The Hopi Tribe Media Advisory: 
Chairman Wayne Taylor Addresses the Senate Natural Resource Committee
   

by Vanessa Charles 
http://www.hopi.nsn.us/
31 January 2005
   

Media Advisory 

WHAT: Hopi tribal chairman Wayne Taylor, Jr. will address the Senate Natural Resource Committee on the threat to the survival of the Hopi Tribe pending a possible closure of the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada and the Black Mesa coal mine. 

WHEN: Wednesday, February 2, 2005 at 1:30 p.m. 

WHERE: State Senate, Senate Room 109 Phoenix, AZ CONTACT: Vanessa Charles Public Relations Officer 928-734-3283 (o) Dave Palermo Special Assistant to the Chairman 928-734-3102 (o)

Background 

The Hopi tribe is locked in a protracted legal battle to keep the Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin, Nevada open and operating. 

The massive, coal-fired plant provides electrical power to Southern California and potions of Arizona and Nevada. The plant is fueled by coal mined at Black Mesa, which is jointly owned by the Hopi Tribe and the Navajo Nation. The coal is transported 273 miles by a water slurry pipeline to the plant. Since 1999, a consent decree stemming from a Federal lawsuit by the Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Trust, and National Parks and Conservation Association, mandates that the plant undergo environmental upgrades. More than likely, installation of the plant modifications will result in a temporary shutdown. The Hopi Tribe stands to lose approximately one-third of its operating budget if the Mohave plant and Black Mesa mine were to shut down, temporarily or otherwise. 

In additional to the environmental issues, the slurry to transport coal from Black Mesa to Mohave uses water from the Navajo Aquifer, the sole source of drinking water, and water for municipal and ceremonial purposes. To preserve the Navajo Aquifer, the Hopi Tribe has embarked on a strategy to import water to Hopi to prevent the permanent closure of Black Mesa and to generate economic development and a more diversified economy on the Hopi Homeland.

 

SENAA REBUTTAL

 

 

  

         

    


Reprinted as an historical reference document under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html