by Felicia
Fonseca, Associated Press Writer
Durango Herald
04 December 2009
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.—The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency has withdrawn a water discharge permit for a
controversial coal-mining operation in northern Arizona pending
public hearings.
The EPA's decision about the permit for Peabody
Energy's Black Mesa mine complex comes after an appeal by
environmentalists who contend the discharge of heavy metal and
pollutants threatens water sources that nearby Navajo and Hopi
communities depend on for drinking, farming and ranching.
Dave Smith, water permits manager in the EPA's
San Francisco office, said Thursday the agency believes the permit
is solid but wanted to provide an opportunity for additional
public comment.
“Our job is to focus on the Clean Water Act
piece of this right now and whether the water discharges have
significant affects, and to make sure they are adequately
controlled," he said.
Peabody spokeswoman Beth Sutton called the
environmentalists' claims frivolous and said the company has a
record of compliance with the Clean Water Act. The mining will
continue in a “business-as-usual fashion," and Peabody will
maintain best practices to assure good water quality, she said.
The mining complex that includes the Black Mesa
and Kayenta mines sits on nearly 65,000 acres Peabody leases from
the Navajo and Hopi tribes and has been in operation since the
1970s. Coal from the Kayenta mine supplies the Navajo Generating
Station near Page. The Black Mesa mine supplied the Mohave
Generating Station in Laughlin, Nev., until the power plant was
shuttered in 2005.
Water discharge that includes storm water and
runoff from mining, coal preparation and reclamation areas is held
in more than 230 ponds at the mining complex. About 33 have leaks,
and the EPA has said some of those don't meet water-quality
standards, need additional monitoring or need removal.
The EPA said many of the ponds are internal and
used for treatment and storage. About 111 ultimately discharge to
the Little Colorado River system through a series of washes and
tributaries.
Peabody's five-year water discharge permit went
into effect Oct. 1. With the withdrawal, the EPA said Peabody can
continue operating on a previous permit that expired in 2006 but
has been administratively extended.
Stephen Etsitty, executive director of the
Navajo Nation EPA, said the new permit contained improvements over
the last, including new regulatory requirements for reclamation
areas and revisions to monitoring plans. He added that the Navajo
EPA's monitoring of discharge in the mine area hasn't raised any
red flags.
“We're pretty confident that what's contained
in the permit is going to withstand any additional review," he
said. “We're just hopeful that this doesn't drag out the process
of putting a necessary permit in place."
Environmentalists commended the EPA for
reconsidering the permit and said the action would force Peabody
to comply with the Clean Water Act. It also will give the EPA a
chance to remedy what they say has been environmental injustice.
“The tribal groups know the heavy metal and
pollutants are affecting their livestock and ecological
community," said Amy Atwood, an attorney with the Center for
Biological Diversity. “We need to see EPA disclosing what those
impacts are, where they are occurring, and in the process, find a
better way to contain them."
The EPA initially denied a request to hold a
public hearing on the permit. Smith said the agency reconsidered
in light of the appeal and will hold two such hearings next year
on the Hopi and Navajo reservations.
Smith doesn't anticipate the draft permit will
change but said, “We are open-minded."
“We do not prejudge," he said. “That's why we
have public hearings. If we need to adjust the permit, we will."