printer friendly version
Grassroots battle against Peabody sees success
Monday, June 7, 2004
Grassroots activists on the Hopi and Navajo reservations are looking forward to December 31, 2005, with hope and skepticism.
That's the date they hope Peabody Energy's coal mines in northeastern Arizona will stop operating. But even after after decades of lobbying tribal, federal and other officials, they are skeptical that it will actually happen.
The battle over the mines began in the 1970s when residents of the area noticed a drop-off in their water supply. They blamed Peabody, which uses water to transport coal slurry 275 miles to a generating in Nevada, where it is used to power homes in southern California.
Peabody denies it has used up the water and says it has the science to prove it. Grassroots activists, however, have convinced the Hopi Tribe, the Navajo Nation and the Department of Interior to pressure Peabody to find another source.
But the shutdown of the mines has an economic impact that some fear will be hard to resist. According to The Los Angeles Times, one-third of the Hopi tribe's annual general fund, or $7.7 million, and 25% of the Navajo Nation's general operating fund, or $30 million per year, come from the Peabody operation.
Get the Story:
Gathering Clouds
(The Los Angeles Times 6/6)
Username:
indianz, Password:
indianzcom
Relevant Links:
Hopi Tribe -
http://www.hopi.nsn.us
Navajo Nation -
http://www.navajo.orgPeabody
Energy -
http://www.peabodyenergy.com
Related Stories:
Judge won't dismiss Navajo Nation suit against
Peabody (04/27)
Peabody continues
top-level access at Interior (03/17)
Court opens window for Navajo Nation trust
suit (10/27)
Peabody
seeks to dismiss Navajo Nation claim (06/18)
Court appears ready to toss Peabody
appeal (04/15)
Supreme
Court's trust rulings criticized (4/14)
Navajo Nation back in court over
Peabody lease (4/8)
Effects of Supreme Court decision
debated (03/07)
High court
ruling makes 'passive' trustee of U.S. (3/5)
A mixed bag for Indian trust (3/5)
Supreme Court issues trust
decisions (3/4)
Swimmer
can't recall Navajo involvement (02/13)
Panel predicts Apache victory
(12/4)
Navajo 'deception'
gets Supreme Court hearing (12/03)
Peabody sides with Bush
administration on trust (09/04)
Legal tactics land Peabody in hot
seat (7/22)
Navajo royalty
case accepted (6/4)
Don
Hodel's Navajo Folly (6/4)
Supreme Court accepts Navajo trust
case (6/3)
Navajo royalty
case up for review (5/30)
Supreme Court considers 'deception'
of trust (5/22)
Action due
on Navajo trust case (5/20)
Bush wants Navajo ruling reversed
(3/27)
Court rules Navajo Nation
owed money (8/14)
Copyright © 2000-2004 Indianz.Com
