The El Paso Natural Gas company said on Thursday it will bypass the Navajo Nation and ask the Interior Department to approve a right-of-way for a natural gas pipeline on the reservation.

The tribe and El Paso have been in talks for a right-of-way deal. But the company claims the tribe is making unreasonable demands that will cause a hike in gas rates.

The tribe wants just compensation for the use of its land. El Paso uses a 900-mile pipeline on the reservation to ship gas from Texas to Arizona, New Mexico and California.

Get the Story:
Pipeline firm skirts tribe (The Arizona Republic 9/30)

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