Rep.
Salazar seeks Desert Rock hearings
Mercury levels
in reservoirs cited as problem
April 26, 2007
Durango Herald Staff Report
U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, has
asked the Bureau of Indian Affairs to hold public hearings
in La Plata and Montezuma counties when the environmental
impact statement on the proposed Desert Rock power plant
is released.
The environmental study, expected to
be released by June, assesses the 1,500-megawatt, coal-fired
power plant - a partnership between Sithe Global and
the Navajo Nation's Diné Power Authority. The
plant is to be built in New Mexico, about 30 miles southwest
of Farmington.
County commissioners, Navajo activists
and many area residents are concerned about health effects
from possibly polluted water and air caused by Desert
Rock emissions.
Although some chapters of the Navajo
Nation oppose the project, the Navajo Nation Council
voted overwhelmingly in 2006 to approve leases for the
project.
Frank Maisano, director of strategic
communications at the New York law firm of Bracewell
& Giuliani, which represents Sithe Global, said
by telephone that a hearing is scheduled in Durango
for sure. He wasn't certain about a hearing in Montezuma
County.
"We don't mind the hearings because
they're valuable," Maisano said. "They give
us the opportunity to address concerns and the misconceptions
that the opponents have tried to foster."
In a letter to Omar C. Bradley, regional
director of the BIA in Gallup, N.M., Salazar cited concerns
about health.
"Any new major source of air and
water pollution in Northern New Mexico, including the
proposed Desert Rock Energy Project, could have a significant
impact on Southwest Colorado," Salazar said. "Many
of my constituents have considerable concerns."
Salazar noted existing environmental
problems in the region. The likely cause of a mercury-related
fish-consumption advisory issued by the Colorado Department
of Public Health and Environment for Vallecito, McPhee,
Totten and Narraguinnep reservoirs is upwind coal-fired
power plants, including two near Shiprock, N.M., he
said.
Salazar asked that the BIA allow the
public 90 days to respond to the environmental study.
"I hope that you will help me in
providing my constituents a chance to speak, listen
and become involved with these decisions that will affect
their communities and families for generations,"
Salazar wrote.
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