|
April
26, 2002
Mr.
Jerry D. Gavette
Office of Surface Mining
1999 Broadway, Suite 3320
Denver, Colorado 80202-5733
Mr.
Gavette,
On
behalf of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under
Law ("Lawyers' Committee"), the Black Mesa Trust
and each of its directors individually, the Natural Resources
Defense Council ("NRDC"), and the Sierra Club,
we submit the following comments and objectives to the January
17, 2002 Peabody Western Coal Company request to the Office
of Surface Mining to lift the administrative delay on the
Permanent Program Permit or life-of-mine permit for the
Black Mesa Mine and for approval of Peabody's request to
incorporate the mining sequence for the J-23 coal reserve
area in the BM2P3 application.
These
are only one part of the comments being submitted to the
Office of Surface Mining ("OSM") on behalf of
the organizations listed above. We incorporate by reference
into our comments and objectives those which are also being
filed by the Black Mesa Trust, NRDC, and the Sierra Club
under separate cover, including all of the exhibits attached
to each of the comments. Our comments and objections are
submitted pursuant to 30 C.F.R. § 773.6(b) and we request
that OSM consider these comments and objections and the
attached exhibits when determining whether to issue the
permit. In addition, we request and expect that OSM will
also consider the materials referenced by our comments and
by the comments of Black Mesa Trust, NRDC, and the Sierra
Club which, although not attached as exhibits, are materials
publicly available.
The
Lawyers' Committee is a national civil rights organization
formed in 1963 to involve the private bar in assuring the
rights of all Americans. For thirty-nine years, the Lawyers'
Committee has represented victims of discrimination in virtually
all aspects of life. In 1991, the Lawyers' Committee formed
its Environmental Justice Project to represent communities
of color in environmental and civil rights matter. We use
the rule of law to challenge environmentally discriminatory
conditions and decisions - and ultimately - to seek justice
for people of color who are fighting to clean up contamination
on the land where they live or who are fighting to stop
environmentally harmful activities from occurring in their
neighborhoods. The Lawyers' Committee has partnered with
the law firm of Shearman and Sterling to provide pro bono
representation to the Black Mesa Trust for issues related
to the Black Mesa Mine and the Navajo Aquifer ("N-Aquifer").
Our comments are drawn from the Lawyers' Committee's long
and varied experience with the administration and application
of the nation's civil rights laws, including within the
environmental context.
The
Black Mesa Trust is a nonprofit, tax-exempt educational
and public advocacy organization headquartered on the Hopi
Reservation. Many of the members of the Board of Directors
of the Black Mesa Trust live on the Hopi Reservation. The
Black Mesa Trust develops traditional and nontraditional
teaching and learning opportunities to help Hopi and Navajo
people understand issues and findings which bear on the
well-being of the N-Aquifer, as well as steps they can take
to protect this critical resource and preserve those aspects
of Hopi and Navajo life that depend upon it.
NRDC
is a national nonprofit environmental organization that
uses law, science, and the support of its more than 500,000
members nationwide to protect the planet's wildlife and
wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment
for all living things. NRDC works to foster the fundamental
right of all people to have a voice in decisions that affect
their environment. It also seeks to break down the pattern
of disproportionate environmental burdens borne by people
of color and others who face social or economic inequities.
The
Sierra Club is a national nonprofit environmental organization
founded in 1892. It now has more than 700,000 members. The
Arizona Chapter of the Sierra Club has over 11,000 members.
The Colorado Plateau Group of the Sierra Club has over 700
members, 100 of whom live on or near Black Mesa. Since 1992,
the Sierra Club's Environmental Justice Campaign has worked
in partnership with communities of color and low-income
communities on local environmental, health, and justice
issues. The law firm of Hagens Berman & Mitchell is
providing pro bono representation and submitting comments
on behalf of the Sierra Club and the organizations listed
above.
Thank
you for the opportunity to provide written comments. We
submit them for inclusion in the record being developed
by OSM. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have
any questions or if we can provide any further assistance
in this matter. I can be reached at (202) 662-8600.
Mary
M. O'Lone
Environmental Justice Project Director
Mark
Tanney, Esq.
Shearman & Sterling
Comments
and Objections to J-23 Life-of-Mine (LOM) Mine Plan/Black
Mesa Permanent Program Permit (BM2P3) Application Submitted
by Peabody Western Coal Company
Download
Acrobat Reader
back
to the top
Environmental
Justice Project
|
