EPA seeks remand of Desert Rock permit

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed a motion Monday with its Environmental Appeals Board for a voluntary remand of the air permit issued last July for the Desert Rock Energy Facility.

In January, EPA withdrew a portion of the permit decision regarding emission limits and controls for emissions of carbon dioxide to seek further comment on the matter.

Monday’s action addresses other issues still under appeal with the board, which will consider the motion filed Monday and issue an order to grant or deny it. If granted, the permit will be sent back to EPA’s Pacific Southwest office for further analysis.

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said he was disappointed to learn of the EPA’s decision after it was made, and doesn’t consider that true consultation with the Navajo Nation or the change he had hoped for from the Obama Administration.

“I’m just hurt in many ways as leader of this big nation,” Shirley told U.S. EPA Region 9 Acting Regional Administrator Laura Yoshi in a teleconference Monday.

“We’re just not getting the cooperation we’re needing to move this project along.”

Shirley has requested a meeting with President Barack Obama to discuss the Navajo Nation’s need for the Desert Rock project but said Monday’s decision has made that request more urgent. “Because of today’s action, I am asking for a meeting with President Obama sooner rather than later,” he said.

Obama indicated his White House policy would create a new relationship with Native people that is based on dignity and respect.

“Fair and equal treatment on our Desert Rock project is the place to start,” Shirley said. “This isn’t just about energy.

This is about sovereignty. This is about saving self. This is about the Navajo Nation regaining its independence by developing the financial wherewithal to take care of its own problems.”

Shirley said a project like Desert Rock, which will bring more than $50 million annually to the Nation, is the Navajo Nation’s best hope to break the cycle of dependency on the federal government.

Steven Begay, general manager of Diné Power Authority, co-developer of the 1,500 megawatt coal-fired plant along with Sithe Global Power of Houston, said EPA is “trying to change the rules in the middle of the stream and they’re forgetting to help us with our health, welfare and economy.

The rules are more important than maybe the lives of people out here and the progress of our Nation and our society.”

The Nation is losing revenue with every delay the federal government makes, Begay said. “Even though their concerns may be important, it’s holding up the whole tribal economy. There should be some way to move forward under the existing rules without getting caught up in the midst of proposed stuff.

“We worked under the existing rules, and the existing rules aren’t working for us right now. There has got to be some fairness to it, to help projects like ours and to bring in revenue and jobs so that we can take care of some of the social ills.”

Nathan Plagens of Desert Rock Energy Co., a Sithe subsidiary, said the official word from Desert Rock is “no comment.”

The federal agency is seeking to ensure that environmental considerations surrounding the proposal to build the Desert Rock power plant are consistent with the law and protective of human health and the environment, according to a statement from EPA headquarters in Washington.

“EPA is asking the board to remand the permit for this facility, thereby allowing the agency to reconsider clean-air technology controls for pollutants such as particulate matter.

If the board grants the agency’s request, the permit will be sent back to the EPA’s Pacific Southwest office for further analysis and public comment.”

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson applauded the move. “I am encouraged by this decision — it’s a significant victory in our ongoing fight to protect the quality of our air. We still have work to do to make sure that this project only moves forward with the proper environmental safeguards. I am pleased the Obama Administration is taking action to reverse the disastrous environmental policies of the Bush Administration.”

New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry said air emissions from Desert Rock would have single-handedly undone the state’s climate change initiatives. “We stand ready to assist EPA Region 9 and the Navajo Nation to make significant improvements to the design of this facility, including technologies that will address greenhouse gas emissions.”

Jeff Holmstead, former assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation under the Bush Administration and now head of the Environmental Strategies Group at Bracewell & Giuliani, which represents Sithe, said EPA’s motion came as a complete surprise.

“I’ve worked on environmental issues for over 20 years, and I’ve never seen anything like it. I don’t think anyone ever imagined that the new team at EPA would seem to have such little regard for due process or basic notions of fairness. Everyone understands that a new administration has discretion to change rules and policies prospectively.

But I’ve never seen any administration try to change policies and rules retroactively,” he said.

Information: http://www.epa.gov/region09/air/permit/desert-rock/