Desert
Rock critics flood final hearing
By Jason Begay, Navajo
Times
WINDOW ROCK, July 26, 2007
Even before the first speaker addressed
the crowd in the Navajo Nation Museum auditorium Wednesday,
it was clearly evident which way the day was headed.
During the final of 10 public hearings
on the Desert Rock Energy Project draft environmental
impact statement, opponents and protestors set up booths
and a music tent outside with hand-painted signs challenging
the project.
By noon, it was hard to find anyone
not wearing a "Desert Rock No" sticker on
their shoulder.
"It's time to find another alternative
instead of coal burning," said Darlene Brimley
to the applause of the 100 or so people in attendance.
"I went to the Grand Canyon and you could see the
pollution in the air. It shouldn't be that way."
Brimley, a Durango, Colo., resident,
was the first of 50 speakers who signed up to express
their concerns about the proposed power plant. The hearing
was conducted by the BIA as part of the federally required
evaluation of environmental impacts from the massive
project.
The EIS is a 1,400-page document that
purports to thoroughly analyze how the 1,500-megawatt
power generating plant would affect the surrounding
environment. The BIA must first review the public comments
before approving the final EIS, one of the last hurdles
before the project can begin construction.
Each speaker was allotted three minutes
to comment, and the BIA provided Navajo translators.
A court reporter was also located nearby to take further
comments.
Most of the speakers who addressed the
Window Rock hearing came from areas nearer the proposed
plant site. They hailed from northwestern New Mexico
including Farmington - bracketed by two coal-fired power
plants - and from Burnham, 30 miles to the south, where
Desert Rock would be located.
Many indicated they had also attended
several other hearings on the EIS.
The speakers questioned the validity
of the draft study, which states that the project, particularly
during the construction phase, would affect the environment
and pose health risks, but no more than allowed by federal
standards.
"This huge project will impact
all of us for a long time to come," countered Sarah
Staber of Mancos, Colo. "The EIS is not adequate
as far as its scientific background."
Speakers like Staber said the document
had a pro-business mindset that ignored both health
and cultural aspects.
"The EIS is looking at this like
a company," said Ray Bowman of Burnham. "All
they want is money."
One of the more common concerns expressed
during the hearing was that the draft EIS did not mention
how the Desert Rock project would use water from the
San Juan River Basin, as pointed out in local media.
However, Desert Rock backers say the
project will not use water from the river basin. Rather,
they propose to pump groundwater from the Morrison Formation,
a water-bearing stone layer deep beneath the surface
of the land.
In fact, commercial use of the San Juan
River is federally limited to agriculture and irrigation.
"It would take Congress to revise
the law to open up usage for industrial purposes,"
said Nathan Plagens, vice president of Desert Rock Energy
Co., a subsidiary established by Sithe Global Power
of Houston to handle Desert Rock.
Although comments were supposed to focus
on Desert Rock, many reflected the deep divide between
Window Rock and the rest of the reservation. Speakers
went off on tangents, attacking the tribal government
and questioning why funds are not sent to the smaller
chapters.
"We have all of the council delegates
over here with fat wallets," said Pauline Gilmore
of Burnham. "And here I am hauling my own water."
Some Navajo Nation residents pointed
out the noticeable absence of any tribal government
representatives at the Window Rock hearing.
The Navajo Nation Council voted to approve
the project in 2006, including the elimination of $1
billion in tribal taxes at the company's request.
President Joe Shirley Jr. is an ardent
supporter of the project and says most Navajos agree
with him that it will bring jobs and money to the reservation.
He contends that the opponents are a
small group whose voices are amplified by the backing
of powerful outsiders such as national environmental
groups that would like to shut down all coal-fired power
plants.
Robin Jackson, a Burnham resident who
attends school in Durango, accused the delegates of
being clueless about the project.
"They are not adequately informed,"
she said. "They are paying their bills but are
we being taken care of properly?"
The Desert Rock plant is expected to
bring in between $18 million and $43 million annually
to the Navajo Nation and create up to 420 permanent
jobs.
Nora Fluke, a nurse at San Juan Regional
Medical Center, said the draft study has failed to look
at how the project would affect medical caregiver resources
in the area.
She said she had conducted her own informal
survey and found that many medical professionals are
so concerned about the addition of another coal-fired
power plant that they plan to relocate.
"Most importantly, oncologists
- those who specialize in cancer treatment - say they
are taking their families and leaving the area because
of it (the Desert Rock plant)," Fluke asserted.
"It's like rats jumping from a sinking ship."
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