Judge Says No to Mining Permit on Navajo Reservation in Arizona
By Deenise Becenti, The Salt Lake Tribune
 
Date: Wed, 27 Mar 1996 17:14:37 -0500
 

Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz.--Mar. 27--A judge has reversed a decision to renew a permit 
for a coal mine on the Navajo reservation, saying the mine's owner has disturbed
 burial and ceremonial sites considered sacred by the Navajos.

The Interior Department administrative law judge, Ramon M. Child, ruled on two 
appeals to an extension of the Kayenta Mine's permit that was granted last July 
to the mine's owner, Peabody Western Coal Co. The permit approval came from the 
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, an agency of the U.S. 
Interior Department that has jurisdiction over mining on American Indian lands.

In his ruling, Child said the surface mine in northeast Arizona disturbed four 
burial sites containing the remains of 11 people and also threatened other 
sites.

``The record shows that Peabody's mining, if conducted without further 
investigation, will disturb up to 100 additional sites,'' wrote Child.

He also wrote that Peabody, which mines 12 million tons of coal a year from two 
mines on the reservation, failed to establish sacred and ceremonial site 
committees to ensure the protection of the sites by working with residents 
affected by the Kayenta mine.

In issuing his ruling, Child consolidated appeals filed by the Navajo 
environmental group Dineh Alliance and Maxine Kescoli, who lives near a proposed
 mine expansion site.

Kescoli claims any mining activity would violate the customary use of the land 
her family has lived on for several generations.

Child ruled that Kescoli has never granted consent for Peabody to mine coal in 
the permit area nor within 300 feet of her dwelling.

``This case is not about closing the mine,'' said Dolph Barnhouse, the director 
of a legal-aid service for Navajos based in Window Rock that represents 
Kescoli.''It's about requiring the federal government's Office of Surface Mining
 and Peabody to follow the law and to respect the rights of Navajos using land 
where the company wants to mine coal.''

Company spokeswoman Beth Ulinger says Child's ruling was ``unfounded and 
contrary to our extensive record of good environmental compliance.''

She said Peabody, headquartered in Flagstaff, Ariz., plans to file a petition 
for review with the Interior Department's Board of Land Appeals.

``Before any mining is conducted, we meet with tribal officials and residents to
 determine if there are sacred sites that need special consideration,'' said 
Ulinger, adding that the company has completed an extensive 17-year 
archeological investigation of the Black Mesa area, near Kayenta.

Ulinger would not comment on specifics of the judge's findings because the issue
 is still in litigation.

Until the dispute is settled, Peabody will continue mining operations.

The Kayenta Mine is the largest of the two mines on the reservation owned and 
operated by Peabody, a subsidiary of Hanson PLC, a British-American industrial 
management corporation involved in operating 31 coal mines in eight states.

Peabody negotiated with the Hopi and Navajo tribes in the 1960s to lease 600 
million tons of coal that lies in numerous seams just beneath the surface of 
Black Mesa.

It started operations at Kayenta in 1973, and mines about 7.5 million tons of 
high-grade coal and provides $45 million in royalties and taxes to the tribes 
per year.

It also hires about 750 Navajos and Hopis between its two mines, making it one 
of the largest private employers of American Indians in the country.

The permits for the Kayenta and its other mine, the Black Mesa Mine, were made 
subject to renewal every five years beginning in 1990.

>From the Kayenta mine, coal is transported on a 17 mile long conveyor belt to 
massive silos, where it is loaded in electric rail cars and delivered to the 
Navajo Power Plant just south of Page, Ariz.

The permit for the company's Black Mesa Mine is on indefinite hold until a 
resolution to a dispute involving water from the Navajo aquifer used in a slurry
 line is reached.

The Black Mesa mine also continues to operate.

About 4.5 million tons of coal are extracted from the Black Mesa mine every 
year. The coal is crushed and mixed with water before being sent to the Mohave 
Generating station near Laughlin, Nev., via a 273-mile buried slurry line.

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END!A$16?ST-MINE-PERMIT

AP-NY-03-27-96 1532EST