DENVER – A federal judge on Monday determined that regulators did not adequately assess the environmental impact from a proposed expansion of the Navajo Mine in New Mexico.
Farmington-based Navajo Transitional Energy Company on the Navajo Nation has applied to expand mining operations by about 12.7 million tons of coal at its Navajo Mine.
But a U.S. District Court judge in Denver ruled that the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement did not fully take into account the environmental impacts as a result of the expansion, which would solely feed the nearby Four Corners Power Plant.
Those assessments are governed by the National Environmental Policy Act.
Environmentalists filed a lawsuit in 2012 to block the expansion, focusing on mercury pollution from burning the mined coal.
U.S. District Court Judge John L. Kane said in a written ruling that OSM improperly limited the scope of its environmental assessment by failing to consider the combustion-related impacts of the proposed expansion.
“Given the potentially significant impacts of mercury pollution, OSM’s failure to discuss or analyze the deleterious impacts of combustion-related mercury deposition in the area of the Four Corners Power Plant is troubling. At a minimum, it renders OSM’s analysis of the indirect effects of the proposed mine expansion insufficient,” Kane wrote.
Because the Navajo Mine exists for the sole purpose of feeding the Four Corners Power Plant, Kane said the environmental assessment should have also included potential pollution from the burning of the proposed additional coal itself, not just the impact from the mining.
“Because there is no uncertainty as to the location, the method, or the timing of this combustion, it is possible to predict with certainty the combustion-related environmental impacts,” Kane wrote.
A spokesperson for Navajo Transitional Energy Company declined to comment, noting that the case is ongoing.
OSM did not immediately respond to a request for comment left by The Cortez Journal.
Stakeholders have been asked to attempt to reach an agreement. If no agreement is reached, then the parties must submit additional requests to the court by March 23.
Meanwhile, environmental groups hailed the court ruling.
“Enough is enough,” said Colleen Cooley, of Diné CARE, which represents residents near the power plant and mine. “It is time to move beyond coal and invest in clean energy for the sake of our communities and future generations.”