Speak out to protect Native American sacred springs from destructive coal mining

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NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin for Environmental Activists

January 30, 2007
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Special alert:
Speak out to protect Native American sacred springs from
destructive coal mining
Comments are due February 6th, so send yours today at
http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_013007

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The Peabody Western Coal Company has been siphoning precious
groundwater away from Hopi and Navajo lands in northeastern
Arizona for nearly four decades. NRDC Earth Activists helped
successfully shine a light on Peabody's mining violations
before, but now the company has requested the Bush
administration's permission to extend its massive Black Mesa
mining operation even further.

Since the 1960s, Peabody has pumped billions of gallons of
groundwater out of the Navajo aquifer in order to propel
pulverized coal through a pipeline to a power plant 270 miles
away in Nevada. These enormous water withdrawals -- in one of
the most arid regions of the United States -- have depleted and
damaged the aquifer, drying up the sacred springs and other
water sources that the Hopi and Navajo people rely on for
drinking, irrigating crops, making medicines and carrying out
spiritual traditions.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Interior
Department's Office of Surface Mining is required to review the
environmental impacts of Peabody's proposed mining permit as
well as to consider less environmentally harmful alternatives.
But the agency scheduled the comment period for this issue
(which ends February 6th) to coincide with the Hopis'
traditional ceremonial period that bars them from engaging in
secular matters such as this, meaning they will not have the
opportunity to participate in this decisionmaking process that
directly affects their home and their way of life.

== What to do ==
Send a message, before the February 6th comment deadline, urging
the Office of Surface Mining to consider less destructive
alternatives to Peabody Coal's proposed mining expansion, and to
extend the official comment period so that the Hopis can weigh
in on this decision that is critical to their future.

== Contact information ==
You can send an official comment directly from NRDC's Earth
Action Center at
http://www.nrdconline.org/campaign/nrdcaction_013007
(we'll send a copy of your comment to Interior Secretary Dirk
Kempthorne). Or use the contact information and sample letter
below to send your own message.

Dennis Winterringer, Black Mesa Project EIS
Office of Surface Mining Western Region
P.O. Box 46667
Denver, CO 80201-6667
Email: BMKEIS@osmre.gov

cc:
Secretary Dirk Kempthorne
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240
Email: Exsec@ios.doi.gov

== Sample letter ==

Subject: BMP draft EIS comments

Dear Mr. Winterringer,

I urge you to reject the Peabody Western Coal Company's latest
attempt to expand and prolong its massive water withdrawals from
the Navajo aquifer in northeastern Arizona. Instead, please help
protect the scarce water resources of the Southwest and comply
with federal law by analyzing less destructive alternatives to
transporting Black Mesa coal.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act, your agency is
required to review the environmental impacts of the proposed
mining permit as well as to consider no-water and
electrical-generation alternatives. According to the most recent
data, Peabody's water withdrawals have already caused
irreparable physical damage to the Navajo aquifer, violating
your own "material damage" criteria. As a result, the sacred
springs and other natural water sources that the Hopi tribe and
the Navajo Nation depend on are drying up.

Also, I ask you to extend the deadline for public comments on
this proposal by a minimum of 60 days so that Hopis who are
currently observing a traditional ceremonial period that bars
them from engaging in secular matters can participate in the
decisionmaking process.

I am counting on you to protect the cultural and natural values
of the Black Mesa plateau by acknowledging the severe impacts of
groundwater mining and requiring a no-water alternative to
transport coal.

Sincerely,

[Your name and address]

Please also forward this message to your friends and co-workers,
and urge them to contact the Office of Surface Mining as well.

Thank you!

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