Lastest Developments on Desert Rock Power Plant: EIS Problems and Fluor Corp.

Recent news about Desert Rock, the controversial coal-fired power plant proposed on Navajo Nation land near Shiprock, NM, centers on U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) concerns about the project's Draft Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), as well as the award of the initial program management contract to Fluor Corp., a major player implicated in the Iraq and Katrina recovery contract scandals.

Problems with Draft Environmental Impact Statement
The U.S. EPA is questioning the sufficiency and accuracy of the draft environmental impact statement on the plant, which would be built by Houston-based Global Sithe in cooperation with the Navajo Nation. According to an article in today's Albuqurque Journal:

The EPA questions some of the numbers and projections in a Bureau of Indian Affairs draft environmental impact statement, which was released this summer and was the focus of 10 public hearings across the Four Corners and in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

... In a 12-page analysis of problems with the environmental impact assessment, the EPA notes "unresolved concerns" with the BIA's analysis of groundwater contamination and air quality effects of the construction and operation of the 1,500-megawatt plant.

Representatives of Diné C.A.R.E., the San Juan Citizens Alliance and the Energy Minerals Law Center issued a joint press release dated September 12, 2007 in response to the EPA's comments. Excerpt:

"We commend EPA's recognition that Desert Rock presents unresolved environmental justice issues. The two existing power plants and three coal mines in the region have created a legacy of disproportionate impacts to the Diné people," said Dailan Long of Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment (C.A.R.E.), "Like its predecessors, Desert Rock will result in the permanent removal and relocation of Navajo Nation tribal members including elders many of whom only speak Navajo, do not have phones, electricity or running water, and use these areas for ceremonial, customary and medicinal purposes. The BIA and industry have to date failed to treat local Diné people humanely."

"The EPA rightfully notes that the DEIS for Desert Rock fails to evaluate the impacts of continued dumping of coal combustion wastes in Navajo Mine with no valid conclusion concerning the legacy of dumping practices in the region." said Brad Bartlett, attorney with the Energy Minerals Law Center. "Tens of millions of tons of hazardous coal combustion waste have already been dumped in the existing Navajo Mine from the existing Four Corners Power Plant. Desert Rock would expand the Navajo Mine by 17,000 acres and increase the unmitigated dumping of these wastes ten fold."

"The EPA comments on the Desert Rock DEIS reinforce unresolved environmental and economic problems for Sithe Global's proposal," said Mike Eisenfeld of the San Juan Citizens Alliance. "The notion that Desert Rock is a clean coal-fired power plant has been clearly refuted. It is now time for the BIA and the Navajo Nation to move beyond the ill-advised, conceptual Desert Rock project to economic development for the Navajo Nation that truly accounts for economic and environmental progress and success."

EPA's comments include the unevaluated impacts to groundwater from continued and expanded Coal Combustion Byproducts (otherwise known as coal combustion waste) disposal in Navajo Mine (the proposed source of coal for Desert Rock); the failure of BIA to require aquifer testing and impact assessment; the lack of a groundwater monitoring program for the project; deficient conclusions concerning groundwater; insufficient particulate matter emission calculations for air quality impacts; improper conclusions concerning mercury content of coal proposed to be burned for Desert Rock; and failure to include a public health discussion that includes the latest scientific information about air pollution and public health, including impacts from ozone.

In addition, the EPA documented several deficient Environmental Justice issues including lack of local citizen access to power and no proposed mitigation in the DEIS; the failure to identify information concerning potential relocation of minority and low income populations as a result of Desert Rock; and the failure to properly evaluate the potential impacts of Desert Rock on groundwater and agriculture.

"Disaster Profiteer" Fluor Corp. to Manage Development
Fluor Corp., a generous contributor to Republican candidates, was selected to provide initial comprehensive program management services in the development of Desert Rock starting in 2008. Fluor was also the recipient of $100 million in no-bid contracts from FEMA for services in the Katrina recovery effort. FEMA's entire contracting process is being audited by the Department of Homeland Security after complaints from Congressional Democrats and others about cronyism and serious mismanagement.

According to a September 2005 article by the Institute of Southern Studies, the corporation has also been heavily involved in questionable and costly Iraq recovery projects and other boondoggles:

A California-based engineering firm, Fluor has been one of the government's biggest go-to contractors for overseas engineering work, accumulating contracts worth $8.5 billion (source: The Center for Public Integrity) from 1990 to 2002. Iraq was no exception, where they pointed to their long history in the region (mostly Saudi Arabia) to land over $1.6 billion in contacts for rebuilding Iraq. According to an August 2004 report in the Los Angeles Times, they also had the right political connections:

Suzanne H. Woolsey is a trustee of a little-known arms consulting group that had access to senior Pentagon leaders directing the Iraq war. In January, she joined the board of Fluor Corp. Soon afterward, Fluor and a joint-venture partner won about $1.6 billion in reconstruction contracts in Iraq.

Woolsey's husband, the former CIA director, R. James Woolsey, a leading advocate for the war, also serves as a government policy adviser. He, too, works for a company with war-related interests.

The Woolseys' overlapping affiliations are part of a pattern in Washington, in which individuals play key roles in organizations advising officials on major policy issues, whileinvolving themselves with businesses in related fields.

What's their work record? Like many of the politically-connected contractors, Fluor keeps landing contracts despite a long rap sheep of scandal and abuse, including repeated claims of overcharging and gouging taxpayers. Among the most recent include charges of falsely claiming millions of dollars in costs on DoD contracts in 2001 (the company settled for $8.5 million), and in 2002 being sued for $24 million for "numerous design and construction failures" at the Refugio Mine in northern Chile.

And their work state-side? In 1994, Fluor paid a $3.2 million fine for "submitting heavily padded repair bills for work on Navy bases after hurricane Hugo."

In addition,

Fluor manages the government's Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington, one of the most heavily polluted sites in North America. Since Fluor took over the site in the mid-1990s, workers and local citizens have charged the company with cost cutting measures that have created potential environmental and health concerns. The company responded by firing whistleblowers and shutting down the Hanford Joint Council, a public forum established eight years ago to air employee and local government concerns over plant safety. (Ref: Gov. Accountability Project)

As reported in the New York Times, Fluor Corp. as an entity within the Fluor comglomerate, was incorporated in Delaware on September 11, 2000 after splitting with their coal production unit, which is now called Massey Energy. Massey is the nation's fourth largest coal producer according to CorpWatch.

State of NM Seeks Consultation with Navajo Nation
In late July 2007, Gov. Bill Richardson issued a statement expressing his serious concerns about the Desert Rock Plant due to the significant amounts of greenhouse gases and other pollutants the plant would emit. In a letter dated August 20, 2007 to Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr., Richardson requested "formal government-to-government consultation between the State of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation" to discuss the concerns and explore options for addressing them. Ron Curry, Secretary of the NM Environment Department, was designated as the State's lead person in the consultation. No word yet on a response from President Shirley.

Still Time to Submit Comments
Gov. Richardson also requested an extension of the comment period on the project's draft environmental impact statement and others have complained about the short time allowed for public input. The comment period, in fact, has been extended and now ends on October 9, 2007. You can electronically submit comments on the project to . There is a 40,000 character limit. It's recommended that you also mail a copy of your comments to:

Harrilene Yazzie, NEPA Coordinator
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Navajo Regional Office
P.O. Box 1060, Gallup, New Mexico 87305
505-863-8287

To learn more about the Desert Rock Power Plant controversy and stay current on developments, visit the desert-rock-blog operated by Doodah Desert Rock activists, the San Juan Citizens Alliance website and the website of the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Also check out the indepth commentary in this previous post, which includes links to our past Desert Rock coverage.