Chief Justice Scott Bales saw what the majority of Arizona’s high court did not: The religious significance of the San Francisco Peaks to the Hopi is a value worth recognizing on its own merits.

The majority of the court, however, said use of reclaimed water to make artificial snow for skiers on Forest Service land does not cause “special injury for public nuisance purposes” to the Hopi.

They parsed the legal meaning of those terms and reached the ridiculous conclusion that the Hopi’s religious beliefs about the mountain do not rise above the interests of the general public.

As a result, Arizona Snowbowl Resort Limited Partnership can continue using what Bales called “sewer snow” on the Hopi's sacred mountain.

Religious sites covered in 'reclaimed sewage'

That matters because the artificial snow will drift and melt. Areas that Hopi have used for "millennia of religious practice . . . will be covered in a fine film of reclaimed sewage," Bales wrote.

Hopi members go to the Peaks regularly to pray, conduct rituals, as well at to collect water and plants for ceremonies.

“The majority fails to appreciate that the wastewater will affect the Hopi’s use and enjoyment of ancestral lands that have played a central role in Hopi culture and religion since before the Coconino National Forest was of concern to the broader public,” Bales wrote in a dissent that was joined by Justice Clint Bolick.

To be clear, the water, which the Snowbowl buys from the City of Flagstaff and uses to make artificial snow, is treated at the Rio de Flag Treatment Plant and deemed safe.

It's safe but not pure water

But Bales pointed out that “studies of reclaimed water from this plant found chemicals that interfere with the basic biology of wildlife.”

“The wastewater also has elevated nitrogen levels, which contributes to the growth of invasive plant life, possibly choking out native flora, impairing soil fauna, and otherwise affecting the ecosystem,” Bales wrote.

Flagstaff city officials told The Republic’s Alden Woods the water is treated to “Class A+” quality. It is nearly drinking water quality. Nearly, but not quite.

It contains traces of personal care products and hormone regulators, including estrogen, according to Woods.

Would you put that in the Baptismal Font?

Probably not something you’d want to put in the Baptismal Font or the Holy Water receptacle.

And that’s the whole point.

The San Francisco Peaks are sacred to the Hopi.

“In the spring melt, sacred springs will be tainted with the melting wastewater, turning formerly pure ceremonial locations into a secondary sewer,” Bales wrote.

The Hopi connection with the mountain is very different from that of the general public, and this case hinged on the court recognizing that difference in order to find a “special nuisance” under the law.

Some things can't be counted in dollars

The majority not only ruled that damages suffered by the Hopi are not different, the five justices also pointed out that the Hopi had did not own the public land in question or have a financial stake in it.

And to heck with sacred traditions that go back well before the first skier tested the man-made slopes.

Bales took this on directly.

“We may live in a material world," he wrote in the dissent, “but it is a sad comment on our law to suggest that other interests — such as religious traditions and practices manifest through millennia and recognized by federal law — cannot support a claim of special injury for purposes of the public nuisance doctrine.”

We also live in a country that has historically seen the culture and beliefs of Native Americans as expendable and secondary to the ambitions of those who do have financial interests.

This has been a losing battle for decades

The Hopi and other tribes have been fighting the expansion of the Snowbowl on federal land they regard as sacred for decades. They lost those battles.

They began fighting again in 2010, when Flagstaff voted to sell effluent to the Snowbowl to make fake snow.

The Hopi lost in federal courts. Now they have lost in Arizona’s highest court.

It may not be surprising that Arizona’s high court continued a tradition of relegating Native American beliefs to second-class status. But it is a shame.

“In sum, the Hopi face the destruction and desecration of some of their most sacred locations and places,” Bales wrote for the dissent.

And the majority of the Arizona Supreme Court is OK with that.

Reach Valdez at linda.valdez@arizonarepublic.com.

MORE FROM VALDEZ: