Environmental Justice Project Submits Comments to the Department of Interior on Mining Permit that Will Adversely Impact Water Resources of the Hopi and Navajo Reservations

The Environmental Justice Project of the Lawyers' Committee, with co-counsel Shearman and Sterling, submitted comments to the Department of Interior's Office of Surface Mining on April 26, 2002, sharply criticizing Peabody Western Coal Company's application for a permit to operate the Black Mesa Mine located on the Hopi and Navajo reservations in northern Arizona. Our comments are part of a larger set of comments submitted by a coalition of environmental and social justice groups that includes the Lawyers' Committee, the Black Mesa Trust, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and law firms assisting pro bono.

In its permit application, Peabody proposes to increase by 30 percent its drawdown of water from the Navajo Aquifer (N-Aquifer), the sole source of drinking water for the both the Hopi and Navajo reservations. The aquifer is also the source of water for livestock and farming on the reservations, as well as the source of springs and streams that have cultural and religious significance to the two Tribes.

Peabody already uses over one billion gallons of water each year to transport of coal via pipeline to a power generating station near Laughlin, Nevada. In a report published last year based on data provided by the Department of Interior, the Natural Resources Defense Council found that water levels in the N-Aquifer have decreased by more than 100 feet in some wells on the Hopi Reservation and levels of a majority of monitored springs have lessened by more than 50 percent. These observations indicate that the withdrawal of water from the N-Aquifer exceeds the aquifer's recharge rate - the rate at which water is replaced. If yearly use continues to outpace the recharge rate, the existence of thousands of Hopi living on the reservation and relying on N-Aquifer water for cultural, religious, and agricultural uses is in jeopardy. Black Mesa Trust believes the continued use of N-Aquifer water by Peabody Coal Company poses a significant threat to the long-term viability of the Hopi Nation.

The Lawyers' Committee submitted comments on behalf of the Black Mesa Trust, as well as itself. Black Mesa Trust, an organization dedicated to developing educational resources to help the Hopi and Navajo people understand issues and findings which bear on the well-being of the N-Aquifer, and to take steps to protect this critical drinking water resource and preserve Hopi and Navajo cultural and spiritual life that depend upon the water. The comments submitted by the Lawyers' Committee and Shearman and Sterling argue that in processing the Peabody application, the Department of Interior violated the mining regulations and its own guidelines for Environmental Justice.

Cover Letter

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

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