Contacts: Nikke Alex, (505) 879-7461 and Chelsea Chee, (928) 637-5592 (both on-site cell phones in Denver, CO)
Navajo & Hopi Tribal Leaders and Community Members Protest "Midnight Regulation" to Expand Peabody's Coal Mining Operation on Black Mesa, Arizona
Delegation Travels to Denver to meet with Office of Surface Mining, Hold Press Conference and Rally
WHEN: Monday Dec. 8th, 1 PM (MST)
WHERE: Sidewalk in front of The Office of Surface Mining - Downtown Denver
1999 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202
WHO: Speakers will include Hopi Chairman, Ben Nuvamsa; Hopi tribal member Maxine Wadsworth, Navajo tribal member Leonard Benally, Black Mesa Water Coalition Director Wahleah Johns
DENVER – It looks like another rushed "midnight regulation" from the Department of the Interior may be issued in favor of Peabody Coal, and the affected Navajo and Hopi people of Black Mesa are trying to stop it. A large delegation has traveled to Denver to meet with top officials in the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) and hold a press conference and rally in downtown Denver to protest the pending decision, which will grant the coal company a "life-of-mine" permit, expanded mining operations and rights to tap the fresh water of the Navajo aquifer.
Navajo and Hopi citizen's were given 45 days to comment on a revised "Black Mesa Project" Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and were never offered a public commenting period. Requests for commenting period extensions were denied by OSM as well as requests for OSM to come to Navajo and Hopi lands for question and answer meetings.
Arizona Congressman, and leading candidate for Secretary of Interior in the Obama Administration, Raúl M. Grijalva has asked current Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne to suspend further consideration of Peabody's permit. "At present, OSM is rushing to approve a life-of-mine permit, first without making the permit revisions sufficiently available for public review, and then without adequate environmental review."
"Mining at Black Mesa has caused springs on Hopi lands to dry up and jeopardized the sole source of drinking water for many Hopis and Navajos," stated Grijalva. "The Secretary, as the trustee for Native American tribes, must ensure that mining is done responsibly on tribal lands and that tribes actually want mining to occur. This project does not meet that test."
Former Navajo Chairman Peter MacDonald Sr. also recently came out against the expanded permit for Peabody, "The best thing that the Navajo Nation could do is to get rid of Peabody."
The Hopi Tribal Council is officially opposed to this project, however, the Council is currently in turmoil over the suspension of the Tribal Chairman. As a result, proper consultation with the Tribe, as required by federal law, cannot occur.
"The Interior Department and OSM are moving forward on this project to try to approve it before the end of the year," said Grijalva. "During a time of sacred religious ceremonies on Hopi, OSM is expecting the Hopi people to understand a complicated legal process to approve mining without a functioning tribal council to represent them. The Secretary needs to suspend this process until the tribal council is once again functional and spiritual ceremonies have concluded. Doing otherwise ignores the important obligations the federal government has toward tribes."
In addition, the power plant that previously used Black Mesa Mine coal shut down, and there is no other proposed use for the coal whose mining would be permitted by OSM. As a result, there is no actual proposed project involving Black Mesa Mine coal to be analyzed, making the pending decision not only premature, but in direct conflict with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act. According to former Hopi Tribal Chairman, Vernon Masayesva, "No customer means no project – you can't do an EIS unless you have a real project, yet OSM is going ahead with getting a life-of-mine permit."
Black Mesa Navajo and Hopi residents are concerned about how this project will impact the future of their homelands given the history of Peabody's unwise use of the Navajo Aquifer. "For decades coal and water from our lands have been taken to power Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Yet, we have have suffered the loss of our sole source drinking water to accomodate the over consumption of these areas," says Nikke Alex.
Black Mesa is the ancestral homelands to thousands of Navajo and Hopi families and is regarded as a sacred mountain to the Navajo people and plays an integral role in the cultural survival for the future generations of both the Navajo and Hopi people. Many Navajo and Hopi people stand firmly in opposition to this mine expansion plan and are organizing to voice their concerns.
Navajo & Hopi tribal members travel to Denver to meet with the Western Regional Office of Surface Mining as the agency prepares to permit Peabody Coal Company's Black Mesa Project
Panel Discussion & Press Conference Announcement
WHAT: Panel Discussion, Navajo and Hopi delegation to Denver
*free and open to the public*
WHEN: Sunday Dec. 7th, 1-3 PM (MST)
WHERE: Denver Indian Center, 4407 Morrison Road Denver, CO 80219
WHAT: PRESS CONFERENCE, Navajo & Hopi People Say No to Coal Mining
WHEN: Monday Dec. 8th, 1 PM (MST)
WHERE: Sidewalk in front of Office of Surface Mining - DOWNTOWN Denver - 1999 Broadway, Suite 3320 Denver, CO 80202
Background Information:
Concerned Navajo & Hopi people will rally in downtown Denver on Monday while a small delegation meets with Office of Surface Mining (OSM) personnel at their offices in Denver. OSM is expected to make a final decision – a "Record of Decision" - on Peabody's proposed Black Mesa Project. The controversial plan includes approval of a "Life-of-mine" permit, expanded mining operations, use of scarce water resources and an unclear buyer of the coal supply, potentially to the Navajo Generating Station in Page, AZ.
After a year of inactivity on the "Black Mesa Project" Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), the process was restarted on May 2008. Navajo and Hopi citizen's were given 45 days to comment on a revised Draft EIS and were never offered a public commenting period. Requests for commenting period extensions were denied by OSM as well as requests for OSM to come to Navajo and Hopi lands for question and answer meetings.
The Final EIS states "if OSM approves the LOM revision for the Black Mesa Complex, the area previously associated with the Black Mesa operation (18,857 acres), including associated surface facilities, would be added to the 44,073 acres of the existing OSM permanent permit area for the Black Mesa Complex, bringing the total acres to 62,930, which would be considered as one operation for the purpose of regulation by OSM. This entire area is within Peabody's existing coal leases. The coal-mining leases with the Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation provide Peabody the right to produce up to 290 million tons of coal from the Navajo Exclusive Lease Area and up to 380 million tons of coal from the Hopi and Navajo Joint Lease Area for a combined total of 670 million tons."
Black Mesa Navajo and Hopi residents are concerned about how this project will impact the future of their homelands given the history of Peabody's unwise use of the Navajo Aquifer to transport coal to MGS. Many community members from the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe are extremely disappointed in the lack of public outreach the Office of Surface Mining office and Department of the Interior has carried out through the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) process.
Black Mesa is the ancestral homelands to thousands of Navajo and Hopi families and is regarded as a sacred mountain to the Navajo people and plays an integral role in the cultural survival for the future generations of both the Navajo and Hopi people. Many Navajo and Hopi people stand firm and oppose this mine expansion plan and are organizing to voice their concerns to the western regional office of the Office of Surface Mining in Denver, CO. on Dec. 8, 2008.
December 7, 2008
December 6, 2008
Quechan mourners take Spirit Walk for Mucaw
Quechan mourners take spirit walk for young leader
December 6, 2008 - 5:41 PM
BY WILLIAM ROLLER, SUN STAFF WRITER
BY WILLIAM ROLLER, SUN STAFF WRITER
Read article at:
.
Censored Blog Radio: AIM on Alcatraz
AIM to Obama: Abolish BIA; establish treaty commission and pass UN Declaration
By Brenda Norrell
By Brenda Norrell
ALCATRAZ ISLAND -- Speaking at the Alcatraz Sunrise Ceremony, the American Indian Movement called on the Obama administration to make real changes for Indian country. The challenge is voiced on today's Censored Blog Radio show, "AIM on Alcatraz," by Bill Means, with Pat Bellanger and Mike Flores.
Bill Means, cofounder of the International Indian Treaty Council, said the new administration in the U.S. offers hope. Means said the American Indian Movement is calling on the Obama administration to establish a new Presidential Treaty Commission; abolish the BIA and for passage of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
On Alcatraz, Mike Flores, Tohono O'odham, described the assault by Homeland Security and the US Border Patrol on Tohono O'odham lands. Flores called for worldwide support to halt construction of the US/Mexico border wall and stop the militarization of the Tohono O'odham Nation and all Indigenous borderlands. Flores said the US is destroying endangered species, their habitat and migration routes.
On the broadcast, KPFA/Alcatraz Free Radio cohost Tony Gonzales points out that the people of Palestine are also suffering from the isolation, militarization and horrors of a border wall. Gonzales said while walls are coming down in Europe, the US is building a wall.
Bellanger, Anishinabe from Minnesota, shares a memory of Phillip Deer and the imaginary border. Bellanger said she has been with AIM since the beginning and it has been an incredible journey. She said the gathering at Alcatraz was a time to celebrate what has been accomplished and a time for giving thanks.
"We beat daddy Bush and we beat baby Bush," Bellanger says of the fight against oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.
Means also points out the rise in power of the Maori in New Zealand, a rising world voice empowering Indigenous Peoples.
Means said what happened on Alcatraz and at Wounded Knee, along with the fishing rights struggle, the struggle of Pitt River and the struggles elsewhere, led to sovereignty and self-determination.
Listen to today's show and three others in this week's series:
--The first show, "American Indian Resistance," includes interviews with Morning Star Gali about the Shellmound Walkers. Long Walker Harry talks about service with the Black Mesa Caravan. Mohawk Mark Maracle speaks about Tyendinaga, at the AIM-West 40-Year Reunion in San Francisco. The show includes a segment from Alcatraz Island, with Clyde Bellecourt and Lenny Foster, Dine' speaking on Native religious freedom rights (30 minutes.)
--The second show, "Emergence of the American Indian Movement," includes Bill Means remembering Raymond Yellow Thunder, a Lakota whose murder in Gordon, Nebraska, changed the course of history for the American Indian Movement. Award-winning Anishinabe singer Keith Secola sings Fry Bread and NDN Cars. Clyde Bellecourt speaks on the importance and early years of AIM, during the AIM West 40-Year Reunion in San Francisco (90 minutes.)
--The third show, "Indigenous Voices of Resistance," includes Western Shoshone call in guests describing how Barrick Gold is currently bulldozing the Shoshone's sacred Mount Tenabo. During the first days of December, Barrick cut off Western Shoshone access to their ceremonial grounds. The show includes news and music. The All Nation Singers in California and the Longest Walk Northern Route at Cahokia Mounds, recorded by Earthcycles, sing the AIM song. (90 minutes.)
US has blood on its hands
By Brenda NorrellCensored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/
Blackwater mercenaries are now charged with murdering Iraqis, including children. The prosecutors have put a not-so-horrible face on it, calling it "manslaughter." All of the killers are former decorated US veterans.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081206/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/blackwater_prosecution
Meanwhile, the Zetas are carrying out the most heinous crimes of the drug war at the US border, with decapitations and largescale murder of civilians and journalists.
The Zetas were trained as Special Forces by the United States, then eventually came to rule the Mexican drug war. The Guatemalan Kaibiles also received US Special Forces training. These killers, known for extreme cruelty, even served as "UN Peacekeepers." The Kaibiles are known for their practice of forcing recruits to bite the heads off live chickens.
When you hear of the most horrible crimes against the people of the world, ask yourself, "Who has the technology, training, weapons and money to carry this out?"
Too often the answer is the United States. The School of the Americas is just one place that foreign nationals have been trained by the United States to torture and murder. Indigenous Peoples are being murdered around the world, as their lands and resources are seized for corporate profiteering.
Commenting on the murderers trained by the US, a friend said, "When a dog kills a chicken, and gets a taste of it, it will keep killing. The only thing you can do with the dog is to put it down."
US training and guns boost Mexico's drug war
Narco News: Exposing the US drug involvement
PHOTO: A truck, carrying Mexican army soldiers, drives past a pedestrian bridge where a giant banner signed by the Zetas, the enforcement arm of the Gulf drug cartel, hangs in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, northern Mexico, Sunday, April 13, 2008. The banner reads in Spanish: "Operative group 'The Zetas' wants you, soldier or ex-soldier. We offer a good salary, food and benefits for your family. Don't suffer anymore mistreatment and don't go hungry. We wont give you instant noodle soup." (AP Photo/El Manana de Nuevo Laredo)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)