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."

 

        


Reprinted as an historical reference document under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html