By Marley Shebala
Navajo Times

"Shocked" was the reaction of Omar Bradley, BIA Navajo region director, on Monday to a lawsuit filed against him, the BIA and Interior Department.

Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment and the San Juan Citizens Alliance are suing under the federal Freedom of Information Act on grounds that the federal agencies have withheld documents used in writing a draft environmental impact statement on the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant.

The groups are challenging the draft study's central conclusion that harmful effects to people and the environment would occur but would not exceed tolerable levels.

"I'm shocked," Bradley said of the lawsuit, "because we've been providing them with documents."

He said the BIA had to comply with federal regulations and policies in releasing documents to Diné CARE and the Citizens Alliance, both environmental groups based in Durango, Colo., that oppose Desert Rock.

Bradley declined to comment further on the lawsuit, filed April 2 in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque.

Brad Bartlett of the Energy Minerals Law Center in Durango, lead attorney for the environmental groups, confirmed Wednesday that the BIA had released some of the requested documents.

But Bartlett said a good portion of those documents was redacted - blacked out.

For example, he said, the BIA provided the lease agreement between the Navajo Nation, Diné Power Authority and Sithe Global Power of Houston but most of the document was blacked out.

DPA, a Navajo tribal enterprise based in Window Rock, is partnering with Sithe to develop the $3 billion, 1,500-megawatt power plant, which would burn coal. The lease agreement was approved by the Navajo Nation Council.

Bartlett explained that the important part of the lease was a clear description of the site to be used, and the source of water that would be used by the plant.

The BIA is charged with protecting Native American land and water resources, which is why the BIA bears the chief responsibility for analyzing the possible impacts of Desert Rock, he added.

Bartlett noted that the source of Navajo water to be used by Desert Rock is of the utmost importance because the tribe is pushing Congress to approve a settlement agreement with New Mexico regarding water rights to the San Juan River.

Part of that settlement involves a commitment for $6 billion in federal funds to construct a water pipeline from the river to Gallup. The pipeline would also provide water to Navajo communities in the eastern areas of the Navajo Reservation.

But Bartlett noted that the pipeline route would also pass near the proposed power plant, which will use large quantities of water, raising questions about whether the use of river water is contemplated somewhere in the thousands of pages of fine print.

Sithe and DPA have tested the groundwater at the Desert Rock site and the results show there isn't enough groundwater to meet the plant's need for 6,000 acre feet of water a year over five decades, Bartlett said, referencing testimony given last week by President Joe Shirley Jr. in Washington, D.C.

Diné CARE and the Citizens Alliance share Shirley's concern for the water needs of the Navajo people and the city of Gallup, which is why the groups requested those documents from the BIA, he explained.

And Bartlett said if the water for Desert Rock is coming from the Navajo Nation water settlement with New Mexico, Navajos who still haul their own water deserve to know the impact of Desert Rock.

He said the two groups also sued Bradley, the BIA and Interior over communications with the contractor hired to prepare the environmental study, URS Corp.

It's common for the BIA to contract consultants but the BIA must understand that any communication by the consultant, like itself, is subject to the federal freedom of information law, he explained.

Barlett noted that initially the two groups asked the BIA for any and all communication between the BIA and Sithe.

The BIA responded that it wasn't communicating with Sithe and that URS, as the preparer for the environmental impact statement, was communicating with Sithe, he said.

Barlett said when the groups resubmitted their request for any and all communication between URS and Sithe, the BIA informed them that they couldn't provide the documents because of the working relationship between URS and Sithe.

If URS is really working for Sithe, and URS is under a federal contract with the BIA to prepare the environmental assessment that involves the impact of Sithe's proposed plant to the Navajo Nation and its citizens, then there certainly is a "potential for bias and for the BIA to start over," he said.

He added that the groups are also requesting public records concerning the impact of the Navajo Mine, which would supply coal to Desert Rock.

Diné CARE and Citizens Alliance want to know how many Navajo people were relocated to make way for the mine, operated by BHP Billiton, and how many more would be relocated if it expands production to feed Desert Rock, Bartlett said.

But he said the BIA's response was to ask Diné CARE, a nonprofit grassroots organization, to pay $1,800 in copying and clerical fees. The BIA decided the group was not eligible for the fee waiver provided under FOIA because it would use the information to make money, a position Bartlett called "absurd."

The defendants have 20 days to respond to the suit, meaning a response was due before the court Tuesday. Bartlett said he had not heard anything.

Burt Shirley, spokesperson for Diné Power Authority, was attending a DPA board meeting Wednesday and was unavailable for comment.

Sithe spokesman Frank Maisano said, "The charges are nothing new. They are the same old, tired, conspiracy charges that we have come to expect from project opponents.

"All this amounts to is another delaying tactic," he said. "It's time for opponents to stop throwing the darts at the board, hoping they'll hit something. These tactics have only hurt the Navajo workers and the Navajo people who stand to benefit."

Sithe and DPA recently sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failure to issue a decision on the application for an air quality permit for Desert Rock.

Proposes green energy production for Navajo

By Kathy Helms
Din Bureau

WINDOW ROCK Joseph Patrick Kennedy II and representatives of Citizens Energy Corp. blew into Window Rock Wednesday like a breath of fresh air, promising economic development and profit for the nations largest tribe from its most abundant resources wind and sun.

The trademark Kennedy charisma and impassioned speech brought the Navajo Nation Council to its feet as the eldest son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy spoke of the poverty of Indian nations and prejudice in Congress against Native Americans.

But just as the 1960s was a time of revolution, this election year promises to be a time of great change, Kennedy said, with the same opportunity for changing the direction that this country takes over the course of the next eight years.

He reminded Council that their ancestors understood the importance of living in balance with nature, that human beings arent all-powerful, that we dont have some God-given right to just dig up and develop anything and everything that we see to the detriment of local communities as long as some people can get rich.

Kennedy, 55, served 12 years in the U.S. House of Representatives and started Citizens, a non-profit energy company, about 30 years ago.

We all remember the OPEC oil embargo of the 1970s and how there were enormous gas lines, the price of oil was skyrocketing, oil companies were making profits that were really astounding, and the poor were being left behind.

Beginning in 1979 with oil-trading ventures in Latin America and Africa, Citizens has used revenues from commercial enterprises to channel millions of dollars into charitable programs in the United States and abroad.

We sold solar farms, we sold wind farms, we created all sorts of businesses to go out and try to make a profit. With the profit we make, we try to help the poor. And that is what Im here to talk with you about today, he said.

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. announced Monday during his State of the Nation address that the Nation entered into an agreement in principle with Citizens on March 12 to explore wind energy development.

We hope to develop the largest renewable energy project on Native American lands, Shirley said.

The venture is expected to create up to 150 construction jobs, 10 to 20 permanent jobs, and provide about $3 million in annual tax and royalty revenues with an option for the Nation to acquire majority ownership in the future.

You know much better than I will ever be able to tell you, the poverty rates of most Indian people in this country is a scourge on the reputation of the United States of America, Kennedy said to rousing applause.

Twelve percent of all Americans live in poverty. By comparison, 27 percent of Native Americans live in poverty; 43 percent of Navajos live in poverty.

In the greatest depression that this country ever went through, 25 percent of the people of this country were unemployed. The unemployment rate among Native Americans today is twice what it was for all Americans in the Great Depression, and nobody says a word about it.

He recalled coming to the Navajo Nation as a young boy with his father.

There was a big press conference, and you know, the devastation that we saw as the result of drug and alcohol abuse on this reservation is something that I will never forget. That trip, and the impression it made, has a lot to do with the direction his life has taken today.

I worked for the federal government. I worked for the federal Anti-Poverty, and very, very quickly after I started working there, I began to think, This isnt an agency designed to help the poor get out of poverty. This is an agency that is designed to maintain the poor in poverty. And if you ask me, thats what weve seen the BIA do for the last ... His words were drowned out by applause.

As a congressman of the United States, I saw first-hand the cover-up of what happened to the Indian Trust Fund. I saw what would happen when I chaired the Housing Committee, what would happen to Native American housing when it would get on the House floor.

Im telling you, you think there isnt prejudice in this country against Native Americans, you go to the Congress of the United States and you wonder why the only way you have to make money is through gambling.

The reason why Native Americans have gambling today is because the Congress of the United States didnt have the guts to stand up and write the check that was necessary to provide for the housing ... Again, his words were lost amid applause and whistles.

I understand what it means to have to go in and fight for the poor ... to fight for people on the outside of political and economic power, he said.

Its time for a change, and time for a new kind of company, according to Kennedy. He is hopeful that Navajo and Citizens will go out and start to develop the natural renewable resources that this tribe has been blessed by our Lord with.

Kennedy said the last half hour of the plane ride into Window Rock was a very bumpy little ride. Though that tends to frighten some, When Pete Smith, Roger Freeman and I start bumping around in an airplane, we love it and you know why? Because that means its windy as hell out there!

So, guess what? You live in a windy place. There may not be a lot of oil and coal and gas left out there, but one thing youve got is wind; and youve got sun ... and with that we can make money.

All of us at Citizens Energy are dedicated to try our best to lift the poor out of poverty, not by giving out a hand-out but giving a hand-up, he said, adding that he believes the Navajo/Citizens partnership could be the envy of Indian people and all people that have energy development on their land.

Resources Committee Chairman George Arthur said Citizens, like other companies coming to Navajo, is interested in wind energy development in the Gray Mountain area.

There is criteria that goes from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most quality type wind. I understand that the Gray Mountain area is in the upper 8, so I know that theres a lot of interest there.

I was just telling him (Kennedy) that my concern is a lot of these people come in and we dont know their primary interest, other than making money off us, and were no longer interested in that kind of arrangement.

Kennedy said Citizens is looking at Gray Mountain and a number of other sites.

There are power lines, theres a lot of the infrastructure thats necessary to actually get this power developed. ... This is, I hope, the kind of initiative that would be welcomed.