Summary – Black Mesa Project

Massive mining plans are underway that have
serious environmental, social, and human rights
impacts. Peabody Western Coal, the world’s
largest coal company, is attempting to obtain a
‘Life of Mine’ permit from the federal Office of
Surface Mining (OSM): which means a lease
extension application that would permit them
to mine indefinitely, and dramatically increase
the current rate of coal production to turn Black
Mesa into a massive energy center for domestic
and international export.

It is unacceptable that this proposal could further
the termination of indigenous cultural existence.
The U.S. government has previously passed laws
that terminate indigenous ancestral ties to these
lands by currently restricting access to their lands
and enforcing relocation. The LOM permit calls for
additional restricted access to ancestral lands and
relocation.

The LOM permit would allow the coal company the
rights to billions of gallons of water a year from two
major aquifers for their industrial coal production use.

This proposal is not the solution to global warming or
to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but instead,
Peabody’s BMP will only only add to the escalating
greenhouse emissions.