Cheap Electricity
Global Warming, Coal Burning, Two Worlds
Navajo Generating Station
With the environment in turmoil and Global Warming affecting the planet as suggested by the United Nations, oil at record level prices, people in the desert southwest enjoy cheap electricity. This cheap electricity is produced by coal. Two sovereign nations lie at the heart of a battle for coal production and revenues, The Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe. Both have been in a land dispute when coal was discovered atop Black Mesa in Northeastern Arizona. The most abundant low-sulfur coal discovered. The question lies with the tribal councils, revenue and greed or traditionalism and environmentalism?
History and Impact
With the discovery of coal, 8,000 Navajos have been removed from lands on Black Mesa. This is the largest forced relocation in the US since Japanese-Americans were forced into camps during World War II. Coal has triggered a Land Dispute between the Navajo and Hopi tribes (Wiley). In 1974, a law was passed for the division of the tribal lands known as the Joint Use Area. Two tribes living in harmony, divided by coal and greed by the corporations and tribal councils.
Black Mesa Mine and Water
Black Mesa Coal Mine
The Navajo Nation received $29 million in annual royalties from the Black Mesa Mine. The Hopi tribe received $6 million dollars in annual royalties which accounted for one-third its annual budget (Edwards). Because of this dispute and the force relocation, the land has been partitioned and fenced off, the Navajos livestock impounded. The divide has only created rifts between the two tribes and Brad Miller argues that it has only benefited one sector: “The corporations seeking more energy leases on Native Land” (Miller).
Before the closing of the Black Mesa Mine, which coincided with the closure of the Mohave Generating Station, the coal was slurried to its customer. The slurry was a mixture of crushed coal and groundwater. Several agencies have gathered data and the effects that the pumping of groundwater has caused. The Natural Resources Defense Council, Office of Surface Mining, the US Geological Survey all contend that “since Peabody began using N-Aquifer water for its coal slurry operation; pumping an average of 4,000 acre feet, more than 1.3 billion gallons of water, each year; water levels have decreased by more than 100 feet in some wells and discharge has slackened more than 50 percent in the majority of monitored springs.” (Miller).
http://youtu.be/0iN3zdpdgvY
Before the closing of the Black Mesa Mine, which coincided with the closure of the Mohave Generating Station, the coal was slurried to its customer. The slurry was a mixture of crushed coal and groundwater. Several agencies have gathered data and the effects that the pumping of groundwater has caused. The Natural Resources Defense Council, Office of Surface Mining, the US Geological Survey all contend that “since Peabody began using N-Aquifer water for its coal slurry operation; pumping an average of 4,000 acre feet, more than 1.3 billion gallons of water, each year; water levels have decreased by more than 100 feet in some wells and discharge has slackened more than 50 percent in the majority of monitored springs.” (Miller).
http://youtu.be/0iN3zdpdgvY
Closure and Impact
Mohave Generating Station Demolation
Environmentalists and grass-root organizations have applauded the closure of the Mohave Generating Station and the Black Mesa Mine and have celebrated this victory for the environment. The Mohave Generating Station was blamed for the haze that lingered over the Grand Canyon (Edwards). The Black Mesa Mine has stopped pumping precious water from the ground. The environment has been given a break for now in the Southwest US. Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. and Hopi legal counsel Scott Canty both assert that these environmentalists have hurt both tribes struggling economies by shutting down the coal mine and ceasing its operations (Fonseca). The Hopi Tribe has lost 70 percent of its annual budget, $15 million. The Navajo Nation has lost 10 percent of its annual budget. Shirley forwards that the environmentalists “(they) came onto our land. They didn’t tell me, ‘Here Mr. President. Here are other green jobs.’ They just shut us down, put more people into impoverishment. You want me to accept that?” (Wagner).
Enei Begay, who is a water campaigner for the Indigenous Environment Network, claims that with the closure of the Mohave Generating Station, the owners of the power plant are now able to sell its “pollution credits” to other owners across the country. For every ton of sulfur dioxide emitted, they had to pay $1000. This was $53 million a year. Begay wants to capture that revenue and re-invest it back into the reservations with 30 percent going to local Hopi villages and Navajo communities, 10 percent for job retraining, 40 percent to invest directly into alternative energy development and production, and 20 percent to both tribal governments to sustain programs lost due to the closure of both the mine and plant. Begay argues that all or some of that money sold should not go back to the Mohave Generating Station shareholders: who are Nevada Energy, Southern California Edison, Salt River Project, and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Begay claims “so we are asking that funds be distributed to Hopi and Navajo Communities around a number of restitution issues. Navajo and Hopi people have subsidized coal and water extraction at risk to their environment and health, all to subsidize California energy users with cheap electricity.” Also, “that money should go to people who have been suffering for 30 years and help with the transition and it is a benefit to California ratepayers” (McLeod).
Enei Begay, who is a water campaigner for the Indigenous Environment Network, claims that with the closure of the Mohave Generating Station, the owners of the power plant are now able to sell its “pollution credits” to other owners across the country. For every ton of sulfur dioxide emitted, they had to pay $1000. This was $53 million a year. Begay wants to capture that revenue and re-invest it back into the reservations with 30 percent going to local Hopi villages and Navajo communities, 10 percent for job retraining, 40 percent to invest directly into alternative energy development and production, and 20 percent to both tribal governments to sustain programs lost due to the closure of both the mine and plant. Begay argues that all or some of that money sold should not go back to the Mohave Generating Station shareholders: who are Nevada Energy, Southern California Edison, Salt River Project, and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Begay claims “so we are asking that funds be distributed to Hopi and Navajo Communities around a number of restitution issues. Navajo and Hopi people have subsidized coal and water extraction at risk to their environment and health, all to subsidize California energy users with cheap electricity.” Also, “that money should go to people who have been suffering for 30 years and help with the transition and it is a benefit to California ratepayers” (McLeod).
Tribes New Endevour
Navajo Nation Council Chambers
With the Navajo Nation struggling with their economy, a new power plant is being proposed along with a new coal mine. The Desert Rock Energy Project is being proposed in western New Mexico and would cost $3 billion (Wagner). It would be the third coal power plant in a region the size of the city of Tucson. In that area is the Four Corners Power Plant, which is the second-largest emitter of nitrogen oxides (Wagner) and nearby is the San Juan Generating Station. The Navajo Nation tribal Council wants to improve the quality of living and provide needed jobs. Within the Navajo Nation, the unemployment rate is over 50 percent and the average annual incomes under $15,000. With the lost of revenue from the closure of Black Mesa Mine, the Tribal Government wants to build this power plant to regain revenue. The Sierra Club along with other grassroots organizations are fighting the proposed building of this power plant because they believe that it will plague the skies with even more pollution along with those spewed from the other two power plants. The Navajo Nation Council must ultimately consider the two: increased revenue or the health of the environment and its citizens? Manley Begay, who is Navajo and director of the University of Arizona’s Native Nations Institute, asserts that “the Council could be decisive, today at Navajo the political decision making power has shifted from traditionally dominant tribal presidents to the tribes’ legislative body. Tribal councils have more authority now. It’s not just the president anymore.” (Ritter).
Four Corners Power Plant
Personal Conflict
All the arguments above are for the removal of the coal mines and who they supply, the coal power plants. I also maintain this idea. Having grown up in the four corners region all my life, where these coal mines and coal power plants exist, I do know that the air in the region is awful. Slowly, these power plants will be decommissioned, just as the Mohave Generating Station is being dismantled (Edwards). I also have come from a family who was one of the many families in the force relocation. It has provided housing for my family, but no jobs. They are treated like second class citizens and are forgotten when it comes down to tribal politics. On the other hand, my father and an uncle both work for Peabody Western Coal Company. It has provided them jobs and both are able to provide for their families. I support the traditionalist in both the Navajo and Hopi tribes when it comes to closing down the coal mine and not building another coal fire power plant. There is irony when it comes down to providing cheap electricity. Many homes still lack basic infrastructure. No electricity, even though a power line is a few hundred feet away running to a major city. No running water, it has to be hauled in by truck. Sure it means jobs and revenue but for the current generation, what about the generation after us? Corporate greed and the pursuit of cheap electricity to the southwest cities are ruining the environment at the cost of two indigenous populations. There is no formal plan for what happens when all the coal is mined up and no longer exists underneath the Black Mesa.
Navajo Generation Station
(2,250 Megawatts (MW)) was built between 1969 and 1976. Three units are located near Page, Arizona next to Lake Powell, which is the second largest man-made reservoir in the United States when full (now half-full). The facility is located on the Navajo Reservation and the owners are Salt River Project, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Arizona Public Service, Nevada Power Company, and Tucson Electric Power Company.
Some of the allocated power from this facility is used to pump Colorado River water from Lake Havasu (336 miles south) for the Central Arizona Project (Metro Phoenix and Tucson). The coal is stripped mined by Peabody Coal Company from Black Mesa on the Navajo and Hopi Indian reservations and delivered by a conveyor belt system and electric train that crosses the Rainbow Plateau. Existing pollution control equipment at NGS includes electrostatic precipitators for particulate matter removal and specific burners designed for NOx control. The plant also includes an SO2 emission limiter. Compliance with the SO2 emission limit was phased-in by unit in 1997, 1998, and 1999. Legal action was required to improve air quality at NGS. 2009 - NGS white paper. Central Arizona Project. |
Four Corners Power Plant
(2,040 MW) was constructed from 1962 to 1970. There are five units near Farmington, New Mexico, and next to the San Juan River. This coal-fired power plant is located on the Navajo Indian Reservation. The facility is owned jointly by Arizona Public Service Company, the Southern California Edison Company, the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, the Public Service Company of New Mexico, the El Paso Electric Company, and the Tucson Electric Power Company.
Every year the plant emits over 15 million tons of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide emissions. It also emits 590 pounds of mercury. The plant's annual emission of nitrogen oxides, 40,742 tons, is the highest of all coal-fired power plants in the USA. Existing pollution control equipment at FCPP includes baghouses and scrubbers for SO2control and specific burners designed for NOx control. Legal action was required to improve air quality at Four Corners. |
San Juan Generating Station
(1,800 MW) is a four unit facility which began construction in 1973 and is located near Farmington, New Mexico along the San Juan River. The major owner is Public Service Company of New Mexico. Environmental controls include a limestone forced-oxidation system for removing sulfur dioxide and electrostatic precipitators for removing fly ash. Legal action was required to improve air quality at SJGS.
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Mohave Generating Station
Mohave Generating Station (1,580 MW) has two units with construction beginning is in 1967. The power plant is not operational at the moment due to a decision by the owners to not install upgrades to meet environmental compliance laws, and as a result of litigation from environmental groups. The operator of the plant is Southern California Edison and the facility is located next to the Colorado River near Laughlin, Nevada. The other owners are Salt River Project, Nevada Power and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
The coal is delivered by a water slurry pipeline from Black Mesa, Arizona. The water to transport the coal as a slurry comes from groundwater resources that Navajo and Hopi people depend upon for their drinking water. The depletion of this groundwater was highly controversial and very unpopular with the public. Click here to visit the web page of Black Mesa Trust. |
Works Cited
John, Ritter “Water key to dispute over economic future.” USA Today n.d. “MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
Miller, Brad “Draining the life from the land.” Earth Island Journal 17.3 (2002): 26. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
McLeod, Christopher. “Seeking a just transition.” Earth Island Journal 21.2 (2006): 29. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
John, Ritter “Power plant shutdown fuels fight for funds between tribes, utility.” USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
Gottlieb, Bob, and Peter Wiley. "Hopis, Navajo and King Coal." Wall Street Journal 11 Jul 1986: 1. Web. 17 Nov 2009.
Wagner, Dennis. "Coal mines, power plant gives Navajos Income, controversy." USA Today 2 Nov 2009: 1. Web. 17 Nov 2009.
Fonseca, Felicia. "Hopi, Navajo snub environmentalists." Deseret News 1 Oct 2009: A. 3. Web. 17 Nov 2009.
Edwards, John G. "Laughlin coal-fired power plant going away: Owner gives up hope of restoring facility." McClatchy - Tribune Business News 11 Jun 2009: 1. Web. 17 Nov 2009.
John, Ritter “Water key to dispute over economic future.” USA Today n.d. “MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
Miller, Brad “Draining the life from the land.” Earth Island Journal 17.3 (2002): 26. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
McLeod, Christopher. “Seeking a just transition.” Earth Island Journal 21.2 (2006): 29. MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
John, Ritter “Power plant shutdown fuels fight for funds between tribes, utility.” USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.
Gottlieb, Bob, and Peter Wiley. "Hopis, Navajo and King Coal." Wall Street Journal 11 Jul 1986: 1. Web. 17 Nov 2009.
Wagner, Dennis. "Coal mines, power plant gives Navajos Income, controversy." USA Today 2 Nov 2009: 1. Web. 17 Nov 2009.
Fonseca, Felicia. "Hopi, Navajo snub environmentalists." Deseret News 1 Oct 2009: A. 3. Web. 17 Nov 2009.
Edwards, John G. "Laughlin coal-fired power plant going away: Owner gives up hope of restoring facility." McClatchy - Tribune Business News 11 Jun 2009: 1. Web. 17 Nov 2009.