The Navajo Mine on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. Photo from SERC / Carleton College
A federal judge put a halt to the proposed expansion of a coal mine on the Navajo Nation. Judge John L. Kane said the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, an agency of the Interior Department, violated the National Environmental Policy Act by not considering all of the impacts of Navajo Mine expansion. Specifically, the agency failed to consider the indirect and cumulative impacts of air pollution on the reservation and surrounding communities, the decision stated. “Enough is enough. It is time to move beyond coal and invest in clean energy for the sake of our communities and future generations,” Colleen Cooley of Diné CARE, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said in a press release. “The Diné people who reside near the power plant and Navajo Mine have suffered the burden of coal impacts for far too long. This is our home and we cannot just move away from our communities, so we are grateful that the court rejected this plan.” Coal from the mine is burned at the nearby Four Corners Generating Station, also located on the reservation. The tribe purchased the mine for $85 million in 2013 -- the expansion was proposed before acquired the facility. The expansion would add 714 acres to the 13,000-acre Navajo Mine. Get the Story:
Court: Federal agency must take another look at indirect impacts of Navajo coal mine expansion (AP 3/5)
Expansion at Navajo Mine shot down by Colo. judge (The Farmington Daily Times 3/6)
Coal mine dealt blow (The Durango Herald 3/6)
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