Talk:Black Mesa (Apache-Navajo Counties, Arizona)

Added tag re: POV and accuracy today. Definitely NOT NPOV. Needs a good cleaning up. Lots of irrelevant (or maybe relevant, but misplaced) info. MadScientistMatt 07:39, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

This article seems a bit emotive for an encyclopedia. I probably agree with you, but it should be put in better terms.

I agree with Mad-Matt. The third paragraph is very emotive and contains non-factual statements. Peabody Energy mines the Black Mesa area under the complete supervision and control of the Hopi and Navajo tribal governments since the entire mine area lies within the boundaries of those entities. Huge royalties are paid to each tribe by Peabody in order to mine the coal. What the two tribes do with that money is up to them I would suppose. The mines, Black Mesa and Kayenta, are in very sparsely populated areas of the reservations and any residents that are or were displaced have been approved by the tribal governments and the costs of relocation and monetary compensation are borne by Peabody. There is a current dispute over groundwater pumping but that issue is currently being addressed by the two tribes, Peabody and the BIA. The 100 foot loss per year quoted stains credulity. The slurry pipeline, (from the Black Mesa mine), has been in use since the 1970's, which would equate to a 3,000 ft plus loss to date in groundwater levels. Not a likely scenario in my opinion.

AZ Gila Monster 21:29, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

In regards to GilaMonster's comments: The fact that the mine exists within the reservation boundaries does not automatically mean the tribes have "total supervision and control". Access to mineral exploitation on reservation lands is largely controlled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Secretary of Interior. The "huge royalties [which] are paid to each tribe by Peabody" are worth less than one tenth of the actual market value of coal from other comparable mines ($0.12/ton vs $1.20/ton at 1960's rates). The mines, which are on fact really in just one area not "areas" as they are adjecent/bordering each other, are only amongst such a sparse population comparative to other areas of the reservation as a result of the coerced relocations of the people who lived there and the "residents that are or were displaced" were not "approved by the tribal governments", they were ordered tobe displaced by the federal congress in the Navajo-Hopi Relocation Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-531) despite public opposition from Navajo tribal office holders. The "costs of relocation and monetary compensation borne by Peabody" are actually borne by United States taxpayers as proscribed in the Relocation Act. As to the aquafer drain issue: I don't know where the 100 ft. per year figure comes from. Perhaps better information exists in the form of: The slurry pipeline has used over 2 billion gallons of water per year since it began operation and many deep wells, springs and seeps which feed off of the N-Aquafer have gone dry since pumping began.Dismantling 04:53, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

After a bit of research may I add the following. The N-HRA of 1974 has nothing to do with the relocation of tribal members to accommodate the mine. The NHRA was intended to resolve a long standing land dispute between the Navajo and Hopi tribes involving the Joint Use Area of approx. 18 million acres. The JUA was originally intended to allow both tribes to use the area but tribal disagreements had been ongoing for decades. This Act was amended further in 1996 and 2006. The following link is a summary of this long standing dispute; http://www.lapahie.com/Navajo_Hopi_Land_Dispute.cfm#Summary The roughly 50 families that had to move directly due to the mines were administered by the tribes as an eminent domain issue and the costs were indeed borne by Peabody. Concerning mineral leases on tribal lands, those leases are negotiated with the BIA and the tribes but the royalty agreements are strictly the realm of the tribes. In 2005, $27 million in royalties were paid for the 5 million tons of coal from the Black Mesa mine and $43 million for the 8 million tons of coal from the Kayenta mine. Mineral lease payments of roughly $8 million were paid to the Interior Dept, the majority of which is returned directly to the tribes. The following links have info concerning those facts. http://www.omb.navajo.org/main/previous_budget.html http://www.peabodyenergy.com/Media/publications.asp http://www.peabodyenergy.com/pdfs/06_AR_FINANCIALS.pdf http://www.hopi.nsn.us/ The pumping of groundwater is now a moot point. The Black Mesa mine has been inactive since Dec 2005 due the shutdown of the Mohave generating station in Laughlin, NV which was the recipient of the slurry coal from the pipeline. Mohave was mothballed due to lawsuits by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups and will likely not be reactivated due to the roughly $1 billion modification costs involved. While in operation, the pipeline used roughly 4,000 acre feet of water yearly which equates to roughly 1.3 billion gallons. More info on the following links. http://www.sce.com/PowerandEnvironment/PowerGeneration/MohaveGenerationStation/ http://www.ag.unr.edu/uced/reports/technicalreports/fy2002_2003/2002_03_07.pdf http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Jul-10-Sun-2005/business/2369846.html AZ Gila Monster 06:42, 18 May 2007 (UTC)