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THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2003

Remains uncovered at a site slated for a coal mine are in limbo as federal officials and a power company try to work out a reburial agreement.

The state of New Mexico, the federal government and Salt River Project signed an agreement in the 1990s setting out the reburial process. But Zuni Pueblo, which claims the remains, wasn't a party to the agreement.

The current agreement calls for reburial to be handled by the Hopi Tribe of Arizona, which didn't sign the agreement either.

Salt River Project has been given federal approval to develop a 18,000-acre coal mine that Zuni Pueblo and other tribes fear will drain water from a sacred lake.

Get the Story:
Indian Bones Stuck in Legal Limbo (The Santa Fe New Mexican 6/26)

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