Desert Rock gets air permit —
State vows immediate challenge

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued an air permit Thursday for the proposed 1,500 megawatt Desert Rock Energy Facility on the heels of a court action compelling EPA to issue or deny the permit by July 31.

Desert Rock Energy Co., a subsidiary of Sithe Global Power LLC, and Diné Power Authority sued EPA earlier this year to compel the federal agency to act on the permit, which they said was more than three years overdue. The state of New Mexico filed a motion to intervene in the consent decree case July 10.

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., received news of the permit around 10 a.m. through a phone call with U.S. EPA Region 9 Administrator Wayne Nastri, according to George Hardeen of the president’s office.

While Shirley and Sithe officials applauded the news, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Attorney General Gary King vowed to file an immediate appeal to stay the permitting action. Diné CARE and Earthjustice, which represents a number of conservation groups, also plan to contest the permit within 30 days.

“I know there are many challenges,” Shirley said. “Native people, Navajo people included, regard the earth as our mother, the sky as our father, and certainly we’re doing everything we can to take care of the air and the environment. At the same time we know that the deities want us to stand on our own, and that’s where Desert Rock comes in.”

Richardson and King, in a press release issued soon after the announcement, labeled EPA’s decision “ill-advised” and claimed that EPA and Sithe apparently attempted to cut a deal to evade judicial review of the new power plant.

“EPA is bending to the will of corporate, financial and misguided political interests that will pollute New Mexico’s skies,” Richardson said. “EPA’s decision ignores its obligations to protect the health of residents and the environment in New Mexico and the region. We will not allow this ill-advised decision to stand.”

New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry said EPA is shirking its responsibility to require an analysis of several pollutants, including mercury, ozone and carbon dioxide. “This plant will increase the region’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than one third and wipe out our efforts to reduce these emissions across the state.”
Hardeen said developers had two meetings with Curry, explained the plant’s technology, and answered all the state’s questions.

“Everything was fine, and then out came the state’s opposition without so much as a phone call to the president. There hasn’t been, as far as I know, any communication between the governor and the president.”

Mike Eisenfeld of San Juan Citizens Alliance, said, “This is a political decision, not one based on science or EPA’s own mandate. EPA ramrodded this permit out the door in response to a lawsuit filed by the coal plant owner, whose lawyer, Jeff Holmstead, was a high-level EPA official in the Bush administration. It looks like he’s still giving orders to EPA’s staff.”

Sarah Jane White, who lives in the Sanostee area and suffers from asthma, said it is ironic that EPA issued a Clean Air permit for Desert Rock when “here on Navajo, on a daily basis, more and more of our people are being diagnosed with asthma.

“Why are we having respiratory problems? How does U.S. EPA know the air is clean when there are neither studies nor efforts made to address it? The one and only answer is environmental racism,” she said.

Dailan Long of Dine CARE said U.S. EPA has failed Navajo communities. “Their decision clearly demonstrates the coal industry’s power to make economics more important than the health impacts. Today, is a sad day for the Dine’ and future generations.”

Shirley said development of the project means more than 1,000 construction jobs, more than 400 permanent jobs, and more than $50 million annually in revenue for the Navajo Nation.

“We know that there will continue to be challenges, but,

hopefully, at day’s end we will prevail,” Shirley said.
Doug MacCourt of the law firm Ater Wynne, which represents DPA, said the enterprise has worked hard for more than five years to see the permit issued and the process has been open, fair and respectful.

“Remember that this project is not just about energy. It is about tribal sovereignty, about independence, and quality of life for an entire nation. I am very proud of the DPA and all the members of the Navajo Nation who have worked so hard to make Desert Rock a reality.”

Steven C. Begay, DPA general manager, said the permit turns on a number of green lights to go forward, while Dirk Straussfeld, executive vice president of the Desert Rock Energy Co., called issuance of the permit “another important milestone.”