Border drug traffickers target American and other foreign journalists:
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/altss/printstory/local/57426
Read comment: Michael Marizco, Border Reporter blog:
http://borderreporter.com/blog/
July 15, 2007
July 14, 2007
Action alert: Outdated 1872 Mining Law
ACTION NEEDED ON THE OUTDATED 1872 MINING LAW!Indigenous Environmental Network
Tribal Councils, Tribal members, Native organizations and others, call your Congressman now to support HR 2262 – The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007.
Earlier this year, Congressman Rahall of West Virginia again introduced legislation to reform the 1872 Mining Law. This new effort represents a unique opportunity for this nation to overhaul this antiquitated law from the 19 th century that is completely inadequate for today's industrial mining technology and scale. The House Sub-Committee on Energy and Mineral Resources will hold the first hearing specific to HR 2262 on July 26. We will need more co-sponsors for the bill by the 26 th of July as well as in the upcoming months.
American Indian and Alaska Natives have been disproportionately impacted in a variety of ways: Dispossession of land, destruction of sacred sites, damage or destruction of cultural and natural resources, loss of cultural life ways related to the boom/bust mining economies, with a legacy of polluted water resources, toxic and radiation poisoning and many more impacts.
(Photo: Navajo protest planned Desert Rock power plant and
coal mine at the inauguration of Navajo President Joe Shirley, Jr., in 2007/Photo Dooda Desert Rock)The law was originally written to encourage settlement of the American west once American Indian and other impediments to American settlement had been forcibly removed or otherwise cleared. The law makes very little requirement for mine closure, clean up, environmental remediation, or restoration, allowing the mining industry to leave behind half a million abandoned mines. This new legislation will not fix the historic social, environmental and human rights violations and abuses in Indian Country as a result of unsustainable mineral extraction, but it will fix some of the other problems that are important to American Indian and Alaska Natives and others.
This 1872 Mining Law also impacts Alaska federal lands. Congressman Rahall needs your help. An editorial from the May 28 Denver Post states much of the case to take action; Closing in on mining-law fix The Denver Post Editorial BoardArticle Last Updated: 05/28/2007 10:27:39 PM MDT Colorado wasn't even a state and Leadville's great silver boom was still in the future when the nation's basic mining law was enacted in 1872.
Colorado's been a state for more than a century and Leadville has boomed and busted more than once, but the General Mining Act, signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant, is still on the books. It's way past time for an update. The law has allowed mining companies to extract an estimated $245 billion in metals without paying a dime to the taxpayers. Until a moratorium was imposed 13 years ago, mining companies could buy federal land for $5 an acre or less.
(Thankfully, different rules - including royalties paid to the government - apply to coal mining and oil and natural gas extraction.)
Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., wants to bring the law into the 21st century. Like a prospector stubbornly working an unpromising claim, Rayhall has introduced reform legislation every year since 1985. Now, it looks like he may finally strike pay dirt this year or next. The bill would impose an 8 percent royalty on the value of minerals extracted, close places like wilderness and roadless areas to mining, install additional environmental requirements and create a cleanup fund. That last provision would be vitally important to much of the West, which has an estimated 500,000 abandoned hardrock mines, many of which continue to ooze toxic waste (cyanide, lead, arsenic, mercury - that sort of thing) decades after they closed.
In Colorado, there are at least 22,000 old mines, shafts and exploration holes. An 8 percent royalty could raise $100 million a year to start making a tiny dent in the $32 billion estimated cost of a total cleanup. The reason Rahall may be close to making a strike is that the ideal of repealing the law has gained some interesting supporters. The industry says it's willing to work on modernizing the bill. Predictably, it doesn't like an 8 percent royalty rate, even though prices for things like gold and uranium have soared in recent years.
Even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of mining-dependent Nevada signals he's flexible but that reform might not come until 2008. He dynamited previous reform plans. Mike Kowalski, CEO of big gold buyer Tiffany & Co., says his industry wants reform. "Ultimately, this cost will make it more expensive to produce jewelry, but it is the right thing to do," he wrote in a column recently published in a Las Vegas newspaper.
We're looking forward to Congress erasing the General Mining Act of 1872 from the law books and moving it to the history books.In addition to the fixes stated in the Denver Post, the legislation would also provide for protection of Tribal sacred sites as well as additional protection for ground and surface waters. It will not fix all that has happened in Indian country and Alaska, but it will fix these two i
mportant environmental and cultural considerations for American Indian/Alaska Natives.(Photo US EPA: Navajo house adjacent to a uranium mine in northern New Mexico. Radioactive waste rock from uranium mine in left foreground of picture was used to build foundation for house shown in upper right.)
Thus far, the below listed members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors to HR 2262 – The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007. Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] - 6/19/2007Rep Christensen, Donna M. [VI] - 5/24/2007Rep Costa, Jim [CA-20] - 5/10/2007Rep Gonzalez, Charles A. [TX-20] - 6/19/2007Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 5/24/2007Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22] - 5/24/2007Rep Honda, Michael M. [CA-15] - 6/19/2007Rep Inslee, Jay [WA-1] - 5/24/2007Rep Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] - 6/19/2007Rep Markey, Edward J. [MA-7] - 5/24/2007Rep Miller, George [CA-7] - 5/24/2007Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] - 5/24/2007Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [CA-13] - 6/19/2007Rep Udall, Mark [CO-2] - 6/19/2007Rep Waxman, Henry A. [CA-30] - 6/19/2007Recent additions: Earl Blumenauer (OR), Dennis Kucinich (OH) Betty McCollum (MN), and Sander Levin (MI) First, Tribal members living in areas impacted by hardrock mining should call their Tribal Council Representatives and request that the Tribal Council pass a resolution supporting HR 2262 – The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007.
A draft Tribal Council resolution is available from Robert Shimek, Indigenous Environmental Network, http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=ienmining@igc.org, 218-751-4967 or Bonnie Gestring, Earthworks, http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=bgestring@mineralpolicy.org, 406-549-7361.
Tribal Councils should than send the finalized resolution to members of Congress. Second, Tribal members, Native organizations and everyone else who cares about environmentally and socially responsible hardrock mining should call their Congressional Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor HR 2262 – The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007. If your Representative has already signed on as a co-sponsor, call them anyway and thank them for their support as well as encourage them to make sure the provisions critical to American Indian/Alaska Natives stay in the Bill.
(Photo: Gold mining cores out mountain tops in Western Shoshone Territory)
For additional information, see;The Earthworks mining reform home page: http://www.miningreform.org/.Earthworks' brief explanation of the WHY behind each section, called Principles of Reform: http://www.mineralpolicy.org/PrinciplesOfReform.cfm.
The full text of HR 2262 (112 pages): http://www.mineralpolicy.org/pubs/HR2262.pdf.
[The "Protection of Special Places" section begins on page 24, Title III, p. 39 (J) is of notable interest for those mining locations prone to acid mine drainage.]
Tom B.K. Goldtooth
Executive DirectorIndigenous Environmental Network
PO Box 485Bemidji, MN 56619
USAEmail: http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=ien@igc.org
Web: http://www.ienearth.org/
Top photo: Wyoming coal mine/Office of Surface Mining
July 13, 2007
Toxic coal mine: Navajos file suit in Four Corners
Navajo Mine: Forced relocation of Navajos and toxic dumping
Australia's BHP Billiton the latest of the Australian and Canadian corporations exploiting Indigenous lands worldwide
By Dine' CARE
DURANGO, COLORADO — Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment
(“C.A.R.E.”) and the San Juan Citizens Alliance were forced to take legal action against
the Federal Office of Surface Mining (“OSM”) today over the agency’s approval of a
massive mine expansion for the Navajo Mine. OSM’s decisions
have already led to the
permanent removal or relocation of numerous tribal members from their homeland and resulted in the permanent dumping of millions of tons of hazardous wastes. OSM recently issued mine permits to BHP Billiton, an Australian Corporation, which would
significantly expand these practices.
BHP’s Navajo Mine is a massive 13,000 acre surface coal mining operation located in the Four Corners Region on the Navajo Nation. The two mine permits challenged by the groups authorize BHP to mine coal for the Four Corners Power Plant and to permanently
dispose of Coal Combustion Waste (“CCW”). CCW consists of toxic solid wastes
(including fly ash, scrubber sludge and bottom ash) from the power plant’s coal-fired
generators.
“Over 1.5 million tons per year of coal combustion waste from the power plant is
backfilled into the Navajo Mine,” said Mike Eisenfeld of the Alliance, “Despite legal
requirements, OSM hasn’t required protections for ground or surface water. It doesn’t
even require monitoring—even though the mine is part of a major river drainage,” said
Eisenfeld. The Navajo Mine lies within the Chaco River drainage which drains north
into the San Juan River. “OSM is creating a massive superfund legacy for the residents
of the Four Corners. This is an irresponsible dumping practice and has to stop now.”
“OSM’s permitting actions will result in the permanent removal and relocation of Navajo
Nation tribal members including elders.” said Lori Goodman of Diné C.A.R.E. and
Navajo Nation tribal member. “The agency and BHP treat this area as if it is uninhabited.
OSM must understand that community members live or graze livestock in these areas.
OSM fails to recognize that this is our homeland.”
Many tribal members living in the mine area only speak Navajo, do not have phones,
electricity or running water, and use the area for ceremonial and medicinal purposes.
“People have lived on this land for generations. Family members are buried on this land.
2
OSM’s failure to even contact impacted tribal members before making these permitting
decisions is simply wrong.”
BHP is the largest mining company in the world and the sixth largest energy
corporation. In the 2006, BHP posted record profits of over $10 billion dollars.
http://www.bhpbilliton.com/bbContentRepository/companyprofile12feb2007.pdf
The lawsuit challenges OSM’s decision to grant a mine permit renewal and mine
permit revision to BHP as a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act
(“NEPA”). “This lawsuit asks the Federal Court to hold OSM officials in Denver
accountable for their actions.” said Brad Bartlett with the Energy Minerals Law
Center and an attorney for the groups.
OSM’s Denver office that oversees all surface mining activities conducted at the Navajo
Mine. OSM is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Interior. The groups have
asked the U.S. District Court in Denver to compel OSM to undertake an analysis under
NEPA that adequately analyzes the impacts of permanent coal combustion waste disposal
and removal and relocation of tribal members.
The groups will answer questions about the lawsuit at the Open Shutter Gallery in
Durango from 5-7 P.M., Saturday, July 14, 2007. The groups are sponsoring an event
featuring the work of documentary photographer Carlan Tapp. Carlan has interviewed
and photographed Diné tribal members directly impacted by coal-power development in
the San Juan Basin – including the newly proposed Desert Rock coal-fired power plant.
Photo: Navajo Mine
CONTACT: Lori Goodman, Diné C.A.R.E., (970) 259-0199 Mike Eisenfeld, San Juan Citizens Alliance, (505) 360-8994 Brad Bartlett, Energy Minerals Law Center, (970) 247-9334
Australia's BHP Billiton the latest of the Australian and Canadian corporations exploiting Indigenous lands worldwide
By Dine' CARE
DURANGO, COLORADO — Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment
(“C.A.R.E.”) and the San Juan Citizens Alliance were forced to take legal action against
the Federal Office of Surface Mining (“OSM”) today over the agency’s approval of a
massive mine expansion for the Navajo Mine. OSM’s decisions
have already led to thepermanent removal or relocation of numerous tribal members from their homeland and resulted in the permanent dumping of millions of tons of hazardous wastes. OSM recently issued mine permits to BHP Billiton, an Australian Corporation, which would
significantly expand these practices.
BHP’s Navajo Mine is a massive 13,000 acre surface coal mining operation located in the Four Corners Region on the Navajo Nation. The two mine permits challenged by the groups authorize BHP to mine coal for the Four Corners Power Plant and to permanently
dispose of Coal Combustion Waste (“CCW”). CCW consists of toxic solid wastes
(including fly ash, scrubber sludge and bottom ash) from the power plant’s coal-fired
generators.
“Over 1.5 million tons per year of coal combustion waste from the power plant is
backfilled into the Navajo Mine,” said Mike Eisenfeld of the Alliance, “Despite legal
requirements, OSM hasn’t required protections for ground or surface water. It doesn’t
even require monitoring—even though the mine is part of a major river drainage,” said
Eisenfeld. The Navajo Mine lies within the Chaco River drainage which drains north
into the San Juan River. “OSM is creating a massive superfund legacy for the residents
of the Four Corners. This is an irresponsible dumping practice and has to stop now.”
“OSM’s permitting actions will result in the permanent removal and relocation of Navajo
Nation tribal members including elders.” said Lori Goodman of Diné C.A.R.E. and
Navajo Nation tribal member. “The agency and BHP treat this area as if it is uninhabited.
OSM must understand that community members live or graze livestock in these areas.
OSM fails to recognize that this is our homeland.”
Many tribal members living in the mine area only speak Navajo, do not have phones,
electricity or running water, and use the area for ceremonial and medicinal purposes.
“People have lived on this land for generations. Family members are buried on this land.
2
OSM’s failure to even contact impacted tribal members before making these permitting
decisions is simply wrong.”
BHP is the largest mining company in the world and the sixth largest energy
corporation. In the 2006, BHP posted record profits of over $10 billion dollars.
http://www.bhpbilliton.com/bbContentRepository/companyprofile12feb2007.pdf
The lawsuit challenges OSM’s decision to grant a mine permit renewal and mine
permit revision to BHP as a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act
(“NEPA”). “This lawsuit asks the Federal Court to hold OSM officials in Denver
accountable for their actions.” said Brad Bartlett with the Energy Minerals Law
Center and an attorney for the groups.
OSM’s Denver office that oversees all surface mining activities conducted at the Navajo
Mine. OSM is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Interior. The groups have
asked the U.S. District Court in Denver to compel OSM to undertake an analysis under
NEPA that adequately analyzes the impacts of permanent coal combustion waste disposal
and removal and relocation of tribal members.
The groups will answer questions about the lawsuit at the Open Shutter Gallery in
Durango from 5-7 P.M., Saturday, July 14, 2007. The groups are sponsoring an event
featuring the work of documentary photographer Carlan Tapp. Carlan has interviewed
and photographed Diné tribal members directly impacted by coal-power development in
the San Juan Basin – including the newly proposed Desert Rock coal-fired power plant.
Photo: Navajo Mine
CONTACT: Lori Goodman, Diné C.A.R.E., (970) 259-0199 Mike Eisenfeld, San Juan Citizens Alliance, (505) 360-8994 Brad Bartlett, Energy Minerals Law Center, (970) 247-9334
Dead on the border: Thirty-three bodies recovered in June
Photo: Migrant shrine at the Third Annual Rasquacho Art Show 2007
Pan Left Productions/Photo Brenda Norrell
Coalición de Derechos Humanos:
147 bodies recovered on Arizona border, 33 in June alone
Mounting enforcement causing more migrants to go missing and die
July 13, 2007
Contact: Kat Rodriguez: 520.770.1373
Arizona— Coalición de Derechos Humanos, a Tucson-based human rights group, announced that the total number of recovered bodies on the Arizona border reached 147 by the end of June, 2007, up from 133 at the same time last year. Thirty-three bodies were recovered in the month of June alone, twelve of them not as yet identified and nearly a third of them female. These numbers do not reflect any of the 24 bodies recovered in first twelve days of the month of July, with reports coming out almost daily about remains found in the desert by residents, humanitarian groups and law enforcement officials alike. Adding to this increasing tragedy are the families who are desperately searching for news of loved ones who attempted to cross the border and have yet to be heard from. Men, women and children are regularly reported missing to consulate officials and human rights groups, who attempt to search for them in detention centers, hospitals, migrant centers, and medical examiner offices.“Rarely talked about are the desaparecidos, the people who have gone missing with no clue as to their whereabouts,” says Isabel Garcia of Derechos Humanos. “The desert is an ultimately unforgiving force, and can completely devour remains within a matter of weeks given the brutal conditions. This leaves mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and children lost to their families forever, with no hope of ever finding out what became of them.”Every month has yielded more skeletal remains on the Arizona border, indicating that death could have taken place weeks, months, or even years prior to discovery. This—coupled with the fact that migrants do not always carry identification on their person, and their clothing can be torn away by animals or by themselves as they hallucinate and suffocate in the desert heat—makes identifying them even more difficult. Despite the recovery of an estimated 5,000 bodies on the U.S.-México border during the last 12 years, a direct result of the funnel-effect of border and militarization policies, the U.S. government has failed to acknowledge the deadly result of these strategies, and has, to the contrary, continued to increase efforts to militarize the border.“To die because you sought a better future for yourself and your family is a human rights violation,” continued Garcia. “and to die without your family ever knowing what became of you, as they suffer the anguish of not being able to bury your body and mourn your death is a tragedy that we must demand be made right. Human life is the most precious thing on earth, and we all must work to change any government policy that threatens it.”The complete list of recovered bodies is available on the Coalición de Derechos Humanos website: http://derechoshumanosaz.c.topica.com/maag4nkabzTc0b8me9Ne/ This information is available to anyone who requests it from us and is used by our organization to further raise awareness of the human rights crisis we are facing on our borders.
Pan Left Productions/Photo Brenda Norrell
Coalición de Derechos Humanos:
147 bodies recovered on Arizona border, 33 in June alone
Mounting enforcement causing more migrants to go missing and die
July 13, 2007
Contact: Kat Rodriguez: 520.770.1373
Arizona— Coalición de Derechos Humanos, a Tucson-based human rights group, announced that the total number of recovered bodies on the Arizona border reached 147 by the end of June, 2007, up from 133 at the same time last year. Thirty-three bodies were recovered in the month of June alone, twelve of them not as yet identified and nearly a third of them female. These numbers do not reflect any of the 24 bodies recovered in first twelve days of the month of July, with reports coming out almost daily about remains found in the desert by residents, humanitarian groups and law enforcement officials alike. Adding to this increasing tragedy are the families who are desperately searching for news of loved ones who attempted to cross the border and have yet to be heard from. Men, women and children are regularly reported missing to consulate officials and human rights groups, who attempt to search for them in detention centers, hospitals, migrant centers, and medical examiner offices.“Rarely talked about are the desaparecidos, the people who have gone missing with no clue as to their whereabouts,” says Isabel Garcia of Derechos Humanos. “The desert is an ultimately unforgiving force, and can completely devour remains within a matter of weeks given the brutal conditions. This leaves mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and children lost to their families forever, with no hope of ever finding out what became of them.”Every month has yielded more skeletal remains on the Arizona border, indicating that death could have taken place weeks, months, or even years prior to discovery. This—coupled with the fact that migrants do not always carry identification on their person, and their clothing can be torn away by animals or by themselves as they hallucinate and suffocate in the desert heat—makes identifying them even more difficult. Despite the recovery of an estimated 5,000 bodies on the U.S.-México border during the last 12 years, a direct result of the funnel-effect of border and militarization policies, the U.S. government has failed to acknowledge the deadly result of these strategies, and has, to the contrary, continued to increase efforts to militarize the border.“To die because you sought a better future for yourself and your family is a human rights violation,” continued Garcia. “and to die without your family ever knowing what became of you, as they suffer the anguish of not being able to bury your body and mourn your death is a tragedy that we must demand be made right. Human life is the most precious thing on earth, and we all must work to change any government policy that threatens it.”The complete list of recovered bodies is available on the Coalición de Derechos Humanos website: http://derechoshumanosaz.c.topica.com/maag4nkabzTc0b8me9Ne/ This information is available to anyone who requests it from us and is used by our organization to further raise awareness of the human rights crisis we are facing on our borders.
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