Mohave on October 20, strongly suggesting that the proceeding, which has been on-going for two-and-a-half years, is nearing its end.
At issue is whether the 30-year-old 1580 MW coal-fired power plant, which uses Hopi and Navajo coal and water mined on Black Mesa by Peabody Energy, will continue operating after December 31, 2005. That date is significant for two reasons. First, it is the date by which Mohave owners must install pollution control equipment ordered by a 1999 Consent Decree that resulted from a lawsuit brought by environmental groups who charged that airborne pollutants issuing from the plant reduced visibility at the Grand Canyon. Second, it is the date by which the Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation have said that Peabody must stop pumping more than 4,000 acre feet a year of pristine N-aquifer water for the slurry pipeline from Black Mesa to Mohave. The water issue is particularly important since in February of this year Peabody applied to the U.S. Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement for a permanent mining permit for Black Mesa Mine. Peabody wants to combine its two mines on Black Mesa and is seeking a permanent mining permit for the enterprise.
In that application, Peabody requested permission to mine 30% more coal than it has in previous years, and to use 50% more water for the coal slurry operation. While Peabody says another water source (presumably the C-aquifer) is being investigated, the coal company explicitly refuses to waive its right to unlimited N-aquifer water negotiated in the original leases in the 1960s. Even if the C-aquifer plan can work, Peabody will still use 500 to 3,600 acre feet a year of N-aquifer water for its mines on Black Mesa.
Black Mesa Trust Executive Director Vernon Masayesva said, "The proposed CPUC decision, despite it vagueness, will end use of N-aquifer as the primary water source for coal slurry preparation and transportation. This is good news. This does not mean, however, that N-aquifer is secure. Peabody is planning to keep using N-aquifer for routine mining and back-up water beyond 2005. This is not acceptable. "Since 1989 the Hopi people have been saying NO to Peabody pumping, but to no avail. This time we intend to prevail to save our precious and sacred water once and for all," he added.
The proposed CPUC decision, which applies only to Southern California Edison (Edison), a California utility company that owns 56% of Mohave and operates the power plant, states, "The only determination this Commission can make at this point in time is to authorize Edison to continue funding the C-Aquifer studies, to fund a study of alternatives to Mohave, and to continue to work towards resolution of the water and coal issues so as to keep the 'Mohave open' option viable."
The C-aquifer, which underlies northeastern Arizona and is a source of water for several Arizona towns and cities in the region, has been proposed as an alternative source of water for the coal slurry. Both Hopi and Navajo own land overlying the aquifer south of Interstate 40, and the plan is to pump the water on tribally-owned land, build a pipeline from the well fields to the mines on Black Mesa, and construct spurs from that pipeline to provide water to Navajo chapters and Hopi villages along the route.
The Bureau of Reclamation is the lead agency in performing the feasibility studies to determine if the C-aquifer alternative is viable, given other municipal demands on the aquifer, National Environmental Protection Act and Endangered Species Act requirements, and the cost of the project, estimated at $100 million for the pipeline to the coal mines and an additional $100 million to provide water to the reservations.
The CPUC's proposed decision also directs Edison "to investigate and collect data on alternatives to Mohave, including proposals presented by WEC [Water and Energy Consulting of California, which represents the grassroots organizations Black Mesa Trust and To' Nizhoni Ani] and NRDC [Natural Resources Defense Council], and to work with other stakeholders to design this study and to jointly determine who should conduct the study."
WEC has proposed building two 500 MW solar power plants, one on Hopi and one on Navajo, using Stirling Energy technology. NRDC has proposed constructing an integrated gasification combined cycle plant (IGCC) on the reservations or in Nevada. Generating electricity on the reservations would be one way of mitigating the economic hardship that the tribes could endure when Mohave is shut down-temporarily or permanently-at the end of 2005.
"We, the Navajo and Hopi people, need to put Mohave behind us and work jointly and cooperatively in seeking ways to create a sustainable local economy and jobs. There are alternative ways to keep Black Mesa Mine operating without the need for a slurry pipeline," said Mr. Masayesva. The solar energy proposal put forward by Water & Energy Consulting would produce peaking power-energy needed in southern California at the highest-demand times of the day. Mohave provides baseload power-electricity produced at a steady rate-of which California is expected to have an excess in the foreseeable future.
WEC's Dr. Lon House provided comments to the CPUC on behalf of Black Mesa Trust and To' Nizhoni Ani on November 8.
Dr. House pointed out that while the CPUC acknowledged that the contract for cooling water for the plant would expire in 2026, it did not explicitly take into account the fact that the new coal mining permit for which Peabody has applied, even if it is granted, will also expire in 2026. Therefore, if Mohave closed for five years to install upgrades, make repairs, and resolve coal and water issues, and then re-opened, the plant would have a life of only 16 years.
Another crucial point in the November 8 comments is that the CPUC seems to be setting up the re-opening of Mohave and the development of other sources of energy production as mutually-exclusive alternatives. Dr. House noted that it will be very difficult to get an accurate analysis of the costs and benefits of the solar and IGCC proposals if the tribes see them as competing with Mohave. Dr. House suggested that other energy resources be considered complementary to, not exclusive of, the re-opening of Mohave.
The CPUC proposed decision reads, "The Commission's decision at this time is made without prejudice to the ultimate resolution of the future fate of Mohave," leaving open the possibility that if a new source of water for the slurry can be found and if the tribes can negotiate a coal-supply agreement with Peabody, that the plant would re-open in 2009 or 2010 and continue operating until 2026. 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.
