Arizona
Star
The Associated Press
Tucson, Arizona
28 February 2009
The
Navajo Nation Council voted 71-8 Friday in Window Rock to approve
right-of-way easements for a proposed coal-fired power plant on
the reservation, marking the tribe's last step in what has been a
long process.
The tribe
will receive $3.5 million in fees in exchange for granting rights
of way for transmission, data, electrical and water lines, water
wells and road access for the $3 billion Desert Rock Energy
Project in northwestern New Mexico.
The
right-of-way measure was just one of a handful of things the tribe
had to sign off on before construction could begin. The lease, tax
agreements, and water rights already have been approved.
Federal
officials still have to approve a massive environmental impact
statement for Desert Rock, and developers are waiting for an air
permit, which is under appeal with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
Steve
Begay, general manager of the tribe's Dine Power Authority, said
the overwhelmingly favorable vote means "we're making some
major headway toward completing the project that's good for the
Southwest in terms of energy delivery" and that the Navajo
legislature supports the project.
"It's
good for the Navajo Nation because it brings jobs and revenues and
other benefits," said Begay, who also said he hopes it brings
about an improvement in the quality of life on Navajo land.
Navajo
Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said the vote helps clear the way
for upward of 500 permanent jobs at union wages on a reservation
with an unemployment rate hovering around 50 percent.
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