"Dozens of Indigenous residents have turned out for protests and direct actions, and 26 participants have been arrested since July 26 in defense of the mountain known as the Peaks in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The Havasupai, Navajo, and Hopi Tribes are only three of many groups that are fighting to limit the environmental degradation of the Sacred San Francisco Peaks, in Northern Arizona, a significant state landmark and ancestral land for the Hopi. On August 19th the Hopi Tribe filed a lawsuit against the City of Flagstaff, challenging the legality of selling reclaimed waste water to the Snowbowl ski resort, which will be made into artificial snow. The Hopi tribe and its supporters say the contract violates state laws regarding the handling of waste water because contamination of areas around Snowbowl resort cannot be prevented.

Artificial snow is sprayed onto ski areas, and when it melts it becomes run-off. Reclaimed waste water is harmful to humans, animals, and the environment because it contains various chemicals, including endocrine disruptors that damage the reproductive health and nervous systems of living things."

Get the Story:
Sacred Peaks Threatened By Ski Resort, Waste Water (Uprising Radio 8/29)

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Fast Company: Hopi Tribe fights bid for fake snow at sacred site (8/25)
Hopi Tribe files lawsuit to block use of wastewater at sacred site (8/24)