By Sue Major Holmes
Associated Press
Environmentalists and Navajo groups who have been fighting a proposed
coal-fired plant on tribal land in northwestern New Mexico have
appealed an air permit granted for the plant.
The petition filed Thursday alleges the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency failed to complete required analyses of the project, and instead
was pressured into granting the permit because developers of the Desert
Rock power plant filed a lawsuit contending the EPA was taking too
long.
The petition to the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board in Washington,
D.C., asks that the permit be withdrawn and that the EPA be required to
complete the analyses.
The groups contend that those analyses would either lead to the denial
of the permit or would require significant changes to it. They also
want an extension of time, until Oct. 17, to document what they say are
major problems with the permit. Currently they have until Sept. 2 to
document concerns.
"The EPA is abandoning its mission by rushing a permit out the door for
political expedience and ignoring the fact that it will emit massive
quantities of CO2 and other pollutants," Earthjustice attorney Nick
Persampieri, who filed the appeal, said in a statement.
Dine Power Authority and Houston-based Sithe Global Power are partners
in building the 1,500-megawatt plant southwest of Farmington. The air
permit was considered a major hurdle, although an environmental impact
statement also must be approved before construction can begin.
Spokesmen for Desert Rock and the Navajo Nation said they expected the appeal.
"It's the same kind of tired arguments they've made for over two years
now," Desert Rock spokesman Frank Maisano said. "They're misconstrued,
they're misleading and in some cases they're just plain wrong."
The plant will reduce carbon emissions compared to a typical plant and
will reduce water use by 85 percent from a typical plant, Maisano said.
"This is the most strict permit that EPA has ever issued," he said.
George Hardeen, spokesman for Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr., said
the Dine Power Authority and the tribe have been waiting for the EPA to
issue the permit for four years, and that the opponents have had time
to voice their concerns.
Hardeen also said pollution in the area could be eased if other power plants copied Desert Rock's design.
The state of New Mexico has alleged the EPA violated the federal Clean
Air Act in issuing the permit and has said it will appeal. Marissa
Stone, a spokeswoman for the New Mexico Environment Department, said
Thursday the appeal will be filed by Aug. 30, the deadline.
The permit sets limits on emissions covered by the Clean Air Act, and
the EPA has said it will set a new level of performance for coal-fired
plants. The EPA, in a June consent decree, had agreed to act on the
permit by the end of July in settling the lawsuit the developers of the
$3 billion project filed against the agency.
