BIA seeks more Desert Rock comments

An aerial view shows BHP Billiton's Navajo Coal Co. mine, located near Fruitland on the San Juan River, which will be expanded as part of the Desert Rock Energy Project. The mine currently feeds the Four Corners Generating Station. [Courtesy Photo]

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — The Bureau of Indian Affairs and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are reopening the comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Desert Rock Energy Project and extension of the Navajo Mine.

The comment period closed Aug. 20, however, BIA decided to extend the comment period through 4 p.m. Oct. 9 after receiving requests for the extension from Colorado congressmen and others. A notice of the extension was published Friday in the Federal Register.

Though the comment period is still open and BIA has not yet signed off on a business site lease, Desert Rock Energy Co., a subsidiary of Sithe Global Power LLC, announced the same day of the Federal Register publication that Fluor Corp. has been contracted to design and build the proposed 1,500 megawatt coal-fired power plant.

The proposed project requires a long-term business site lease between the Navajo Nation and Diné Power Authority, and a sublease between DPA and Desert Rock Energy Co. Because the power plant and associated facilities would be located on land held in trust by the federal government for the Navajo Nation, the lease must be approved by BIA.

Frank Maisano, media liaison for Sithe, said the privately held company has received inquiries from some local environmentalists about the makeup of Desert Rock Energy Co., and questions have been raised as to whether there were any Navajos on board who might stand to profit.

“This is another of the irrelevant issues they continue to bring up to try and create some sort of doubt that we’re actually going to do work that will be helpful to the Navajo Nation.

“We’ve been invited here to help the Navajo Nation build an economic development project, yet at the same time, guys like Dalian Long (Dooda’ Desert Rock) say, ‘They don’t mean what they say.’

“Yet at the same time, every time somebody says we don’t mean what we say, we do an additional thing that proves we mean what we say.

“It’s really frustrating after a while to have to continue to prove that you really are going to do something that is going to help people, because there’s one little core group of opponents that stand up all the time and just cast doubt based on irrelevant facts.”

Maisano said there are no Navajos affiliated with the energy company. “The Desert Rock Energy Company is Sithe Global. When you’re developing a project as a merchant developer, you have to have an entity that can be the functionary of operating the project and that is what Desert Rock Energy Company is.”

The energy subsidiary is a privately held, independent power company and a limited liability corporation formed under the laws of the state of Delaware. Because Sithe and the energy company are not publicly traded companies, their list of shareholders is also private.

Maisano said one of the big reasons Fluor has been selected as the contractor for the Desert Rock power plant “is because they’re excited about working with the Navajo Nation and hiring Navajo workers, which is a high priority for us and something that we held out as a high priority for our contractor who will manage the site.”

Fluor was assessed along with several other companies before being chosen, according to Maisano, however, he was not at liberty to name any of the companies.

“We did take proposals from a number of folks, many of the contractors who do these things. They’re all very reputable companies, international, top-of-the-field experts in putting these state-of-the-art power plants together.

“I sometimes question where the opponents get their facts when they just spout off about this is some sort of a scheme. The reality is all of this is done above-board,” he said.

“I read the press release that Elouise Brown (Dooda’ president) put out that said, ‘It was a secret signing.’ There was no secret signing. We’re putting out a press release and telling everybody what we’re doing. How can that be secret?”

The proposed mine-to-mouth plant would be constructed on a 592-acre parcel adjacent to BHP Billiton’s Navajo Coal Co. lease area. The coal fuel supply would be produced from the BHP mine and transported by conveyor to a proposed coal preparation facility located north of the lease area, near the power plant.

The project involves an extension of existing surface coal mining operations, disposal of coal combustion byproducts, mine reclamation operations, and support facilities.

The proposed project also includes a water well field and supply pipeline to the power plant, transmission lines, a receiving electrical station and ancillary facilities required in the production and transmission of electricity, along with new access roads.