Navajo Nation -- Diné (Navajo) community organizations Black Mesa Water Coalition, Diné CARE, and Tó Nizhóni Ání, supported by the Sierra Club, filed a lawsuit seeking a plan for reclaiming the 44,000-acre Kayenta Coal Mine located on the Navajo Nation. The mine is the exclusive provider of coal for the Navajo Generating Station (NGS), which is retiring on December 22, 2019 in favor of cheaper sources of power.

“After a half-century of operation, no lands or waters at the Kayenta Mine have been permanently reclaimed,” said Nicole Horseherder, Executive Director of Navajo group Tó Nizhóní Ání. “Federal regulators are acting as if Peabody will keep strip mining for coal for another quarter century even though plans for closure of NGS were finalized in 2017. This false hope is simply letting Peabody ignore their responsibility for reclaiming our land and restoring our Water.”

The Kayenta Mine is operated by Peabody Western Coal Company, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy. The Navajo Generating Station, located in northern Arizona, is one of the oldest and dirtiest coal fired power plants in the nation.

The lawsuit claims that federal regulators within U.S. Department of Interior, an owner of the Navajo Generating Station, unlawfully permitted mine operations for Kayenta without accounting for permanent mine closure on December 2019 – which triggers final mine reclamation procedures. The lawsuit is brought under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA).

“We need a reclamation plan from federal regulators that meaningfully addresses when our land and water will be returned to us,” said Adella Begaye, President of Navajo group Diné CARE. “For the past 50 years, Peabody has locked up these lands for a single-industrial use and we have seen nothing from federal regulators explaining how our lands will be repaired and our water restored when Peabody stops mining and walks away from this operation in December of 2019.”

“We cannot allow Peabody to sidestep reclamation and further exploit our communities when NGS closes,” said Jihan Gearon, Executive Director of Diné organization Black Mesa Water Coalition. “Peabody Energy has yet to fully reclaim even one of the 44,000 acres of land they have mined on Black Mesa, and without this lawsuit, there are no guarantees they will meet their obligations. Instead, we must ensure the lands and waters of Black Mesa are fully reclaimed to their natural healthy and productive state.”