The Navajo Nation has been waiting since 2004 for an Environmental Protection Agency ruling that would allow the tribe's Dine Power Authority and its partner, Houston-based Sithe Global Power, to build a coal-fired power plant at Desert Rock, N.M. This week, the tribe and Sithe informed the EPA that they intend to sue over the agency's failure to rule on the plant's air-permit application, reports Susan Montoya Bryan of The Associated Press.
The $3 billion plant would produce electricity for 1 million homes in the Southwest, and it would be the third coal-fired plant in the area. "Some Navajos and environmentalists argue that Desert Rock would harm the environment and residents' health," Bryan writes. "But DPA and Sithe have touted it as one of the cleanest coal-burning plants in the country and a much-needed source of jobs and revenue for the Navajo Nation."
Bryan later adds, "Both federal officials and Desert Rock developers have said the draft permit contains some of the strictest controls ever set for a coal-fired power plant in the United States." (Read more) Last week, a Navajo group proposed alternatives to the coal-fired plant, such as energy from solar, wind or natural gas. (Read more)
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