Gila River tribal members protested Romic hazardous waste facility in March. Romic has now been fined by the US EPA for hazardous chemical releases.April 27, 2007
EPA fines Gila River Hazardous Waste Facility
Gila River tribal members protested Romic hazardous waste facility in March. Romic has now been fined by the US EPA for hazardous chemical releases.Gila River Tired of Being Dumped On
Statement of Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment (GRACE) during the March Protest: "A toxic waste treatment facility called Romic Southwest sits in the Gila River Indian Community next to Chandler. The U.S. EPA refuses to fine this company despite serious and repeat violations and the people who live and work in the community have little means to do anything about it. That is why dozens of people came out to demand the toxic waste facility be shut down. People lined both sides of the street near the facility holding signs and banners. Speeches were made as the crowd rallied in an open lot, listening to the stories of ill-health, similar struggles that others are facing around the country, and encouragement. A walk to the location where the police had blocked off the road to the Romic facility was made twice during that day. ROMIC - Who are they? Romic Southwest hazardous waste facility at the Gila River Indian Community: Bringing Hazardous Wastes from Around the World to Gila River! Let's Stop This Toxic Threat To Our Health, Environment & Culture! Did You Know? · “Romic Environmental Technologies Corporation” operates a commercial hazardous waste “treatment” facility at Lone Butte Industrial Park on the Gila River Indian Community, and they are authorized to store and “treat” hundreds of highly dangerous toxic chemicals and toxic metals. · Romic accepts hazardous waste shipped from around the world! · Romic wants to expand the amount of hazardous waste they store on site by about 50%! Romic wants to add 15 new tanks to store additional hazardous waste. · This plant has existed since 1975 and has a terrible history of violations including: o hazardous waste leaks o hazardous waste barrels stored in flooded areas o missing inspection and monitoring reports o missing hazardous waste labels o incomplete inspection logs o open containers of hazardous waste · According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency inspection reports, the dangerous practices have continued at the facility for decades. · · U.S. EPA refuses to fine this company despite serious and repeat violations. · · U.S. EPA never told the community the truth about this hazardous waste company, its problems or risks, or the proposed big expansion. EPA has allowed this company to operate for decades without full permits or any environmental impact report. · · In December 2002 Romic applied to U.S. EPA for a permit to expand and continue operating, but the EPA has failed to hold a public hearing where tribal members could voice concerns." -- Lori (Thomas-Luna) Riddle Co-Founder of GRACE, (Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment.) contaminatedinaz@... check out this site: http://www.geocities.com/contaminatedinaz/Hopi File Class Action Suit Over Black Mesa Mining
Photo: Sacred Lands Film Project
http://www.sacredland.org/endangered_sites_pages/black_mesa.html
Contact: Vernon Masayesva 928/734-9255
Black Mesa Trust Supports Traditional Hopis Suing Office of Surface Mining
Class action lawsuit alleges violations of religious freedom
KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz., April 27, 2007 – Black Mesa Trust is offering its support to Hopi tribal members on whose behalf a lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining.The class action lawsuit alleges that OSM violated traditional Hopis' religious freedom when the office scheduled the comment period on the draft environmental impact statement for the Black Mesa Project during January and February, a period during which Hopi religion requires that people attend primarily to their religious obligations to the exclusion of public matters. "I had to find someone to take over my responsibilities so I could go to the hearing," said Jerry Honawa, a Hopi religious practitioner and a named plaintiff in the lawsuit. "And then it was not even a hearing," he continued. Honawa referred to the hearings on the draft environmental impact statement held by OSM on Hopi and Navajo and in surrounding towns during the comment period. Honawa is particularly disturbed by OSM's selection of Alternative A, which allows unlimited use of N-aquifer water for the Black Mesa mining operation if a proposed project to bring water from the C-aquifer south of Interstate 40 to the mine falls through. And he is upset not only by OSM's refusal to respond to his concerns at the hearings, but to the size and complexity of the document on which he was trying to comment. "It is 758 pages," he said. "I don't think anyone on the Hopi Tribal Council has read the entire document. They are just going along with whatever OSM says." The lawsuit alleges that OSM violated both the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the provisions of the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act by knowingly and deliberately scheduling the comment period in the middle of the Hopi religious calendar. "There is no exceptionally compelling state interest in requiring traditional Hopis…to choose between honoring their religious beliefs and practice and grappling with reading, analyzing, understanding, and being forced to comment on a massive, complex, 758-page draft environmental impact statement on the Black Mesa Project during the religious portion of the Hopi calendar," reads the papers filed with the U.S. District Court, District of Arizona on April 16.The length and complexity of the document are also issues for Black Mesa Trust Executive Director Vernon Masayesva. "The draft EIS is not written in language that lay people can understand," he said, "and that is in direct violation of the principles of the National Environmental Protection Act. Not only was the comment period scheduled at an inappropriate time, but OSM insisted that our comments be 'concise' and refer to specific sections of the EIS. But their document does not meet the 'concise; standard, and by not writing it in comprehensible language, OSM made it impossible for us to comply with their requirements." The lawsuit also alleges that OSM's actions violated the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. Under Article IX of that treaty, by which Mexico ceded to the United States the traditional lands of the Hopi people, "the United States of America agreed that the people residing in the territory acquired under that Treaty would be accorded the rights of citizens of the United States, including the right to be 'secured in the free exercise of their religion without restriction,'" reads the lawsuit. Black Mesa Trust is a non-profit grassroots organization founded to protect the N-aquifer on Black Mesa for future generations of Hopis and Navajos. For more than three decades, Peabody Western Coal, the world's largest coal mining company, used water from the aquifer, the sole source of drinking water on Hopi, to slurry coal from the Black Mesa Mine to the Mohave Generating Station in Nevada. Mohave shut down at the end of 2005 because its owners failed to comply with a consent decree ordering them to install pollution control equipment. The plant remains closed and majority owner Southern California Edison has said that it has given up its attempts to reopen the facility. Nevertheless, OSM has continued with the EIS process, possibly to make the power plant more attractive to potential buyers. Without the pollution control equipment, the 1580 MW coal-fired power plant is the dirtiest in the West. -- Tanya Lee(603) 377-0267 (cell)(617) 491-6106 (tel)7270 Slayton Ranch RoadFlagstaff, AZ 860042 Chester StreetCambridge, MA 02140
http://www.sacredland.org/endangered_sites_pages/black_mesa.html
Contact: Vernon Masayesva 928/734-9255
Black Mesa Trust Supports Traditional Hopis Suing Office of Surface Mining
Class action lawsuit alleges violations of religious freedom
KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz., April 27, 2007 – Black Mesa Trust is offering its support to Hopi tribal members on whose behalf a lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining.The class action lawsuit alleges that OSM violated traditional Hopis' religious freedom when the office scheduled the comment period on the draft environmental impact statement for the Black Mesa Project during January and February, a period during which Hopi religion requires that people attend primarily to their religious obligations to the exclusion of public matters. "I had to find someone to take over my responsibilities so I could go to the hearing," said Jerry Honawa, a Hopi religious practitioner and a named plaintiff in the lawsuit. "And then it was not even a hearing," he continued. Honawa referred to the hearings on the draft environmental impact statement held by OSM on Hopi and Navajo and in surrounding towns during the comment period. Honawa is particularly disturbed by OSM's selection of Alternative A, which allows unlimited use of N-aquifer water for the Black Mesa mining operation if a proposed project to bring water from the C-aquifer south of Interstate 40 to the mine falls through. And he is upset not only by OSM's refusal to respond to his concerns at the hearings, but to the size and complexity of the document on which he was trying to comment. "It is 758 pages," he said. "I don't think anyone on the Hopi Tribal Council has read the entire document. They are just going along with whatever OSM says." The lawsuit alleges that OSM violated both the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the provisions of the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act by knowingly and deliberately scheduling the comment period in the middle of the Hopi religious calendar. "There is no exceptionally compelling state interest in requiring traditional Hopis…to choose between honoring their religious beliefs and practice and grappling with reading, analyzing, understanding, and being forced to comment on a massive, complex, 758-page draft environmental impact statement on the Black Mesa Project during the religious portion of the Hopi calendar," reads the papers filed with the U.S. District Court, District of Arizona on April 16.The length and complexity of the document are also issues for Black Mesa Trust Executive Director Vernon Masayesva. "The draft EIS is not written in language that lay people can understand," he said, "and that is in direct violation of the principles of the National Environmental Protection Act. Not only was the comment period scheduled at an inappropriate time, but OSM insisted that our comments be 'concise' and refer to specific sections of the EIS. But their document does not meet the 'concise; standard, and by not writing it in comprehensible language, OSM made it impossible for us to comply with their requirements." The lawsuit also alleges that OSM's actions violated the terms of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. Under Article IX of that treaty, by which Mexico ceded to the United States the traditional lands of the Hopi people, "the United States of America agreed that the people residing in the territory acquired under that Treaty would be accorded the rights of citizens of the United States, including the right to be 'secured in the free exercise of their religion without restriction,'" reads the lawsuit. Black Mesa Trust is a non-profit grassroots organization founded to protect the N-aquifer on Black Mesa for future generations of Hopis and Navajos. For more than three decades, Peabody Western Coal, the world's largest coal mining company, used water from the aquifer, the sole source of drinking water on Hopi, to slurry coal from the Black Mesa Mine to the Mohave Generating Station in Nevada. Mohave shut down at the end of 2005 because its owners failed to comply with a consent decree ordering them to install pollution control equipment. The plant remains closed and majority owner Southern California Edison has said that it has given up its attempts to reopen the facility. Nevertheless, OSM has continued with the EIS process, possibly to make the power plant more attractive to potential buyers. Without the pollution control equipment, the 1580 MW coal-fired power plant is the dirtiest in the West. -- Tanya Lee(603) 377-0267 (cell)(617) 491-6106 (tel)7270 Slayton Ranch RoadFlagstaff, AZ 860042 Chester StreetCambridge, MA 02140
Shoshone Receive 10,000 Signatures to Stop Barrick Gold
Great news from the Western Shoshone:
In the first 24 hours, the petition to stop Barrick Gold's destruction on sacred Shoshone land has received 10,000 signatures. Western Shoshone say: Keep the signatures coming. They will deliver the petition to the Barrick shareholders in Toronto. Sign the petition: 
http://act.oxfamamerica.org/campaign/barrick?rk=2p%5fVX971s5BuE
Top photo: GOLD MINING CORES OUT MOUNTAINS: Newmont gold mining on Western Shoshone land/Project Underground
http://act.oxfamamerica.org/campaign/barrick?rk=2p%5fVX971s5BuETop photo: GOLD MINING CORES OUT MOUNTAINS: Newmont gold mining on Western Shoshone land/Project Underground
(R) Western Shoshone Larson Bill video documents gold mining operations on Mount Tenabo near Elko, Nevada. Photo Brenda Norrell.
(L)Western Shoshone and friends on Mount Tenabo. Photo Brenda Norrell.
(L)Western Shoshone and friends on Mount Tenabo. Photo Brenda Norrell.
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News from Ghana: "Newmont Under Pressure"
Around the world, gold mining targets Indigenous lands and cores out mountains for small amounts of gold:Strike at mine in Peru and talk of Barrick's purchase of Newmont:
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