Support Dine Struggle against coal plant

> Indigenous Environmental Network ALERT! Please send far and wide!!!!
>
>
>
>
> URGENT Support is requested from Dine Elders and Youth!
>
>
> Sithe Global & DPA are proposing to build the Desert Rock power plant,
> a 1,500 MW Coal Fired plant in the Four Corners area on the Navajo
> Reservation. This is an area already polluted by 2 other major coal
> power plants. Local Navajo residence and community members oppose this
> project for many harmful reasons!! This Desert Rock power plant is
> still in the environmental review process and has NOT yet been
> permitted.
>
>
> However, Desert Rock company trucks have began moving onto the
> backyard of Alice Gilmore, an elderly navajo woman, and her family on
> wednesday to begin drilling efforts. Desert Rock officials and police
> have not shown any documents or permits to the local residents stating
> their purpose or permission to be there. Dine supporters and community
> members have joined Alice and her family to blockade the road. They
> are elderly women and youth, and they have been camped out on the road
> over night since Tuesday! Desert Rock trucks have repeatedly rushed
> them and have almost run-over people a number of times as they attempt
> to get by. Desert Rock power company is violating the lease rights of
> the local Navajo residences and is harassing elderly Navajo women and
> youth! This is an urgent time and support is needed!!!
>
>
> Please read on to find out how you can help! and Please pass this onto
> others! (press release and additional article)
>
>
>
> Lucy A. Willie, right, stands at the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant
> site outside of Burnham on Wednesday where she and
> several friends and family stayed overnight to stop a contractor for
> Desert Rock Energy Company from doing preliminary work.
>
>
> What they need:
> - More People Support
> - Fire wood
> - $$
> - Attention!
>
>
> how You can Help!
>
>
> - More People! More people are needed to sit in support! All are
> welcome!
> directions to the area are below:
> The site is between Gallup, NM and Shiprock, NM (northeastern, NM).
> Take the road between Gallup and Shiprock, the 491. at the Mustang
> Service Station (one of the only service stations between the two),
> turn East on road #5 towards Burnham Chapter. From Burnham Chapter
> turn North onto gravel road #5082. About 10-12 miles up the road turn
> West until you see the encampment. There will be markers (balloons)
> out on the roads. (if you begin to see a dragline, you've gone too
> far)
>
>
> - Fire wood! it is cold outside and many of the resisters are elderly
> women. if you can get firewood to the site it is very very much
> needed! the directions to the site are above.
>
>
> - $ Money! Resisters are in need of money for gas and food, and also
> for bail money if necessary. Please send donations to local resident
> and supporter:
> Elouise Brown
> 1015 Glade Lane 34
> Farmington, NM 87401
> Elouise can also be reached at: thebrownmachine [at] hotmail.com
>
>
> - ATTENTION! the more media and observers are present the least likely
> Desert Rock is likely to run people over or harass them. contact the
> media, tell them what is going on. Contact Navajo Authorities, tell
> them you are extremely concerned. Be a legal observer. Spread this
> Alert!
>
>
> Media Contact: Lori Goodman, cell #: (970) 759-1908, e-mail address:
> kiyaani [at] frontier.net
>
>
> Contact the Following Authorities! Tell them you have heard about
> Desert Rock's harassment of Navajo elders and youth. Tell them you are
> extremely concerned! If enough people contact these offices they will
> know that the world is watching.
>
>
> Shiprock Police Department
> phone: (505) 368-1350
> fax: (505) 368-1293
>
>
>
>
> Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley's Office
> P.O. Box 9000 Window Rock, Arizona , 86515
> phone #: (928) 871- 6352
>
>
> also: George Hardeen, Navajo Nation Communications Director Office of
> the President
> Office #: 928-871-7000
> Cell #: 928-380-7688
> e-mail: georgehardeen [at] opvp.org
>
>
>
>
> Bureau of Indian Affairs (Gallup Office) they are conducting the
> Environmental Impact Statement.
> Harrilene Yazzi, NEPA Coordinator Bureau of Indian Affairs, Navajo
> Regional Office
> P.0. Box 1060 Gallup , New Mexico 87305
> Phone: 505-863-8314
> Fax: 505-863-8324
>
>
>
>
> Be a Legal Observer - get to the site and help record/witness what is
> happening
>
>
> Send this Action Alert Far and Wide!
>
>
>
>
> Thank you for your support!!!
>
>
> Enei Begaye
> Executive Director
> Black Mesa Water Coalition
> 408 E. Route 66, Suite #1
> Flagstaff , AZ 86001
> Office #: (928) 213-9760
>
> Jihan Gearon, Native Energy Campaign
> Indigenous Environmental Network
> (877) 436-2121
>
>
> PRESS RELEASE
> Wednesday, December 13, 2006
>
>
> Contacts:
> Sarah Jane White, Dood¡Z Desert Rock
> Committee (505) 860-6166
> Dailan J. Long , Din¡Z CARE, Dood¡Z Desert Rock Committee
> (505) 801-0713
> Elouise Brown, Dood¡Z Desert Rock
> Committee (505) 974-6159
> Lori Goodman, Din¡Z
> CARE
> (970) 759-1908
>
>
> BURNHAM, SANOSTEE & NENANEZAH RESIDENTS BLOCKADE DESERT ROCK PROJECT
>
>
>
>
> Burnham, NM --Burnham, Sanostee & Nenanezah Elders and citizens are
> braving the cold to protect the land from the encroaching Din¡Z Power
> Authority (DPA) and Sithe Global LLC at the proposed Desert Rock
> site. Navajo residents confronted the Din¡Z Power Authority/Sithe
> Global on Tuesday afternoon after learning of water drilling that had
> been occurring without the knowledge and notification of local
> residents.
>
>
> "I have said 'No' over and over again and you keep coming over!"
> Nenanezah elder Alice Gilmore exclaimed to Sithe/DPA employees at the
> confrontation. For Gilmore, the issue is despicable and uncalled for
> since she gave no consent to allow DPA/Sithe into her grazing area.
> Members of the Dood¡Z Desert Rock committee gathered to support her
> opposition and asked Sithe/DPA to disclose Drilling permits that
> allowed drilling activity to occur, to no avail. The residents
> refused to leave after the Navajo Nation Police attempted to give
> access to DPA/Sithe Global, claiming that permits for the Desert Rock
> project are not for public disclosure. The Burnham residents
> barricaded the roads to disallow traffic into the Desert Rock site and
> have remained in place since the Tuesday incident occurred.
>
>
> Members of Din¡Z CARE/Dood¡Z Desert Rock Committee met this morning at
> the Shiprock Courthouse to get answers about drilling permits yet the
> Lieutenant Dempsey denied access to Gilmore and other concerned
> residents to view the permits. Residents are asking for: 1.) A copy
> of the categorical exclusion that is allowing the drilling activities
> to commence. 2.) Copies of the Clean Water Act Sections 401, 402 and
> 404, that would prove compliance with regulatory requirements have
> been met. There are major disturbance taking place and according to
> the Clean Air Act, these permits are a pre-requisite for drilling
> activity.
>
> The proposed area is home to extended families, but arbitrarily drawn
> political boundaries by the Navajo Nation and company representatives
> have the families separated into the three chapters: Burnham,
> Sanostee, and Nenahnezad. The boundary defining Burnham and Nenahnezad
> has been moved south for benefit of DPA/Sithe as recently as two years
> ago.
>
> "The local residents are not protesters but are resisters. Who would
> be happy if a well is being dug in their backyard especially when it
> is done in secrecy? So, how can those residents be considered
> protesters when they are simply standing up for their rights to have
> clean air, water, and environment." Stated, Elouise Brown of Sanostee.
> Burnham, Sanostee and Nenanezah residents are not waiting for remedy;
> many have set up camp at the proposed site and are refusing to move
> until they get the needed documents. "We're fed up with them," states
> Sarah J. White, President of the Dood¡Z Desert Rock Committee, "the
> grandmas and the grandpas are being walked over by these monsters and
> they're being denied information. We're standing our ground now."
> This incident follows accusations made against Sithe/DPA about
> environmental injustices, EPA's proposed issuance of prevention of
> significant deterioration (PSD) permit Air Quality Permit for Desert
> Rock Energy Facility and the creation of Navajo Nation Energy Policies
> without public input.
> ###
>
>
>
>
> Lori Goodman
> Dine' CARE
> 10 A Town Plaza, PMB 138
> Durango, CO 81301
> PH: (970) 259-0199
> FAX: (970) 259-2300
> Cell: (970) 759-1908
> kiyaani [at] frontier.net
> dinecare.org
>
>
>
>
>
> Navajo traditional elders blockade power plant site
>
> By Brenda Norrell
> U.N. OBSERVER & International Report
>
> BURNHAM, NEW MEXICO, USA - Elderly Navajo women and their children
> formed a blockade, built a fire and camped at the site of a proposed
> power plant on tribal land in northwest New Mexico. The blockade of
> traditional Navajos halted site work in a region that is already toxic
> with air and water pollution from power plants, oil and gas wells and
> scattered radioactive tailings from the Cold War.
> Facing the threat of arrest by tribal police at the blockade, Navajo
> elderly, including one medicine man, said they are willing to go to
> jail to protect their land and way of life.
> Most of the elderly are already ill from living in an area where power
> plants have released 100 tons of coal combustion waste that is blowing
> in the wind. One of the Navajo elderly resisters is in a wheelchair and
> another has severe asthma.
> For the second night on Wednesday night, Dec. 13, Navajo resisters
> camped in the cold at the site.
> "I have said 'No' over and over again and you keep coming over!" said
> Nenanezah elder Alice Gilmore, who holds the grazing permit for the
> area of the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant. The Navajo Nation and
> Sithe Global LLC plan to build the power plant, which would be the
> third power plant in the Farmington/Bloomfield area.
> Confronting Sithe and Navajo DPA employees, Gilmore was adamant that
> she has not given permission for the power plant on her land. Navajo
> elders from Burnham, Sanostee and Nenanezah chapter, all taking a bold
> action to fight the tribal government and corporate aggression, joined
> Gilmore at the blockade.
> "We're fed up with them," said Sarah J. White, president of the Dood¡Z
> Desert Rock Committee. "The grandmas and the grandpas are being walked
> over by these monsters and they're being denied information. We're
> standing our ground now."
> White said Navajos at the barricade need everything in the way of
> food, firewood and supplies.
> "We need everything from A to Z," White said.
> The blockade was formed just 10 days after Navajo Nation elected
> leaders gathered with representatives from 14 countries and formulated
> a global ban on uranium mining on Native lands. The power plant
> blockade also comes as Navajo Nation leaders are fighting in the
> federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to protect San Francisco Peaks
> near Flagstaff, Ariz., from the desecration of snowmaking from recycled
> wastewater for tourism. The mountain is sacred to 13 area Indian
> tribes.
> However, both Navajo President Joe Shirley, Jr., and the Navajo Nation
> Council support the construction of the Desert Rock Power Plant and
> accompanying coalmine, which Navajos say would add more pollution to
> the air, land and water, already saturated with disease-causing toxins.
> The Navajo Nation tribal government has attempted to censor the voices
> of Navajos speaking out against the Desert Rock power plant in New
> Mexico and the use of aquifer water for coal mining by Peabody Coal on
> the western side of the Navajo Nation in Arizona.
> The proposed site of the new Desert Rock power plant is in the Four
> Corners Region, targeted since the 1970s as a national sacrifice area
> for energy production.
> It is also the sacred region of Dinetah, the place of origin of
> Navajos. However, the air is so polluted in the region of Dinetah near
> Bloomfield that persons with asthma and respiratory diseases find it
> difficult to breathe.
> Further, Navajos say while they struggle with respiratory diseases,
> cancer and the death of their loved ones in this region, many Navajos
> must also haul water and live without electricity, since the power
> plants on Navajo land primarily provide electricity for non-Indians.
> The Navajo blockade comes as O'odham in Sonora, Mexico, challenge a
> secret plan by the government of Mexico, with the knowledge of the US
> EPA, to create a hazardous waste dump near the sacred site of Quitovac
> where O'odham hold ceremonies. The Navajo blockade coincides with an
> action by Pima on Gila River tribal land in Arizona to halt expansion
> of a hazardous dumpsite.
> At the same time, Yaqui in Sonora, Mexico, gathered to prohibit the
> use of banned pesticides in agricultural fields, now resulting in
> cancer and deaths.
> At the proposed new Desert Rock power plant site in New Mexico, Navajo
> residents confronted the Din¡Z Power Authority/Sithe Global on Dec. 12,
> after discovering that water drilling was carried out without the
> knowledge and notification of local Navajo residents.
> Members of the Dood¡Z Desert Rock committee gathered to support
> Gilmore's opposition and asked Sithe/DPA to disclose drilling permits
> that allowed drilling activity to occur. However, no permits were
> provided
> The residents refused to leave after the Navajo Nation Police
> attempted to give access to DPA/Sithe Global, claiming that permits for
> the Desert Rock project are not for public disclosure. The Burnham
> residents barricaded the roads to disallow traffic into the Desert Rock
> site and Navajos remained at the blockade.
> Members of Din¡Z CARE/Dood¡Z Desert Rock Committee met Dec. 13, at the
> Shiprock tribal courthouse to get answers about drilling permits.
> Navajo residents said a tribal police lieutenant denied Gilmore and
> other residents access to view the permits.
> Navajo residents are asking for a copy of the categorical exclusion,
> which would allow the drilling activities to commence, and copies of
> the Clean Water Act Sections 401, 402 and 404, that would prove
> compliance with regulatory requirements have been met.
> "There are major disturbance taking place and according to the Clean
> Air Act, these permits are a pre-requisite for drilling activity,"
> Navajo residents said in a public statement.
> Further, Navajos say tribal boundary lines were redrawn to accommodate
> the power plant corporation.
> The proposed area is home to extended families, but arbitrarily drawn
> political boundaries by the Navajo Nation and company representatives
> have the families separated into the three chapters: Burnham, Sanostee,
> and Nenahnezad.
> Navajo residents said the boundary defining Burnham and Nenahnezad was
> moved to the south for the benefit of DPA/Sithe within the past two
> years.
> Elouise Brown of Sanostee said, "The local residents are not
> protesters but are resisters. Who would be happy if a well is being dug
> in their backyard especially when it is done in secrecy? So, how can
> those residents be considered protesters when they are simply standing
> up for their rights to have clean air, water, and environment."
> Burnham, Sanostee and Nenanezah residents are not waiting for remedy;
> many have set up camp at the proposed site and are refusing to move
> until they get the needed documents.
> Navajos said this incident follows accusations made against Sithe/DPA
> about environmental injustices, EPA's proposed issuance of prevention
> of significant deterioration (PSD) permit Air Quality Permit for Desert
> Rock Energy Facility and the creation of Navajo Nation Energy Policies
> without public input.
>
>
> Tom B.K. Goldtooth
> Executive Director
> Indigenous Environmental Network
> PO Box 485
> Bemidji , MN 56619 USA
> Email: ien [at] igc.org
> Web: http://www.ienearth.org