Indian Country is disproportionately impacted by energy facilities

Thursday, July 5, 2012  

About 10 percent of all power plants in the U.S. are located within 20 miles of reservations, the Associated Press reports.

According to the AP, many of the 51 plants are aging -- they are more than a half-century old. They affect 50 reservations, including the one that's home to the Moapa Band of Paiute Indians in Nevada.

“Everybody is sick,” Vicki Simmons, a tribal member, told the AP. Her brother worked at the NV Energy coal-fired power plant that's next to the reservation before he died of heart problems when he was 31.

The Environmental Protection Agency says pollution from coal-fired plants poses a bigger threat to children and the elderly. Parents on the Moapa Reservation say their kids are afraid to play outside.

Get the Story:
The power plant next door: Indian tribes disproportionately exposed to energy development (AP 7/4)

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Moapa Band gets EPA hearing on power plant by reservation (5/3)
Moapa Band starts 50-mile walk to protest power plant (4/20)
Blog: Moapa Band battles pollution at coal-fired power plant (02/15)
William Anderson: Moapa Band deals with power plant pollution (12/05)
Moapa Band sues to stop expansion of landfill at power plant (10/11)