Tucson Citizen, 6/1/02
Associated Press May 31, 2002
ZUNI PUEBLO, N.M. — Phoenix-based Salt River Project said Friday the Department
of Interior has approved its plan for a coal mine in western New Mexico that
has been fought by Zuni Pueblo and environmental groups.
The permit clears the way
for the Arizona utility to develop the 18,000-acre Fence Lake mine on the border
of Cibola and Catron counties of northwestern New Mexico. SRP would haul the
coal by rail to its electrical generating station in St. John's, Ariz. Electricity
from the plant supplies Phoenix and central Arizona.
Zuni Gov. Malcom B. Bowekaty
was out of his office Friday and not immediately available for comment. The
pueblo in the past has threatened to sue if the Interior Department approves
the mine.
Bob Barnard, manager of
the Fence Lake project, said construction should begin soon. He said delivery
of the first coal is expected in January 2005.
Zuni Pueblo opposes the
mine, contending the utility's plan to pump water there threatens to harm Zuni
Salt Lake, a brine lake on pueblo land about 12 miles away.
The pueblo has formed a
coalition with environmental and grassroots groups, vowing to protect the lake,
which produces a steady stream of brine from a cinder cone. At least seven tribes
have collected salt for their religious ceremonies for hundreds of years.
SRP said the mine will
bring more jobs to western New Mexico, including more than 100 during construction
of the mine and associated 43-mile rail line and 75 to 150 for the duration
of mining operations.
The utility plans to mine
about 80 million tons of coal over the next 50 years.
The Interior Department
approval was the last of two key permits needed.
In July, the utility received
a five-year renewal of its surface-mining permit by the state Mining and Minerals
Division.
The federal Office of Surface
Mining concluded in 1996 the mine's impact on the lake would be negligible,
and recommended the Department of Interior approve it.
An Arizona environmental
group argued in April that the office must prepare a supplemental environmental
impact statement for the proposed mine. The office recommended approval based
on bad information, Brian Segee, an attorney with the Tucson-based Center for
Biological Diversity, said at the time.
The center contends the National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to prepare supplements when significant new information is found. The center also said impact statements more than five years old are considered stale under the federal law.
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