Peabody Coal’s Permit for Black Mesa Mining Complex Rejected

January 18th, 2010

Black Mesa Trust Press Release

Jan. 8, 2009

For more information, contact Vernon Masayesva, 928/255-2356

Peabody Coal’s Permit for Black Mesa Mining Complex Rejected

A new day for Native peoples

“A great new day is dawning for the Hopi and all Native peoples in this country,” said Vernon Masayesva, executive director of the grassroots organization Black Mesa Trust, in response to the news that an Office of Surface Mining administrative law judge has rejected the permit issued by OSM for the Black Mesa Complex that would have allowed Peabody Coal to continue mining-as-usual at the Black Mesa and Kayenta Mines on Hopi and Navajo lands in northern Arizona.

Masayesva and former Hopi Tribal Chairman Ben Nuvamsa met with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s staff in November to ask that decision-makers at Interior be more responsive to Native American concerns and more mindful of their trust responsibilities for the 560-plus Indian tribes in the U.S.

“The Interior Secretary and the agencies under his oversight are to be commended,” said Masayesva. “They have taken prompt and appropriate action to begin to undo centuries of federal decision-making disrespectful of Indians and their rightful place in this nation. We look forward to a productive and amicable working relationship with Joe Pizarchik, the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement’s new director.”

Administrative Law Judge Robert G. Holt wrote in his Jan. 5 order: “I have decided to grant Nutumya’s NEPA Motion [submitted by Kendall Nutumya et al. asking that the permit be rejected] because it demonstrates that OSM violated NEPA [the National Environmental Protection Act] by not preparing a supplemental draft environmental statement (EIS) when Peabody changed the proposed action. As a result the Final EIS did not consider a reasonable range of alternatives, described the wrong affected environmental baseline, and did not achieve the informed decision-making and meaningful public comment required by NEPA. Because the Final EIS does not satisfy NEPA, the decision must be vacated and remanded to OSM for further action.”

That the Hopi people did not have an adequate opportunity to comment during the EIS process has long been an issue in the Hopi villages.  Last year Victor Masayesva, Jr., circulated a petition in the Village of Hotevilla asking OSM to cancel the environmental impact statement on just those grounds. The petition, bearing 117 signatures, was delivered to OSM in Denver, Colo., in Dec. 2008.

In 2004, Peabody submitted to OSM a mining application that would have combined the Black Mesa and Kayenta Mines, which have been in operation since the early 1970s, into one mining operation under one permit, rebuilt the coal slurry pipeline that carried water from the Black Mesa Mine to the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nev., and built a new water-supply system to supply the mine. This last point was the critical one for Black Mesa Trust because Peabody had been using 4,400 acre feet a year of pristine drinking water pumped from the N-aquifer for the coal slurry pipeline and its other mining operations on Black Mesa. Black Mesa Trust was founded in 1999 to stop Peabody’s use of N-aquifer water, the birthright of the Hopi and Navajo living on Black Mesa. Incontrovertible evidence showed that Peabody’s pumping of the aquifer was not only wasting sole source drinking water but also destroying the aquifer itself.

OSM performed an EIS for the Peabody permit application and issued a draft that identified a preferred alternative that approved the application and construction projects. But after the draft EIS was published and before a final EIS was issued, Peabody changed its permit application, deleting the development of a new water system for the mining operation, as well as several other components of the original plan. OSM announced that in response to Peabody’s revised application, it had chosen Alternative B, rather than Alternative A, as the preferred alternative. OSM reopened the comment period on the draft EIS, but did not conduct additional scoping meetings or change the topics that the EIS would analyze, even though Peabody had radically modified its application.

OSM selected Alternative B, and approved Peabody’s application, issuing a its decision in December 2008.

The Administrative Law Judge found that Peabody’s revision of its application contained substantial changes related to environmental concerns and that OSM should at least have prepared a supplemental draft EIS. “At a minimum, the new proposed action would change the impacts on water resources, soils, vegetation, wildlife, and cultural resources,” wrote the judge, adding, “Because the change was so substantial, OSM may also have considered whether to terminate the NEPA compliance process on Peabody’s original application and start anew on Peabody’s latest revised application.” [Italics added.]

Sean Gnant, one of the people who prepared the legal work that led to this decision, pointed out that the judge’s order does not stop mining on Black Mesa. It does probably mean that OSM will have to prepare a new EIS, at which point the Hopi people could ask — during the scoping process — that OSM include an alternative that would put require Peabody to replace the water that it has pumped from the N-aquifer.

Sean Hecht, director of UCLA’s Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic, and his students did extensive work on the Nutumya motion in collaboration with Gnant and Nuvamsa. “Every year our students work on a variety of issues,” said Hecht, and I jumped at the chance to have them take on this effort. It was a significant legal issue, the work was challenging for the students, the clients were compelling, and I knew we could do a good job on it. The students really put their hearts into it.” Hecht said he would be happy to continue to work with the Hopi people if Peabody or OSM appealed the ruling to a higher administrative level or took it to court.

The legal work was prepared by David Abney, Sean Gnant, and students at the UCLA Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic under the direction of Sean B. Hecht. Additional motions on behalf of the Hopi people were prepared by Californians for Renewable Energy’s Michael Boyd and Martin Homec. Verrin Kewenvoyouma, Esq., Victor Masayesva, Jr., Black Mesa Water Coalition, and the Navajo groups The Forgotten People and the Coal Mine, Leupp, and Tonalea Chapters of the Navajo Nation were involved in this effort. The Black Mesa Trust Board of Directors offers its sincere gratitude to these people and groups and to everyone whose prayers and good thoughts have brought us to this day.

Posted in Breaking News | No Comments »

A Letter to President Obama

December 14th, 2009

December 11, 2009

The Honorable Barack H. Obama

President, United States of America

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,

I write to inform you of a tragedy and national disgrace occurring on the Hopi and Navajo Indian Reservations in Northern Arizona.

This month, on Hopiland, we are observing the month of Kyamuya, the time of rest, reflection and renewal, the time for staying in our homes and for telling the old stories, for sharing ancient teachings and wisdom with the youth who gather round us.  They look to us with eager eyes and listen with open hearts and minds.  They know they are gathering the truest wealth for living a good life, for living in our Hopi Way.  They gather ancient teachings for the time when they will be called to do what I am now fulfilling: the responsibility to carry forward that our ancestors have given to us. Since time immemorial, it has been so, but, this year, more than most, correction and renewal seems especially critical.

I do not tell these children what now burdens my heart, and which I am petitioning you to address.  Bodies of those who told the stories and shared the wisdom before me do not rest easy.  As I write these words, bulldozers and gigantic shovels are ripping through ancient graves and dislodging my ancestors from their sacred rest in Mother Earth. As I write these words, Peabody Energy Company, with the approval of your Department of the Interior, is strip mining the history and the sacred from the ancestral lands of the Hopi people. The burial grounds and cultural sites that are our living museums and cathedrals and academy of our Hopi Way are being dynamited from under our feet.

Since 1970, strip mining started on Black Mesa, the heart of Hopi land. It is expected to continue for 16 more years. In the process of strip mining for coal, untold numbers of our ancestral villages, burial sites, rock art, and religious shrines have been and are being systematically destroyed by Peabody Western Coal Co., a subsidiary of Peabody Energy. To send the coal to Los Angeles they tap into our wells and aquifers using a million gallons of pure drinking water every day to send coal slurry through pipelines. Hopi wells have dropped in some places by 80 feet, making our traditional subsistence farming impossible.

It is not easy to explain to our children about the tragedy, about the obliteration of all traces of their ancestors. It is painful and confusing to have to explain to them that their government does not hold what is sacred to them of any importance.

This is occurring on your watch and on mine.  It is the shame of our generation.  It is the shame of our contracts with Peabody Energy and the shame of selling our birthright.  It is the shame of Hopi who were coerced into signing the 35-year leases with Peabody and federal agents who do not seem to be concerned with the damage they wreak, and it is the shame of the Department of the Interior, which is charged with looking after our long-term well-being.

Things have changed with your election. The forces that are now destroying the resting places of our ancestors no longer hold absolute sway.  The way to a brighter world is before us if we choose it.  The time of desecrating the graves and the spewing of poisons can and must come to an end. There are new technologies and new fuels available for a healthier world.  And, where there was once only disdain and dismissal, there is now growing respect for indigenous knowledge that has sustained the peoples for millennia.  It is time to create historic change and you can bring it about.

Please, Mr. President, command those who answer to you; those in the Office of Surface Mining who are entrusted to perform the studies and select options regarding strip mining on Black Mesa.  Instruct them that your administration is to be guided by a wiser and wider agenda. Inform them that a new spirit of mutual respect and concern is to be the rule when dealing with Native people and that OSM and others must re-evaluate their decisions regarding Black Mesa and other indigenous lands on the basis of mutual respect and sovereignty.  Instruct them to take their trust responsibility to indigenous peoples seriously, and demand they give full consideration to cultural issues (along with those of air and water, etc.) as they move forward in their findings and decisions.

And, please, Mr. President, do not let the process be blind and deaf to the culture and ancient Way of the people whose lives and future are at stake.  Do not let OSM dismiss the need to preserve the land sites in which Hopi history and teaching is encoded.  Do not let federal officers under your control disgrace the bones and burial places of my ancestors.

You and your Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, have the historic opportunity to bring environmental justice to the Hopi people and all indigenous people whose lands are being desecrated by mining and logging industries.

Kwakwa (Thank you),

Vernon Masayesva

Executive Director

Black Mesa Trust

cc: U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Letters | 1 Comment »

Environmental groups respond sharply to their ouster

October 15th, 2009

Indian Country Today

Print this article

Environmental groups respond sharply to their ouster

Originally printed at: http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/southwest/63858687.html

KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz. – The battle waged against a major coal company by Hopi and Navajo activists and against large environmental groups by tribal officials has, at least temporarily, intensified the conflict playing out in northern Arizona over the control, preservation and use of cultural and natural resources.

“I never thought I would see the day when being ‘Hopi’ meant being anti-environment, pro-big corporate energy, and actually promoting pollution and global warming in favor of ‘the almighty dollar,’” Alph Secakuku said.

In addition to being Sipaulovi Village representative on the tribal council, he is president of Hopi Organizational Political Initiative, a grassroots group believed to be among those ousted from Hopi tribal land for being perceived allies of the Sierra Club and other large groups that have opposed Peabody Western Coal Company’s role in expanded strip mining.

On Sept. 28 the Hopi tribal council – its legitimacy challenged in political infighting – said the Sierra Club, National Resources Defense Council, National Parks Conservation Association, Grand Canyon Trust, and “on-reservation organizations sponsored by or affiliated with the groups, are no longer welcome on the reservation.”

The announcement triggered sharp prepared responses from opponents of wider strip mining atop Black Mesa, an area sacred to traditionalists.

The ousted organizations were singled out for reportedly asking the Environmental Protection Agency to study Navajo Generating Station’s possible contribution to smog over the Grand Canyon, raising red flags about economic loss if the plant were to close. A controversial expanded mining permit federally approved last year ensures a coal supply for the plant’s continued operation.

In addition to H.O.P.I., the banned groups are said to include Black Mesa Water Coalition, To’ Nizhoni Ani (Navajo for beautiful water speaks), C-Aquifer for Diné and other community-based organizations, some of which have urged green development, including jobs in renewable energy and traditional occupations.

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. supported the removal of environmental groups from Hopi lands, eliciting a sharp response from Black Mesa Water Coalition’s co-director Wahleah Johns, Navajo, who said the coalition believes Shirley is “misinformed as to the benefits of coal mining and coal-fired power plants and out of touch with the kind of economy the Navajo people want.

“Our organization has been working to support the traditional lifeways of weavers, ranchers, artisans and a new clean energy economy. After over 30 years of coal development on the Navajo reservation, most of our people still live below the national poverty line, and now there are increasing health problems due to fossil fuel development pollution and global warming.”

It is a “shocking blow to hear our elected president condemn Navajo citizens who have opposing views to coal development as ‘the greatest threat to tribal sovereignty, tribal self-determination, and our quest for independence,’” said Enei Begaye, coalition co-director. “The president’s statement is a stinging insult and threat to all Navajo citizens who don’t align their opinions with corporate values or President Shirley’s energy agenda.”

Ben Nuvamsa, former Hopi tribal chairman, said the “‘environmentalists’ stood by the Hopi Tribe when we opposed the making of artificial snow on our sacred Nuvatukyaovi (San Francisco Peaks.) They assisted in our opposition to the proposed uranium mining near the Grand Canyon. They assisted in securing protections for the American bald eagle.

“So why the opposition to ‘environmentalists’ now? Could it be financial and corporate greed? Absolutely,” said Nuvamsa, who resigned last year during tribal council turmoil.

Central to the current political strife is the Black Mesa Project Environmental Impact Statement and the Office of Surface Mining’s grant of a life-of-mine permit to Peabody Western Coal Co., which raised concerns that pristine aquifer water could be used for industrial purposes, he said.

Black Mesa’s coal is “strip-mined and burned to generate cheap electricity for California, southern Nevada and Arizona. After decades in operation, however, thousands of tribal homes near the mines, powerplants and transmission lines are still without electricity and running water. Unemployment chronically hovers above 40 percent,” said a joint statement of the Sierra Club and Grand Canyon Trust, which said the mining is “exploitation of tribal lands by outside interests has done little to alleviate chronic poverty.”

Mohave Generating Station in Nevada, which, when operating, had used Black Mesa coal, had agreed on pollution controls but was closed in 2005 because of a failure to reach an agreement with Navajo and Hopi governments on coal royalties and the protection of tribal water supplies.

Vernon Masayesva, another former Hopi tribal chairman and founder of the Black Mesa Trust, said the council’s action barring environmental groups “is part of the pro-Peabody council to clear the hurdles blocking Peabody from getting a life-of-mine permit to continue the destructive surface mining activities which have already destroyed an untold number of archaeological sites, burial grounds, rock art, and cultural resources.”


Posted in Breaking News, Local News | No Comments »

Solar Energy is the Future for Hopi

October 3rd, 2009

Black Mesa Trust Press Release

For immediate publication

For more information, contact Vernon Masayesva 928/255-2356

Solar Power is the Future for Hopi

KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz., Oct. 11 — During the California Public Utility Commission’s proceedings to determine the fate of Mohave Generating Station, Black Mesa Trust proposed that the Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation each put a 500 MW solar power plant on Black Mesa.

“Up until now, our tribal leaders have refused to look seriously at a commercial solar plant to replace the electricity and tribal revenues,” said Black Mesa Trust Executive Director Vernon Masayesva.

“But contrary to what the Hopi Tribal leaders and attorneys–and Peabody Coal Co.–are saying about the relative costs of solar, this proposed project shows that solar generation is cost-effective,” he said.

What Black Mesa Trust is proposing, is a solar power facility that can deliver up to 1,000 MW of electricity during the peak or near-peak periods of the day – electricity that is very valuable to the utilities and rate payers. A 1,000 MW solar dish farm will produce an estimated 2.4 million MWh of electricity annually, the vast majority of which would be peak or near-peak load power sold to California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah markets.

The size of this plant (or plants) would be a little less than 5,000 acres or about 6+ square miles.

The cost of solar energy systems largely depends on the volume of production. For example, one dish could cost over $10,000 per kilowatt – about $250,000 per 25 KW dish. However, high volume manufacturing could reduce the cost of each dish system dramatically to below $2,000 per KW or about $30,000 per dish. Big difference!

This brings the cost of peak power generated from these dishes down to competitive levels with the power produced from clean coal-fired plants, natural gas powered plants, or virtually any other unsubsidized power generating facility. It will offset the loss of revenue that utilities have to absorb when they have no customers during off-peak periods.

Manufacturing, constructing, and operating this size solar generating facility will result in 1,200 construction jobs, and 250 permanent jobs. This will provide a significant financial boon to the Hopi and Navajo Tribes, and has a number of advantages, such as:

· The energy source is infinite compared to generating stations using coal, which is a finite resource.

· It is compatible with the Hopi view that we can enjoy benefits of modern society without degrading the environment.

· It will use very little water compared to the 1.4 billion gallons annually that Peabody was using before coal slurry was shut down.

· It will not be subject to future regulatory/environmental uncertainty, such as mercury emission regulations or carbon taxes;

· It is a renewable resource providing revenues for the foreseeable future, unlike the limited coal reserves;

· It will replace the current tribal royalties provided by Black Mesa Mine, and make Hopi and Navajo less dependent on Peabody.

· It will employ many more Hopis than are currently employed by Peabody;

· It will diversify the revenue base, which is one of the top priorities of the Hopi Tribe;

· It will not require daily destruction of the land and archaeological sites burial grounds caused by blasting to get at the coal seams. Peabody blasting continues non-stop during the month of December (Kyaamuya-Month of Respect) when Hopis are forbidden to disturb the earth.

Clean power production is becoming critical as states take into account the real costs of producing energy, using fossil fuels and are setting standards for their renewable energy portfolios. Arizona Corporation Commission, for example, set a standard of producing 15% of Arizona’s energy with renewables by the year 2025.

The Arizona Republic quoted former Governor Janet Napolitano on the value of renewable energy generation: “One hour’s worth of sunshine falling in just six square miles on a sunny day can power the entire state for a full day…. Currently, our energy situation is crutched upon non-renewable fuels like oil, gas and coal. Fortunately a different source of energy is making a comeback. With the help of modern technology, solar power holds the potential to bring Arizona electricity that is clean, renewable, abundant and reliable.”

“We have heard over and over again that coal is a cheap way to produce electricity. But until now the true costs of burning fossil fuels has been willfully ignored. Burning fossil fuels produces mercury, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which is a major contributor to global warming, and particulates, that cause asthma and other lung diseases,” said Masayesva.

“When these costs are taken into account, coal is actually the least cost-effective energy generation technology. In addition, coal power plants use excessive amounts of water.

Building solar power plants may be a little more expensive in the short term, but once all the costs of fossil fuel generation are taken into account, solar generation is among the least expensive options.

The Hopi people are saying, “Enough is enough.” We are no longer willing to squander our coal, our water, our health, and our culture to produce electricity for urban centers when other ways of producing that electricity are available and commercially viable and would provide significant revenues to the tribe.

Our elected representatives in tribal government and our attorneys need to stop acting as if they work for energy companies, but begin to put our peoples’ interests first,” concluded Masayesva.

For more information about Black Mesa Trust, visit www.BlackMesaTrust.org; or e-mail:  kuuyi@aol.com

Posted in Local News | 1 Comment »

Scott Canty Names Environmentalists as Shills

October 1st, 2009

October 1, 2009

Editor:

Scott Canty has crossed the ethical line when he call his clients, the Hopi people, who are saving water and preventing destructions of archaeological and burial sites within Peabody leaseholds “shills” for outside conservationist groups.

All Hopi people, including members of the Council who have pride in calling themselves Hopi are conservationists and environmentalists.  We have a covenant with Ma’sau to help steward (take care of) the land.

Canty is the General Counsel to the Hopi Tribe and should not be labeling H.O.P.I., Black Mesa Trust, Hopi farmers, traditional leaders, religious leaders and hundreds of individuals supporting BMT as decoys for outside organizations.

Canty seems to think we are incapable of thinking and making decisions on our own.  It is a racist comment and unethical coming from a lawyer and should not be tolerated.

Canty has now insulted every Hopi and should be considered “persona non grata”.  The Hopi Tribal Council should not be paying Canty over $100,000 plus generous benefits to insult us.

The unusual drought we are experiencing is caused by the way we are misbehaving.  Our leaders no longer practice what Hopi means.  We are wasting water.   We are allowing our coal to be burned and turned into toxic waste. This is a major cause of global warming that is causing draught, and beginning to turn the world “upside down” as our ancestors prophesized if we abuse the land.

Vernon Masayesva

P.O. Box 33

Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039

(928) 255-2356

Posted in Articles | No Comments »

Letter to The Honorable Ken Salazar on the Hopi ‘Interim Government’

September 4th, 2009

September 04, 2009

The Honorable Ken Salazar

Secretary of the Interior

Department of the Interior

1849 C. Street N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20240

Dear Secretary Salazar:

Enclosed is a letter from the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Hopi Agency Superintendent, Wendell Honanie, responding to my inquiries on the issues relating to the creation of an “Interim Government” on the Hopi Indian Reservation.  Superintendent Honanie, by virtue of this letter, has intervened in Hopi governance by recognizing the illegal “interim government” created by the controversial Hopi Tribal Council contrary to the Hopi Constitution.

The Council is continuing to make binding decisions, including Hopi natural resources, without the Hopi Chairman and Vice Chairman, which is contrary to the requirement under the Hopi Constitution and By-Laws. Article IV. Section 1. mandates that the Hopi Tribal Council shall consist of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary Treasurer, and Council Representatives from the villages.  It further states that only the Chairman, and in his absence, the Vice Chairman, shall preside over the legislative council sessions.

Under the authorities delegated to the Council by Hopi-Tewa members, selecting a Council Representative to chair the meetings is clearly prohibited.  Yet, this is exactly what the Council did when they selected Kykotsmovi Village Representative, Phillip Quochytewa, Sr. to be the Presiding Officer.

Article IV. Section 7. of the Hopi Constitution, as amended, ended the practice of Council Representatives, selecting a member from amongst themselves to chair all legislative sessions.  This authority was taken away by Hopi-Tewa members of the Hopi Tribe in a 1969 referendum (approved by DOI Secretary) and replaced with popular elections as a way of electing a Chairman and Vice Chairman.

Today, Mr. Secretary, your Office of Surface Mining and your Bureau of Indian Affairs are actively working with the unlawful “interim government”, making decisions, favoring Peabody Coal’s desire for extended control of Hopi coal and water.

Because of your elected service to the people of Colorado, you personally understand the importance of elections as a way of assuring genuine representation of peoples’ views.  For the Hopi too, elections are a way of choosing top officials who will represent all the people and villages in legislative sessions.

Yet today, only three (3) of 12 Hopi villages have elected Council Representatives; five (5) villages are represented by hand-picked “spokesmen” for controversial “traditional” leaders who call themselves “Kikmongwim”, a matter that is pending in the Hopi Tribal Court.   Five (5) villages are not represented in Council, some by choice.  A majority of the tribal members come from the last five (5) villages.

Agency Superintendent Honanie relied on Resolution H-091-79 to recognize Tribal Secretary, Mary Felter, as the Acting Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Hopi government.  Resolution H-091-79 lays out the succession of authority of CEO when both the Chairman and Vice Chairman are ABSENT from their office.  As you are aware, both elected officers jointly resigned on December 31, 2008, leaving the offices vacant.  Therefore, the referenced Resolution does not apply in the current situation.

The Council passed Resolution H-007-2009, three (3) days before the anticipated resignation of Chairman and the Vice Chairman.  The Resolution sets up an “interim government” to run the government, and was apparently done to avoid holding an election as mandated by our Constitution.   On the day the “interim government” was set up, an Action Item to hold a Special Election was submitted by the Hopi Election Board.  Regrettably, it was not addressed until June 2009 when Council confirmed their decision not to hold a Special Election.  The Hopi Election Board was set up under Ordinance No. 34 to serve as an independent body authorized to conduct elections.  This independence is shattered by the Tribal Council.

Setting up an “interim government” is not a lawful remedy; a Special Election is.   Under these unusual circumstances, continuing with the Administrative Court proceedings DVR-200-9-PR, regarding the Significant Permit Revision No. AZ-001D for Peabody Coal, is improper and must be suspended until the Hopi government is restored and legitimized.

The Record-of-Decision to issue a Life-of-Mine Permit to Peabody Western Coal under a controversial Black Mesa Project EIS, will bind our coal and water to Peabody well beyond 2026.

Coal and water are assets belonging to the Hopi people.  Statutes, in particular, the Indian Tucker Act, and court cases, has firmly established that the DOI Secretary has fiduciary duty to hold it in trust.

Under the current controversial situation, you have a duty to act, especially in matters affecting our natural resources, and due process rights.  We understand that you may not have been informed of the improper actions of your Office of Surface Mining and your Bureau of Indian Affairs representatives, so, again, I respectfully urge you to personally review this matter so you can meet your trust responsibility to the Hopi-Tewa people.

Sincerely,

Vernon Masayesva

Founder/Executive Director, Black Mesa Trust

Former Chairman of the Hopi Tribe

Enclosure

cc:  Honorable John S. McCain

Honorable Jon Kyl

Honorable Trent Franks

Honorable Ann Kirkpatrick

Honorable Raul M. Grijalva

Charles Wilkinson

Posted in Articles | No Comments »

Dismantling Mohave

June 30th, 2009

BLACK MESA TRUST PRESS RELEASE
For further information, contact Vernon Masayesva, 928/255-2356

Black Mesa Trust Praises Plan to Dismantle Mohave Generating Station

KYKOTSMOVI, June 30 – Black Mesa Trust is encouraged by the decision of Southern California Edison and the other owners of the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nev., to decommission the station and remove the facility from the site.

“Not only was the Mohave Generation Station the dirtiest coal-based power plant in the country, it stood for more than 40 years as a symbol of the wanton destruction of Hopi and Navajo children’s heritage and birthright,” said Black Mesa Trust Executive Director Vernon Masayesva. “We hope that dismantling the power station will mean that the coal slurry pipeline between Black Mesa  and the plant — and Peabody’s wells on the N-aquifer — will also be dismantled. Only then can we ensure that the N-aquifer, the sole source of potable groundwater on the Hopi Reservation, can be used for the survival of Native peoples on Black Mesa and for the religious and cultural observances that the Creator intended.”

According to a Southern California Edison news release, the plant’s non-generating equipment and facilities will be dismantled beginning in 2009. In 2010, the generating equipment will be removed and the power plant’s operating permits ended.

“Now that the Mohave plant can never be restarted,” Masayesva added, “the Black Mesa Project EIS, which we are appealing, is no longer necessary and a waste of taxpayers money.” The EIS was developed in response to Peabody Coal’s application to combine its two mines on Black Mesa, the Kayenta Mine, which supplies coal to Navajo Generating Station, and the Black Mesa Mine, which supplied coal to Mohave, into one operation.

The 1580-MW coal-fired power plant was shut down at the end of 2005 because owners failed to install the pollution-control equipment required by a 1999 consent decree negotiated between the plant’s owners and the Grand Canyon Trust and other environmental groups and because the owners were unable to negotiate a new water supply for the operation. Up until then, Peabody used i4,000 acre feet a year of N-aquifer water for the coal slurry operation and other mining activities.

The eventual disposition of the site itself is still in discussion. Mohave owners said they were considering selling the site or building a renewable generating facility there as among the possible options. The other owners of the Mohave Generating Station are Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, Nevada Energy, and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

“Black Mesa Trust supports the conversion of the coal-fired generating station to a solar powered facility. In April 2011, the 35-year coal supply contract between Peabody and owners of Mohave will expire. The Navajo and Hopi people should take advantage of this opportunity to take control of their natural resources. We should not be content with receiving a royalty check every month. We need to be equal partners in the generating and mining ativities if that is the way we want to go with the mining.”

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Water’s Own Voice

March 17th, 2009

PRESS RELEASE

“Water’s Own Voice”
Conference Keynote Set

Kykotsmovi, Ariz., March 17 — “Water’s Own Voice: A Bridge Between Today’s Science and Indigenous Wisdom” is the topic of the keynote address at the Braiding Through Water: Weaving Traditional and Western Sciences and Knowledge Conference to be held in Flagstaff April 6-7, 2009.   Jennifer Greene, Director of the Water Research Institute of Blue Hill (Maine) and Vice President of the Constructed Wetlands Group, will be the keynote speaker.  The conference is sponsored by Black Mesa Trust, an indigenous (Hopi) environmental/cultural education organization founded by Vernon Masayesva.

Ms. Greene has lectured and taught widely in the United States and around the world on water and her studies in Flow Science, beginning with her early interest in the work of Theodor Schwenk, author of Sensitive Chaos, founder of the Institute for Flow Science in Herrischried, Germany, and continuing through her current research at WRI’s Drop Picture Method Laboratory at Blue Hill—the only such laboratory in the United States and on water phenomena.

Ms. Greene has lectured at four of the five World Water Forums (Mexico City, Mexico; Kyoto, Japan; The Hague, The Netherlands; and at the current Fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey) as well as at major water conferences from India to South Africa and throughout the US and Europe.   Her work on constructed wetlands as context for the rehabilitation of wastewater has resulted in the approval of over 200 facilities in twenty-three states and Canada with over three million square feet of constructed wetlands now in productive use.
During the conference, eighteen internationally acclaimed scientists, teachers, and artists including water science pioneer Masaru Emoto featured in the film What the ##*!!# Do We Know; Quiet Axis creator painter and environmental/space artist Lowry Burgess of Carnegie Mellon University; and artist/muralist Michael Kabotie of the Hopi Tribe will gather with Hopi traditional leaders and teachers, including Tobacco/Rabbit Clan at Hotevilla Keeper of the Pipe Jerry Honawa and former Hopi Chairman Vernon Masayesva, to explore what new paradigms of understanding arise from the braiding of Western and traditional Hopi sciences. The dialogue and discussions will be led by Leroy Little Bear, former Director of Native Studies at Harvard University and 2003 Canadian Aboriginal Person of the Year.

Detailed background information, news releases, registration forms, and an agenda for the April 6-7, 2009 Black Mesa Trust Braiding Through Water, Weaving Traditional and Western Sciences and Knowledge Conference are now available on the conference websitewww.waterbraidingconference.com.  The conference is open to the public at the Radisson Woodlands Hotel in Flagstaff, Arizona. 

Through dialogue and explorations focused on the two systems of knowing and their unique approaches to the nature, actions, and teachings of water, Core Dialogue Participants and Conference Attendees will share knowledge and experience to generate new understandings of the world in which we live.  Unlike efforts to blend traditions, work at the conference will be more akin to the way in which dark and light threads are bound together before being woven into Hopi fabric.  Like the single black-and-white strand that gives to Hopi weaving its unique character and endurance, the system of inquiry developed through conference dialogue will draw strength and quality from its respect for the integrity of both traditional and Western approaches.  As with all Hopi weaving, the work will draw energy from the optimistic hope of the weaver that the braiding of two into one will yield a singularity stronger, more beautiful, and more responsive to contemporary need and challenge than could be created from either on its own.

Conference registration will be limited to 200 persons.  It will include both adult learners and some 40 indigenous youth whose attendance is intended to deepen their appreciation of traditional science and knowing, enhance their sense of identity, and promote more purposeful learning, especially in science and mathematics, as prerequisites for their effective leadership of their peoples in the years ahead.

Registration forms and information are available at the conference website, www.waterbraidingconference.com as well as by e-mail atBraidingConference@gmail.com or by US mail at BMT Braiding Conference, P.O. Box 30396, Flagstaff, AZ  86003.  Registration for the Conference–including all meals, banquet attendance, and materials–is $175, which may be paid by check or by credit card through Pay Pal.

Other members of the Core group of Dialogue Participants include:  Shonto Begay, painter, muralist, Navajo Nation; Sat Bhattacharya, cancer research scientist, and President, International Society for the Advancement of Science and Technology, Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, and Harlem Children Society; Angelita Borbon, Indigena Sonoran Desert (Yoeme), Sacred Science consultant, and Conciencia Dialogue facilitator; Phillip Duran, Physicist, and Former Dean of Science and Mathematics, Northwest Indian College; Sandy Fox, Founder H2Om Water, Blue Water Planet Radio, and Love Planet Foundation; Jennifer Greene, Director, Water Research Institute of Blue Hill, and Vice President, The Constructed Wetlands Group, Inc.; Alan Hamilton, clinical psychologist, and President, Rio Grande Return; Jack Loeffler, environmental/Native American aural historian, and writer; Nina Perlmutter, Rabbi, and Emeritus Faculty and former Chair, Philosophy and Religious Studies, Yavapai College; Al Qöyawayma, Hopi scientist, engineer, and artist, and Founding Director and Former Board Chair, American Indian Science and Engineering Society;  Thomas Sisk, Professor of Ecology, and Director, Graduate Programs, Center for Sustainable Environments, Northern Arizona University; and Victor Vernon Woolf, Founder, Holodynamics and the Science of Unfolding Potential.

The Conference is sponsored by Black Mesa Trust, The Center for Sustainable Environments at Northern Arizona University, Grand Canyon Trust, Museum of Northern Arizona, and others.  Funding for the conference is provided by Christensen Fund, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Marguerite Casey Foundation, SB Foundation, Seventh Generation Fund, Honor the Earth, and others, including individual philanthropists.  Persons interested in providing additional support may contact Vernon Masayesva at kuuyi@aol.com

Garret Rosenblatt 7270 Slayton Ranch Road Flagstaff, AZ 86004 (928) 527-0341 (phone) (928) 527-0008 (fax)

Posted in Articles | No Comments »