Bureau weighs Desert Rock

Power plant draws air-quality concerns

By John R. Crane, Cortez Journal , 07/19/2007

The public-comment meeting on the Desert Rock Energy Project's draft environmental impact statement began at 10 a.m. Wednesday, and by 12:30 p.m. at least 20 Four Corners residents spoke passionately against the proposal.

David Nez, a Navajo who lives about 10 miles from the proposed Desert Rock site on Navajo Nation land, said pollution from the nearby Four Corners Power Plant and San Juan Generating Station makes him cough and causes his eyes to burn.

A new power plant would be just another part of a long history of oppression endured by American Indians, Nez said.

"First it was genocide ... forced assimilation," he said. "Why don't they put that in the environmental impact statement? That has been impacting us for over 100 years. My people are sick. They are sick with health. The elitists at the top are sick with greed."

Nez's speech generated standing applause from opponents at the hearing held at Ute Mountain Casino's conference room. At least 80 people attended, with 45 signed up to air their opinions.

The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs limited individual speeches to three minutes due to the scheduled three-hour time frame. But as the clock approached 1 p.m., only about half the registered speakers had weighed in.

Houston-based Sithe Global and the Navajo Nation's Din`E9 power authority hope to build a 1,500-megawatt coal-fired power plant about 30 miles southwest of Farmington, N.M. The plant would provide electricity to meet growing energy demand in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

The purpose of the draft environmental impact statement hearings is to address the project's potential environmental, social and construction impacts before the final environmental impact statement is released.

The hearing will help federal agencies, including the BIA and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, make an informed decision whether to approve Desert Rock.

The final environmental impact statement is expected to be completed between August and December, with a decision whether to approve Desert Rock in December.

Alternative actions include no plant construction, or building a smaller, 550-megawatt power plant.

Opponents pointed to a myriad of problems another power plant in the region would cause, including poorer air and water quality, outside investors profiting from a pollution-causing project, exacerbated health problems and degradation of cultural landmarks.

Four Corners residents, including Navajo Nation members, will suffer while clogged, faraway cities will benefit from extra power and stakeholders will reap millions, opponents said. Also, the federal government needs to clamp down on emissions at Four Corners Power Plant in New Mexico.

Residents mentioned the yellow and brown clouds floating south of Cortez, compromising views of Shiprock. Several opponents also said the 60-day comment period for the draft environmental impact statement is too short, and should be expanded at least another two months.

During one comment, a Mancos resident rhetorically wanted to know why Navajo Nation leaders are embracing Desert Rock.

"I ask the Navajo Nation, 'What is your vision for this Earth?'" said Silvia Fleitz.

If Desert Rock developers say the plant is so safe, maybe they should live next to it, Fleitz said.

Frank Maisano, Sithe Global spokesman, dismissed many of the opponents' comments.

"Very little about it is about technical aspects or the EIS," Maisano said during a break at the hearing.

Maisano said labor-union workers and Navajos who need jobs would disagree with the speakers. Maisano said he lives within 15 miles of two coal-fired power plants in the Annapolis, Md., area.

"I use that power to run my home, and I pay affordable prices because of that," he said.

The plant will use 85 percent less water than other plants toward pollution controls to keep emissions at a minimum, Maisano said.

Jodi Foran, a Montezuma County resident, said existing power plants' impacts on local health should be taken into account in the environmental impact statement. There are no such available data for this area, she said. Additionally, potential health effects would be compounded by the region's high altitude.

"There is a point at which the human body cannot overcome pollution at this altitude," Foran said.

Opponents also pointed to flaws in the draft environmental impact statement, which says an eight-mile radius around in the plant would be heavily impacted, with outlying areas less affected. Julia Hesse, a member of the San Juan Citizens Alliance in Cortez, compared the conclusion to saying, "If you pee in the pool, it'll stay in one spot."

McElmo Canyon resident Penny Welch said there is no guarantee Desert Rock will bring hundreds of jobs to Navajos or reap millions of dollars for stakeholders. No electricity will come to Cortez or the Navajo Nation. Energy will go to large cities, and the region around the Desert Rock plant will get nothing but pollution, Welch said.

"Its net effects will be negative," she said.