A U.S. District of Colorado judge has told the Navajo Mine and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement to consider more thoroughly the environmental impact of an expansion of the mine.
Judge John L. Kane vacated a permit to expand the mine to the north after five organizations – Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity and Amigos Bravos – filed a lawsuit saying the mine and OSM had not adequately considered the environmental impact of the expansion, violating the National Environmental Policy Act.
The permit would have allowed the Navajo Mine to strip-mine 12.7 million tons of coal in the expanded area.
The mine produces coal that is burned at the nearby Four Corners Power Plant, which the citizens alliance calls one of the most polluting power plants in the nation. Kane’s order vacating the permit specifically mentioned the toxic mercury pollution created by the burning of the coal.
“OSM has shirked its legal responsibilities over the Navajo Mine for decades,” said Shiloh Hernandez of the Western Environmental Law Center, who argued the case. “Before additional mining may proceed, OSM must come clean with the public about the extensive public health and environmental contamination from this antiquated coal mine and power-plant complex. The public has a right to know how coal impacts their lives, lands, waters and communities.”
This was the second lawsuit the organizations have filed asking for a complete environmental analysis.
“They originally filed on a permit to expand mining operations by 3,800 acres, and we sued on that and won,” said Dan Olson, executive director of the San Juan Citizens Alliance. “As a result, they requested a permit to expand by 714 acres, I guess thinking that if they lowered the bar, they could get it.”
Olson said he considers it a total victory, because the judge ordered the mine and the OSM to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act’s provisions before another permit can be issued.
The Navajo Nation purchased the mine from BHP Billiton for $85 million in December 2013, a decision a number of tribal members opposed. The tribe’s energy company claimed that it would incur expenses of $400,000 a month if denied the right to mine in the proposed area. Judge Kane noted that it has sufficient coal in existing mining areas to continue supplying the power plant, which contractually it is obligated to do, through July 2016.
Kane wrote in his order that while the expense might well be significant, the possible economic harm doesn’t outweigh the doubts about the environmental impact. Kane noted the expense is OSM’s and the mine’s own fault for not conducting a complete environmental analysis in the first place.
abutler@durangoherald.com
Navajo Mine_RemediesOrder_0407 (PDF)
