Take Action to Keep the Coal in Mother Earth
Sign this Petition to the Navajo Nation Government!
Black Mesa Indigenous Support, along with other grass-roots organizations and non-governmental organizations request you to sign this petition in support of the Elders and their families of the Navajo Nation urging you to:
1. Do not re-lease Navajo land for coal mining.
2. Do not extend the Four Corners Power Plant Lease and the Navajo Generating Station in Page.
3. Keep the Coal in Mother Earth.
In 2016, both the Four Corners power plant and coal leases on the Navajo Nation’s land will expire and the power plant will be shut down if the leases are not renewed by May 2, 2011. We do not want the leases renewed. We ask you to commit to phasing out coal-fired power and instead, invest in both energy efficiency and safe, secure and clean renewable energy sources, creating myriad green jobs in the process.
Respected Navajo spiritual leaders, Elders, and community members shared their stories and messages regarding their struggle for water rights, religious freedom, the health of their communities, and the importance of living on a healthy planet with visitors from around the world this past November. Their guests are part of a long-standing support network comprised of individuals and organizations that works with the traditional Elders and their families who are resisting forced relocation due to coal mining on the “Hopi Partitioned Lands” of Big Mountain and surrounding communities of Black Mesa.
Pressed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce emissions, Arizona’s leading producer of electric power, Arizona Public Service Company (APS) proposes to close the three oldest generating units and buy out Southern California Edison’s ownership in two other units of the plant. In order to make up for the loss of three generating units, APS’s Vice President of Fossil Operations, David Hansen has requested that federal agencies, state commissions, and the coal and power plants of the Navajo Nation re-lease the land to continue to provide Phoenix and Los Angeles’ energy demands.
These leases for coal extraction on Navajo and Hopi land’s are unacceptable, as these operations have already contributed to the forced relocation of over 13,000 thousand Indigenous peoples, an enormous, incalculable amount of climate pollution, plus contaminated the local water tables, impacted the health of local communities, and the land itself.
Say no with the Elders and their families of Black Mesa. Do not re-lease this land. Do not extend the Four Corners Power Plant lease. Coal is dirty and will never be clean. The state of California is reducing its stake in coal-fired electric generation, let’s join them. Support a just transition to renewable energy resources!
Court Denies Injunction to Halt Snowbowl Development
(The struggle to protect the San Francisco Peaks is intricately connected with protecting the sacred places of Big Mountain & Black Mesa, AZ. Located just outside of Flagstaff, AZ the San Francisco Peaks has considerable religious significance to thirteen local Indigenous nations (including the Havasupai, Dine’ (Navajo), Hopi, and Zuni.) In particular, it forms the Dine’ sacred mountain of the west, called the Dook’o’oosłííd.
Here is a video that we recently discovered which also explains the significance of the Peaks to the Dine’: http://intercontinentalcry.org/dookooosliid-what-the-san-francisco-peaks-means-to-the-dine/ )
NEWS RELEASE
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Contact: Howard Shanker, howard@shankerlaw.net
FLAGSTAFF, AZ — The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today denied an emergency motion to stop Snowbowl ski area and the U.S. Department of Agriculture from cutting down thousands of trees on the San Francisco Peaks, outside of Flagstaff, Arizona.
The Save the Peaks Coalition and other plaintiffs filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit and sought an emergency injunction that would stop all tree cutting and construction in furtherance of snowmaking pending the outcome of the appeal.
Judge Murguia, at the District Court level, previously denied the Coalition any injunction pending appeal.
“The ski resort can start their destruction tomorrow and there isn’t a legal recourse that can be taken.” stated Jeneda Benally, a plaintiff in the case. “The legal system has failed to protect citizens and the delicate ecosystem of the San Francisco Peaks and instead compromised it’s ethics by protecting a single for profit business that has blatant disregard for our children’s health.”
According to Howard Shanker, the attorney for the Save the Peaks Coalition and other plaintiffs, “We are gravely disappointed in the decision not to grant an injunction but will vigorously pursue our appeal in any event.” According to Shanker, “we remain hopeful that, at some point, the courts will properly apply the law to the facts of this case.” Shanker previously represented a number of the Tribes and environmental organizations in the first round of litigation opposing snowmaking with reclaimed sewer water.
The Justice Department under the Obama Administration continues to vigorously fight to cut down trees and to spray reclaimed sewer water to make snow on the San Francisco Peaks while the Administration has held ‘listening sessions’ on sacred sites protection, including the San Francisco Peaks, across the country.
Snowbowl threatens to clear-cut approximately 28,994 trees from 76.3 acres for construction of water impoundments, buildings, and trails. They would also begin cutting down 167 trees along the 14.8 mile snowmaking transmission line and approximately 800 trees in approximately 47.4 acres within the Agassiz and sunset trail areas.
In 2006, the Snowbowl Ski area, which operates under a permit on federal land, was granted permission by the U.S. Forest Service, part of the Department of Agriculture, to make snow using 100% reclaimed sewer water. Something that is not done anywhere else in the world. The project would use sewer water treated to Arizona A+ standards – A+ water in Arizona is known to contain endocrine disruptors, which block or mimic normal hormone activity. It also contains a host of personal care products and pharmaceuticals, including things like steroids, antibiotics, and caffeine, which are neither tested for, nor adequately removed from the water during the treatment process.
The San Francisco Peaks, including the area used by Snowbowl, are sacred to 13 of the Native American Tribes in the southwestern United States.
In 2006, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the Yavapai-Apache Nation, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, the Havasupai Tribe and the Hualapai Tribe filed suit to stop the project which, they asserted, amounted to federally approved and sanctioned desecration of one of the best documented Native American sacred sites on record. The tribes were joined by a number of individuals and organizations, including the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity. After a unanimous ruling by a three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of the tribes and environmental groups, the Ninth Circuit, however, agreed to re-hear the case en banc – something they only do about one or two percent of the time. In an eight to three decision, the en banc panel reversed the prior panel decision and allowed Snowbowl and the Forest Service to go forward with the planned desecration of the area.
Shortly thereafter, a group of concerned citizens from the Flagstaff area, including the Save the Peaks Coalition, filed suit under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) challenging the Forest Service’s review of the impacts associated with the potential ingestion of snow made from reclaimed sewer water. The prior three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit unanimously found that the Forest Service failed to adequately consider such impacts. The en banc panel, however, vacated that decision without addressing the merits of the claim. On review of the issue in the current litigation, District Court Judge Mary Murguia found, contrary to the prior Ninth circuit ruling, that the Forest Service review was adequate and that the case should not be allowed to go forward.
Initial approvals for the controversial project were made under the administration of George W. Bush. It was initially the Bush Justice Department and Department of Agriculture that vigorously fought to spray potentially unsafe reclaimed sewer water onto the sacred site. The Obama Administration, which has made a public show of respecting tribal sovereignty and sacred sites, was however, quick to pick up the mantle. Judge Murguia was nominated by Obama to go to the Ninth Circuit. Shortly after ruling against the Save the Peaks Coalition, her appointment was confirmed.
It appears that the prior three-judge panel consisted of Democratically appointed judges. The en banc panel appears to have split in its eight to three decision largely on political party lines. With the three dissenting judges having been appointed by Democratic Presidents. In any event, the Administration continues to expend resources and time fighting to disrupt a unique and sensitive ecosystem, which also happens to be sacred land to Native Americans. All to provide Snowbowl, a private, for profit company that operates on federal land, a consistent and reliable operating season.
###
