AGENCY TO CONSIDER COAL-MINING PROJECT
By BEN NEARY
The Santa Fe New Mexican October 24, 2001

U.S. Department of Interior officials plan a meeting today to consider approval of an Arizona utility company's plan to develop a huge coal mine near Zuni Pueblo despite the pueblo's concerns it would destroy a sacred site, a pueblo lawyer says. The Salt River Project, an Arizona utility company that provides power to Phoenix, Ariz., has been pushing for years to secure a "life of mine permit" from the federal government to allow it to develop its planned 18,000-acre coal strip mine south of Grants, on the border of Cibola and Catron counties.

The Zuni Pueblo and other area Indian tribes have pledged to fight the so-called Fence Lake Mine project in court if the federal government approves it. The Indians point to federal, state and private hydrology reports that predict pumping water for the mine threatens to dry up the sacred Zuni Salt Lake. In addition, the Indians are concerned about the proposed mine's effect on burial sites and other cultural resources in the area.

Paul Bloom, a Washington, D.C., lawyer for Zuni Pueblo, said Tuesday the tribe is concerned the Interior Department would consider granting the permit while federal officials recently have encouraged the pueblo to try to negotiate its differences with the company.

In an interview early this month, Mark Pfeifle, spokesman for Interior Secretary Gale Norton, said, "We still continue to attempt to facilitate a dialogue between the tribes, the company and the state. We continue to implement Secretary Norton's four 'Cs': communication, cooperation, consultation - all in the service of conservation."

But despite the ongoing settlement talks, Bloom said Tuesday, "It appears that SRP was working overtime to try to get certain contacts and friends in the federal Office of Surface Mining, supported by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, to sign off on the life of mine plan independent of those so-called settlement discussions.

"Zuni finds that extremely disappointing and surprising," Bloom said. Zuni Pueblo has long charged that SRP has been using its considerable political muscle to try to ramrod the project through Interior Department review.

One engineer with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs this year filed a complaint with the agency's Equal Employment Opportunity Office, claiming a supervisor had harassed him after the engineer pressed for an independent hydrology report that concluded the mine project would harm Zuni Salt Lake.

Although the Interior Department includes the BIA - which has a trust responsibility to protect Zuni's interests - it's also home to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the federal Office of Surface Mining, two agencies that strongly support development of the proposed Fence Lake Mine.

On the state level, meanwhile, the Mining and Minerals Division of the New Mexico Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources recently granted SRP's request for a five-year extension of its original mine permit with the provision the utility company monitor ground-water levels around the mine to make sure pumping there doesn't affect the lake.

Zuni is still pressing a challenge to the original state permit, issued five years ago. The pueblo lawyers earlier this month presented a letter in court showing that New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson wrote to former U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt urging federal approval of the mine while the pueblo's appeal of the mine was pending before the state's Coal Surface Mining Commission - a body of Johnson appointees.

An attempt to reach Bob Barnard, the mine project manager for SRP, after business hours was unsuccessful Tuesday.

Bloom said he met with Neal McCaleb, assistant secretary for Indian affairs, on Tuesday and explained Zuni's concerns. Bloom said he expects McCaleb will attend today's meeting to consider the permit.

"We are hopeful that Assistant Secretary McCaleb will be able to advocate the tribal position and remind the other agencies in Interior that Interior has a very serious trust responsibility in this area," Bloom said.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., last month wrote Norton, urging her to "consider all appropriate factors and interests" in making its decision on SRP's permit application.

In his letter, Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, noted the state permit had placed limitations on the use of ground water around the mine site.

"While it does not appear that those conditions fully satisfy tribal concerns, they seem to represent parameters that need to be strongly considered in the federal permitting process particularly given the additional federal trust responsibility," Bingaman wrote.