The environmental and cultural tragedy continues on the Hopi and Navajo reservations in northern Arizona. For over 30 years, Peabody Coal Company has pumped 1.3 billion gallons of pure drinking water from the Navajo Aquifer beneath Black Mesa, to slurry coal to the Mohave Generating Station in Nevada, 273 miles away. In spite of mounting opposition and thousands of comments submitted to the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) in 2002, Peabody (the world’s largest coal company) continues to seek more coal and more water. In July 2004, Peabody submitted a revised application to OSM to combine the Black Mesa Mine into the nearby Kayenta Mine. With this application, Peabody proposes to: increase its coal production by 20%; build a coal washing facility that will use more precious water and fill impoundments used by farmers with toxic materials; take 6,600 acre feet from the Coconino Aquifer which supplies water to many northern Arizona cities; and continue pumping from the Navajo Aquifer through 2008, if not indefinitely. The Office of Surface Mining is accepting public comments on Peabody’s application until October 15, 2004.