Operation Sheep Dip

Hopi chairman candidate Valjean Joshevama Jr.

Hopi chairman candidate Valjean Joshevama Jr.

The way the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) officials conducted the so-called public comment at the Hopi Veterans Memorial Center reminds me of the old days when Hopis were mandated to dip their sheep in a chemically-treated dipping vat, 4-feet-wide and 50-feet-long.

Like sheep we were herded through recorders to make statements. I was expecting a dialogue so we could have our questions answered, so OSM officials could raise questions and we could have answered them. In this way we could have had the opportunity to hear the concerns of others and learn from one another.

This way we can understand the Black Mesa Project Mine plan and provide OSM with things they need to probe before a final Record of Decision (ROD) is made.

I thought this was the intent of the Natural Environmental Protection Act (NEPA)-to encourage public participation. Instead, OSM has manipulated NEPA to stifle our voices.

The Interior, either by intent or by ignorance, is taking control of our resources for the benefit of rich corporations like Salt River Project (SRP) and Peabody against our will. OSM is acting like it owns our coal, our water and our lands.

Back in the old days, the U.S. Government would send a cavalry to take Indian lands. Now the federal government, acting through OSM, is using the EIS [Environmental Impact Statement] process to do the same thing.

This is made clear in the confidential letter SRP (Sept. 15, 2006) wrote to OSM telling them what to do. Since SRP is paying for the EIS, they feel they can tell OSM what to do and how to proceed. In the letter they asked OSM to complete "public comments" by the middle of December 2006 and to finalize the EIS by the middle of 2007.

It is also interesting that SRP wrote to OSM at the time the Hopi Tribal Council began the process to remove former Chairman Ivan Sidney from office. OSM, for their part, quickly completed the draft EIS after receiving SRP's letter and put in out on the street shortly after the Chairman was removed.

Is this a coincidence? Why would OSM, who consults with the Energy and Water Team, release the draft when we are in the midst of a political crisis? OSM plans to conclude public comments before a new Chairman is elected.

Unless we, the concerned Navajo and Hopi people, stop the so-called public participation NOW, OSM could issue the ROD while we sleep. At that point the game is over, they win, and we would lose again.

This same thing happened in the 1989 hearings on Hopi. Hundreds of our people voiced their opposition to using N-Aquifer water. Some villagers passed resolutions saying NO to the use of N-Aquifer. Chairman Ivan Sidney wrote a letter in behalf of the Hopi Tribe summarily rejecting the draft EIS on the basis it was not administratively complete.

In the end, it didn't matter. OSM went ahead and issued the ROD giving the green light to issue the Life-of-Mine (LOM) permits to the Kayenta mine, but not to the Black Mesa mine. Nevertheless, Peabody continued to keep mining on Black Mesa without a LOM permit.

The new Hopi Chairman will have only two years to serve. This is very little time, but it is enough time for the Chairman to make a difference concerning our life-blood, which is water.

My pledge to you is that I will continue to put all of my effort into protecting our waters whether I am elected or not. I am one of the plaintiffs who will be filing an injunction against OSM to postpone the hearings until after we finish our Powamuy ceremonies.

Take a close look at the flow chart in Section 2.2.1.2 that is in the draft EIS. It shows clearly that the N-aquifer will become the sole source if the C-aquifer project should fail for whatever reason. There are already many reasons why it will fail. One reason could be the denial of rights-of-way for water pipeline and electric lines, which will be running through four conflicting village jurisdictions.

Yet, this is the alternative OSM is going with. This is why it is so important for a political leader of the Hopi Tribe to take a firm stand against Alternative A. The vast majority of Hopis and Tewas have already spoken. They don't want the N-aquifer to be used as sole-source water or back-up water.

I hope you, the voters, ask hard questions and force each candidate to state their position on the C and N aquifer project. What is their position on the future of our culture, the people of Black Mesa?

My position is clear. I want to stop Peabody and SRP from using up all our water to make coal slurry to transport this coal to Nevada. I want to study other alternatives such as using rail transportation. It makes no sense to be using fresh water. This will not and has not been allowed anywhere in the U.S.!!

Valjean Joshevama Jr.

Hopi chairman candidate

Old Oraibi

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