Coal and Native American tribal lands

From SourceWatch

The Native American lands of the United States are home to large coal reserves, coal mining, and coal plants. As a result, the indigenous people of these lands deal disproportionately with the environmental hazards of the coal industry.^[1] The common challenges of land and resource development are exacerbated by the poor economic situation of many of the tribes, which raises questions of environmental justice and indigenous sovereignty.

According to the Department of the Interior, twenty-five Native American reservations have coal reserves. Navajo, Hopi, and Crow lands all have coal mines. The Southern Ute, Uintah, Ouray, Fort Berthold, Northern Cheyenne, and Zuni have coal reserves with potential for development.^[2]

The development of coal resources on Native American lands has been guided in part by the treaties between the federal government and native tribes. In the past, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) arranged and managed coal development land leases. However now many tribes prefer autonomous management of their coal resources, and some have taken legal action against the government to cancel the federally administrated leases, for example, the Northern Cheyenne in 1973.

Mining and burning coal have a unique impact on Native American lands and people due to the specific socio-economic and cultural situation. Significant poverty often influences the choice to develop coal resources, yet because of the special relationship the tribes have to the land as sacred, there is also often deep resistance to development and the resulting damage and pollution to the land and people. There are few social services on many reservations and development often strains the infrastructure, while bringing in a population of workers culturally different from the indigenous population.

Although there has been an historical tendency for environmentalists to esteem the traditional land ethics of indigenous people, and tribal lands have been the sites of some of the most protracted battles against coal development, tribal support for the development of natural resources on their lands has also led to conflict within tribes and between some tribes and environmental groups.

Contents 1 U.S. Supreme Court to hear Navajo coal case 2 Coal plants on Native American lands 2.1 Black Mesa 2.2 Desert Rock 2.3 Crow Reservation 2.4 Northern Cheyenne 3 Environmental Justice 3.1 Just Transition Coalition 4 Alternative Energy 4.1 Navajo Nation passes green jobs legislation 4.2 Opposition to Environmental Groups 5 Citizen Groups 6 Resources 6.1 References 6.2 Related SourceWatch articles 6.3 External links

U.S. Supreme Court to hear Navajo coal case

In February 2009, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case brought by the Navajo Nation against the U.S. government. The suit contends that the federal government breached its trust duties and deprived the tribe of up to $600 million in coal royalties. The U.S. government says the tribe's accusations are unsupported.^[3]

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the federal government in 2003, when it found that the Department of Interior had adhered to the Indian Mineral Leasing Act in protecting the tribe's interests. A later ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals found that the Navajo Nation had the right to present its argument that U.S. had broken laws not considered by the Supreme Court, including the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act and the Navajo-Hopi Rehabilitation Act, and that the tribe thus was entitled to damages. The federal government appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the appeals court ruling should be overturned, because it contradicts the Supreme Court decision.^[3]

On April 6, 2009, the Supreme Court again ruled against the Navajo Nation. In a unanimous opinion, the high court reversed overturned the earlier ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote, ""Today we hold, once again, that the tribe's claim for compensation fails. This matter should now be regarded as closed."^[4]

Coal plants on Native American lands

The Four Corners Steam Plant, one of the largest coal-fired generating stations in the United States, is located on Navajo land in Fruitland, New Mexico. The plant’s five units generate 2,040 megawatts of electricity and are operated by Arizona Public Service Company, which serves about 300,000 homes in New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Texas.^[5] The American Lung Association estimates that 16,000 people in the region (15 percent of the population) suffers from lung disease probably caused by plant emissions. Each year the plant emits 157 million pounds of sulfur dioxide, 122 million pounds of nitrogen oxides, 8 million pounds of soot and 2,000 pounds of mercury. The San Juan generating station is nearby, in Farmington, New Mexico. The 1800 megawatt plant emits approximately 100 million pounds of sulfur dioxide, 100 million pounds of nitrogen oxides, 6 million pounds of soot, and at least 1000 pounds of mercury per year. ^[6]The proposed Desert Rock coal plant is within a 20 mile radius of the Four Corners and San Juan plants.

In addition to air pollution, waste from the coal mines supporting the Four Corners and San Juan plants has contaminated the water with sulfates, leading to the death of livestock. According to one source, 70 million tons of coal combustion waste (containing cadmium, selenium, arsenic, and lead) has been dumped in the Navajo Coal Mine, and combined with the San Juan mine, amounts to a total of 150 million tons.^[7]

In Utah, Deseret Power Electic Cooperative has proposed the Bonanza Power Plant addition, located on the Uintah and Ouray Indian reservations. The Bonanza Power Plant expansion project was the first coal plant to receive an Environmental Protection Agency permit following a Supreme Court ruling in April 2007 that allows the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases.^[8]. A number of groups (Western Resource Advocates, the Sierra Club, and Environmental Defense) have appealed the permit on the grounds that CO2 emissions were not considered. If constructed, the new plant would release 3.37 million tons of carbon dioxide, 1,028 tons of sulfur dioxide, 5, 692 tons of nitrous oxides, and 36 pounds of mercury per year.^[9]

Black Mesa

The Black Mesa region of Arizona, indigenous home of the Diné (Navajo) and Hopi peoples, is the location of the some of the largest coal deposits in the United States, with approximately 21 billion tons of coal and a long-term value as high as $100 billion.^[10]

Peabody Western Coal Company began strip mining operations on Black Mesa in 1968, and at one time the mine was North America’s largest strip mining operation and site of the only operating long-distance coal slurrypipeline (owned by Southern Pacific). For thirty years, the Black Mesa coal mine fed the Mohave Generating Station, a power plant in Laughlin, Nevada, via the 273 mile long pipeline.

Peabody pumped over a billion gallons of water from the Black Mesa aquifer each year to make the coal slurry, resulting in a substantial loss of groundwater in Black Mesa.^[11][12]

The second mine on Black Mesa is the Kayenta Mine, which supplies the Navajo Steam Generating Plant. The coal power generated from these two plants has powered Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and other areas on the southwestern power grid for three decades. Royalties and taxes from the mines provided approximately 80 percent of the Hopi general operating budget and 60 percent of the Navajo general fund budget.^[13]

In 2005, the Mohave Generating Station shut down as a result of a Clean Air Act lawsuit and because Navajo and Hopi tribes both passed resolutions ending Peabody’s use of the Black Mesa aquifer. According to the EPA, the coal plant was the dirtiest in the western U.S., emitting up to 40,000 tons of sulfur dioxide per year.^[14]

The owners of Mohave chose to shut down the plant rather than upgrade it to acceptable pollution standards. Since the plant was the sole customer of the Black Mesa mine, and because Peabody did not have an alternative source of water, operation of the mine and slurry line ceased as well.

In addition to the impact of coal on the natural environment of Black Mesa, twelve thousand Navajos have been removed from their lands due to the mining, the largest removal of Native Americans since the 1880s.^[15] John McCain authored the relocation bill, called the 1974 Navajo-Hopi Settlement Act.^[16]

While the suspension of the Black Mesa mine and slurry line was victory for environmentalists and tribal activists, there were negative economic consequences for the Hopi Tribe and Navajo nations, where unemployment is close to 40 percent^[17] The Sierra Club and other groups responded by developing the Just Transition Plan, a cross-tribal coalition to establish a renewable energy infrastructure to be partially owned by tribal communities, to provide electricity, income, and jobs for the tribes. ^[18][19]

In April 2008, the federal Office of Surface Mining directed Black Mesa Pipeline Company to remove all traces of the former coal slurry pipeline, however studies are underway to find alternatives for Black Mesa coal and, in a possible indicator that discussions between the Navajo and Peabody Western Coal are underway, work on a Navajo Nation Black Mesa environmental impact statement has resumed.^[20]

Desert Rock

Black Mesa is also the proposed location of the 1500 MW Desert Rock coal-fired plant, proposed by Desert Rock Energy Company, a Sithe Global Power subsidiary. Diné Power Authority, a Navajo Nation enterprise established to develop natural resources on Navajo lands, has entered into a project agreement with Desert Rock Energy^[21]

The plant has significant opposition, including environmental organizations, local citizens, and legislators.^[22]

Crow Reservation

In April 2008, operators of the Absaloka Mine in southeastern Montana proposed to extend the mine 3,660 acres onto the neighboring Crow reservation. Approximately 77 million tons of coal would be recovered and mining would be extended until about 2023. Westmoreland Resources owns the land and the Crow tribe owns the coal. Royalty and coal production taxes bring substantial income to the tribe, for example in 2006, the tribe earned $16.6 million.^[23]

Northern Cheyenne

The lands of the Northern Cheyenne tribe of southeastern Montana are surrounded by five large strip mines, Montana’s largest coal-fired power plant (Colstrip Steam Plant), and Montana’s only active drilling site for coalbed methane. The coal reserves under the reservation are some of the largest held by any tribe, estimated between 20 and 50 billion tons of low-sulfur coal.^[24]

The Northern Cheyenne have a long history of successful resistance to outside development of their land. From 1966 to 1971 the tribal council signed leases with coal companies including Peabody Coal, Consolidated Coal, and Amax Coal. Acting as trustee for the tribe, the BIA failed to complete an environmental impact statement, sold the exploration rights for around $9 per acre and agreed to royalties for the tribe of only 17.5 cents per ton. The tribe successfully fought to have the leases cancelled, forced the corporations to pay about $10 million in damages and regained 7,000 acres of land that had been purchased for mining.^[25]

The tribe also successfully used the Clean Air Act to stop the expansion of the Colstrip plant, forcing the utilities to equip the plant with the best air-pollution scrubbers in 1977. ^[26] In addition, the Northern Cheyenne have managed to void coal leases on three sides of the reservation in 1982, cancel the permit of a new coal mine east of the reservation in 1997, and retain ownership of all subsurface rights on the reservation. ^[27]

For thirty years, the tribe fought the development of coal on the reservation, but the dire economic situation has led to increasing support for small-scale development in more recent times. As of 2003, 87 percent of Northern Cheyenne on the reservation were living in poverty, with a 65 percent unemployment rate and annual income of $4,479. ^[28]Economic difficulties, and the attendant social problems, have driven many North Cheyenne off the reservation. On November 7, 2006, the tribe voted 664 to 572 in favor of developing coal on the reservation, and at the same time voted 365 to 841 against coalbed methane drilling.^[29]

Environmental Justice

The placement of coal-fired plants in the impoverished communities living on native reservations, with little or no access to healthcare, is seen by some environmental justice advocates as “blatant environmental racism and injustice.”^[30] The primary beneficiaries of coal mining and power generation are often not the native tribes who live on the land being used. In the case of Black Mesa, 80 percent of Navajo people do not have running water and 50 percent of people on the Navajo and Hopi reservations do not have electricity despite the fact that transmission lines cross the reservations to deliver electricity to the southwest and California, and the water aquifer has been extensively tapped to supply to former coal slurry pipeline. Black Mesa Navajo Nicole Horseherder summed this up in a 2004 Los Angeles Times article, saying, “Somewhere far away from us, people have no understanding that their demand for cheap electricity, air conditioning and lights 24 hours a day have contributed to the imbalance of this very delicate place.”^[31]In addition, the development of natural resources on tribal lands does not always lead to better living conditions due to low royalties, unbalanced contracts with outside corporations and the federal government, and tribal mismanagement.

Environmental justice advocates also argue that the consequences of climate change disproportionately affect poor and indigenous people. In the United States, for example, they point to the thinning of the ice in Alaska, the displacement of communities on the Arctic coast due to rising sea levels, loss of fish populations due to warmer water temperatures in the Great Lakes region, and the threat of increased weather events such as blizzards and droughts to many of the primarily agricultural economies of the tribes of the Great Plains region.^[32][33]

Just Transition Coalition

The Just Transition Coalition (JTC) was created to address the economic impact on the Navajo and Hopi tribal communities affected by the 2005 closure of the Mohave Generating Stationin Laughlin, Nevada. The coalition includes the Indigenous Environmental Network, Honor the Earth Foundation, Apollo Alliance, Black Mesa Water Coalition, To'Nizhoni Ani, Grand Canyon Trust, and the Sierra Club.^[34] The coalition has proposed that annual revenues from the sale of pollution credits from the Mohave plant be reinvested in renewable energy on tribal lands, such as wind and solar plants, as well as be used to help offset the economic burden of lost coal royalties and jobs.^[35]

In the time since the Mohave plant closed, majority owner Southern California Edison (SCE) has accrued pollution allowances estimated at $30 million annually, which can be sold under the U.S. Acid Rain Program.^[36] On January 11, 2006, the JTC filed a motion with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for a “Just Transition” in response to the economic impact of the closure of the Mohave Generating Station. The coalition proposed to direct 30 percent of the pollution credit proceeds to local villages and chapters to invest in solar, wind, and ecotourism, 10 percent for job retraining, 40 percent in alternative energy development and production, and 20 percent to tribal governments to help sustain programs cut due to loss of royalty income.^[37]

In a series of unprecedented decisions favoring the interests of the JTC, the CPUC ordered SCE to place proceeds from the sale of its SO2 allowances into a special account to be used to fund renewable energy investment opportunities for the Hopi and Navajo, and rejected the company's argument that proceeds from these sales should go to ratepayers. The CPUC also requested proposals from the JTC regarding the use of the proceeds and scheduled a mediation seeking a mutual decision between interested parties.^[38]

According to Honor the Earth, the coalition's plan is an opportunity to restore some environmental and economic justice to the Navajo and Hopi communities while also helping California meet its renewable energy portfolio through the purchase of clean, tribally-produced energy.^[39]

Alternative Energy

Despite the important role of native lands in U.S. energy resources, Native American tribes are not allowed to receive any federal tax incentives for renewable energy development due to their tax-exempt status. Companies seeking to develop renewable energy resources are therefore dissuaded from teaming with native tribes since they will not receive full tax credits. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the two dozen native reservations of the northern Great Plains have a wind power potential equal to 50 percent of the installed electrical generation capacity in the United States.^[40]

Navajo Nation passes green jobs legislation

In July 2009, the Navajo Nation became the first Native Nation to pass legislation promoting green jobs. The Navajo Council approved the legislation 62-1. One bill will create a new Navajo Green Economy Commission, which will oversee the approval and funding of small-scale, sustainable and low-polluting projects. A second bill will establish a Navajo Green Economy Fund, which creates an account for receiving federal, state, local, and private funds to make these green projects possible. For over a year, the Navajo Green Economy Coalition worked with Navajo Nation Speaker Lawrence T. Morgan to secure Council and community support for the legislation. The bills must be signed into law by President Joe Shirley, Jr.^[41][42]

Opposition to Environmental Groups

On September 28, 2009, the Hopi Tribal Council adopted a resolution banning environmental groups from their reservation. According to tribal spokeswoman Tina May, conservation groups threaten the economy of the Hopi by fighting to close Navajo Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant near Page, Arizona.^[43] The Council also blames environmental groups for the revenue loss from the closure of the Mohave Generating Station, which used coal exclusively from the Peabody operated Black Mesa coal mine. On October 1, Navajo Nation president Joe Shirley issued a statement in support of the Hopi council resolution and criticized the fight by environmentalists against Desert Rock Energy Project.^[44] In response, other tribal leaders have spoken out in disagreement, claiming that the Hopi Tribal Council has been taken over by pro-Peabody legislators. ^[45] Vernon Masayesva, director of the Black Mesa Trust and former Hopi Chairman has stated that "The real story on Hopiland, that is yet to be revealed, is the take-over of the government by pro-Peabody legislators with the support of their legal counsel, Scott Canty, and the ensuing corruption and abuse of power by an illegally constituted Council." Masayesva added, "To be a Hopi is to be a conservationist, a caretaker and a steward of planet earth. So, by implication, the Council has banned all Hopi people from their land." Former Hopi Chairman Ben Nuvamsa asserted the illegality of the Hopi Tribal Council's ban: "For the record, Indian tribes have no jurisdiction over non-Indians on reservation lands (see Oliphant v. Suquamish). On the Hopi Reservation, only the Tribal Chairman has the authority to sign an exclusion order under Tribal Ordinance 46. So without a Tribal Chairman, no one can sign such an order. Without meeting these requirements, the resolution passed by this group is nothing more than a mean-spirited statement.” ^[46] In a statement released September 28,the Sierra Club responded, "Sierra Club has been invited to work with many Hopi individuals and groups ... who want to stop global warming and protect the environment and feel that Peabody's coal operations on Black Mesa is a direct threat to sacred Hopi springs."^[47]

Citizen Groups

• Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest
• Black Mesa Indigenous Support
• Black Mesa Water Coalition
• Indigenous Environmental Network
• Western Shoshone Defense Project
• Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment

Resources

References

1. ↑ Interview with Winona LaDuke, Grist, April 19, 2004
2. ↑ The Direct Use of Coal: Prospects and Problems of Production and Combustion,Office of Technology Assessment, Books for Business, November 2002, p. 325
3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 "Navajo coal royalty case heads to Supreme Court," Associated Press, February 23, 2009.
4. ↑ "Court rules against Navajo Nation in coal case," Associated Press, April 6, 2009.
5. ↑ Four Corners Power Plant, PNM website
6. ↑ “Speaking Diné to Dirty Power: Navajo Challenge New Coal-Fired Plant,” Jeff Conant, CorpWatch, April 3, 2007
7. ↑ “Speaking Diné to Dirty Power: Navajo Challenge New Coal-Fired Plant,” quote from Jeff Stant, Clean Air Task Force consultant, Jeff Conant, CorpWatch, April 3, 2007
8. ↑ “Utah Power Plant in the Spotlight” Joe Bauman, Deseret Morning News, September 21, 2007
9. ↑ Utah Coal Plant Proposals, Western Resource Advocates website
10. ↑ “The Black Mesa Syndrome: Indian Lands, Black Gold” Judith Nies, Orion Magazine reprint, Summer 1998
11. ↑ “Drawdown: An Update on Groundwater Mining on Black Mesa,” Natural Resources Defense Council report
12. ↑ “Energy & Water” Black Mesa Water Coalition website
13. ↑ “Background Black Mesa/Kayenta Mine”
14. ↑ “Making a Just Transition” Timothy Lesle, Sierra Club newsletter, May 2006
15. ↑ “The Black Mesa Syndrome: Indian Lands, Black Gold” Judith Niles, Shundai Network website, reprint from Orion magazine, Summer 1998
16. ↑ Relocation Legislation Senate Bill 1003, The Navajo Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974, Amendments, 2005 Black Mesa Indigenous Support website
17. ↑ “Forces Clash on Tribal Lands,” John M. Broder, New York Times, january 1, 2006
18. ↑ “Making a Just Transition” Timothy Lesle, Sierra Club newsletter, May 2006
19. ↑ Just Transition Black Mesa Water Coalition website
20. ↑ “Black Mesa studies to resume, slurry appears dead” Marley Shebala, Navajo Times, April 17, 2008
21. ↑ Desert Rock Energy Project, Sithe Global Power official site.
22. ↑ Rep. Salazar Calls for Public Hearings On Desert Rock Power Plant Proposal, United States House of Representatives Press Release, April 24, 2007.
23. ↑ “Proposal would move mining onto Crow Reservation” Susan Gallagher, Helena Independent Record, April 4, 2008
24. ↑ “A Breath of Fresh Air,” Bob Struckman and Ray Ring, High Country News, January 20, 2003
25. ↑ “A Breath of Fresh Air,” Bob Struckman and Ray Ring, High Country News, January 20, 2003
26. ↑ “A Breath of Fresh Air,” Bob Struckman and Ray Ring, High Country News, January 20, 2003
27. ↑ “A Breath of Fresh Air,” Bob Struckman and Ray Ring, High Country News, January 20, 2003
28. ↑ “A Breath of Fresh Air,” Bob Struckman and Ray Ring, High Country News, January 20, 2003
29. ↑ “Northern Cheyenne coal future ‘delicate issue’, Clair Johnson, Billings Gazette, November 16, 2006
30. ↑ “50 Dirtiest Power Plants Named,” Environmental News Service, July 26, 2007
31. ↑ “Gathering Clouds,” Sean Patrick Riley, Los Angeles Times, June 6, 2004
32. ↑ Climate Justice Campaign, Indigenous Environmental Network
33. ↑ “Report: Climate shift to hit Indians hard, Katy Human, Denver Post, September 18, 2007
34. ↑ Just Transition Coalition
35. ↑ Grand Canyon Trust
36. ↑ Just Transition Coalition
37. ↑ Christopher McLeod, "Seeking a Just Transition", Earth Island Journal, Summer 2006.
38. ↑ Just Transition Coalition
39. ↑ Honor the Earth press release
40. ↑ “Native Americans Left Out of America’s Wind Power Boom” Stacy Feldman, Solve Climate website, March 25, 2008
41. ↑ NavajoGreenJobs.com, accessed August 2009.
42. ↑ "Navajo Nation Council makes history, becomes first Nation in Indian Country to initiate Green Jobs," 21st Navajo Nation Council, July 22, 2009.
43. ↑ "Navajos assail environmentalists" Dennis Wagner, The Arizona Republic, October 1, 2009.
44. ↑ “Navajo, Hopi stand in opposition to environmental groups, George Hardeen, Native American Times, October 6, 2009.
45. ↑ “A new dirty low for Peabody,” Brenda Norrell, Counterpunch, October 5, 2009.
46. ↑ “A new dirty low for Peabody,” Brenda Norrell, Counterpunch, October 5, 2009.
47. ↑ “Hopi Tribal Council bans environmental groups,” Navajo-Hopi Observer, September 30, 2009.

Related SourceWatch articles

• Mohave Generating Station
• Black Mesa coal mine
• Arizona and coal
• Nevada and coal
• New Mexico and coal

External links

• Short History of Big Mountain – Black Mesa American Indian Cultural Support (A.I.C.S.) website
• Black Mesa Indigenous Support
• “Dark Days on Black Mesa,” John Dougherty, Phoenix New Times, April 24, 1997
• “A People Betrayed,” John Dougherty, Phoenix New Times, May 1, 1997
• “Dirty Smoke Signals,” Kari Lydersen, In These Times, posted at Truthout, April 28, 2008
• "FOSSIL FUELS And Impacts to Indigenous Peoples," Indigenous Environmental Network Information Sheet