Summary - Black Mesa Project
Massive mining plans are underway that have
serious environmental, social, and human rights
impacts. Peabody Western Coal, the world's
largest coal company, is attempting to obtain a
'Life of Mine' permit from the federal Office of
Surface Mining (OSM): which means a lease
extension application that would permit them
to mine indefinitely, and dramatically increase
the current rate of coal production to turn Black
Mesa into a massive energy center for domestic
and international export.
It is unacceptable that this proposal could further
the termination
of indigenous cultural existence.
The U.S. government has previously passed
laws
that terminate indigenous ancestral ties to these
lands by currently restricting
access to their lands
and enforcing relocation. The LOM permit calls for
additional
restricted access to ancestral lands and
relocation.
The LOM permit would allow the coal company the
rights to billions
of gallons of water a year from two
major aquifers for their industrial coal
production use.
This proposal is not the solution to global warming or
to reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, but instead,
Peabody's BMP will only only add to the
escalating
greenhouse emissions.