Navajo Council OKs Power Plant

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.

        

    


Reprinted as an historical reference document under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law.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