Nathan Plagens, Sithe Global director of project development, said a contractor for the Desert Rock Energy Company started working at the site, located outside Burnham, in November and expected to continue through February. The contractor planned to drill two water wells and sample the soil to determine the geological character of the land. He said the information gathered will be put in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Desert Rock Power Plant.

One well would monitor water quality and the second would be a test well, he said.

"Some of these folks may think we're building the project but we're not. We're gaining additional information to help us better assess the project," Plagens said.

Houston-based Sithe Global and the tribe's Dine Power Authority (DPA) plan to build the 1,500-megawatt, $2.5 billion power plant. The power plant would bring in about $50 million a year in taxes and royalty payments to the Navajo Nation, making it the largest economic development project ever undertaken by the tribe.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a draft air permit for the power plant this summer and could release an EIS within the next few months. Sithe Global and the DPA need both in order to begin construction.

Alice D. Gilmore, who has lived on the site of the proposed power plant since childhood, and her husband, Julius, said through a translator she has no intention of leaving the land to make way for the power plant. Several of her family members and other protesters set up a camp on the road and said they will not leave until Sithe Global shows them they have permission to be on the land.

Gilmore and others said no one has listened to their complaints or paid attention when they say they do not want the power plant on their land.

"Nobody's explaining anything to us and nobody wants to listen," said Elouise Brown, a member of Dooda Desert Rock. "We're not leaving until they show us the documents."

The protesters stood on the dirt road on Wednesday afternoon while Navajo Nation Police Department Lt. Nelson Peterson approached, warning them he would have to arrest them unless they stepped aside within two minutes. When told the contractor wanted only to pick up his equipment so it would not be vandalized, they allowed the vehicles through.

The group had stockpiled water, food and fire wood and planned to sleep there in a tent until they received the documents. The group ranged in size from five to about 10 people throughout Wednesday afternoon.

Steven C. Begay, DPA general manager, said his company showed the necessary permits and documentation to the Shiprock Police Department on Wednesday morning. He hoped to organize a meeting with the Nenahnezad Chapter officials as well as the Navajo vice president and president to deal with the situation.

"We want to see if there's a diplomatic, holistic, cultural, whatever you call it, way to meet with them and resolve this as quickly as possible," Begay said, adding Sithe Global will determine when to send the contractor back on site.

Frank Maisano, spokesman for Sithe Global, said he recognizes construction at the power plant site evokes a strong emotional response from many people. However, he said everyone has had ample opportunity to present comment on the project. The Navajo Nation Council supports the power plant, voting 66 to 7 to lease the land for the power plant.

"They're (the protesters) blocking the EIS process, the same one they say has to happen before anything else can happen," he said. "They're standing in the way of that progress."

Lucy A. Willie, a 63-year-old Navajo elder who stood at the blockade, said that is exactly what she wants to do.

"I don't want to mess around with this Mother Earth," she said. "It's a special place for generations to live, not mess up."

Lisa Meerts: lmeerts@daily-times.com.