Mohave’s closure — a bittersweet victory

It is a bittersweet victory. The closure of the dirtiest power plant in the nation caused Peabody to permanently stop pumping water for the coal slurry, which is long overdue.

But because the pumps have stopped, the on-going—and until just a few months ago, secret — contamination of the N-aquifer has intensified. Ever since Peabody engineers installed perforated pipes in their wells more than 30 years ago, brackish waters from the overlying Dakota aquifer have been draining into the pristine N-aquifer.

Two years ago Black Mesa Trust (BMT) issued a commentary citing numerous complex issues that had to be resolved before Mohave could operate beyond 2005. To us grassroots people, the closure was inevitable, but Southern California Edison dragged the process out far longer than necessary.

I am angry that the inevitable decision took so long and has cost the Hopi Tribe $2 million, and possibly, more in a futile effort to negotiate the non-negotiable.

The Mohave closure has given Hopi and Navajo a window of opportunity to do the right thing: take control of our resources and end our dependence on outside companies.

We need to move beyond Mohave and focus our energies on renewable energy, such as the proposal to build 1,000 megawatts of solar generation on Black Mesa. We need to revisit our business relationship with Peabody. Coal leases that favor Peabody and other companies are no longer acceptable, and Peabody must begin to do business transparently, not in secrecy.

Black Mesa Trust will now focus its resources on forcing Office of Surface Mining (OSM) to conduct an independent investigation of all Peabody wells on Black Mesa. We need competent investigators to lower a camera into each well and take pictures. We need to access and analyze all pumping-related data, including well designs. We need to sample water directly from the wells, and not rely any longer on reports from Peabody and OSM.

We have accomplished a great deal in the past six years, but much work remains. We must educate our children and, when necessary, our tribal leaders. We must take the lead in preserving our values, our grandchildren’s heritage, and our tribe’s resources. We invite our Navajo brothers and sisters to join us.

Black Mesa Trust was organized in 1998. Our mission is to seek truth and justice. We do this by researching public information and sharing what we learn with grassroots people and our political leaders. It is the intent of BMT to slowly wake the people up, empower them with facts so they will not be afraid to take action to take control of their resources and to put those resources to use in a way that honors the wisdom of our ancestors.

 

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