The Trump Administration has approved a new plan that would allow Navajo Nation to continue coal mining until the year 2136. This would allow the tribe to mine over half-a-billion tons of coal in the New Mexico mine, at a time when the coal industry is in decline. This is part of President Donald Trump’s plan to bring the power of the coal industry back to the U.S.
The Navajo Mine has been fueling the Four Corners Power Plant since 1963. The lease is set to expire in 2041. Governor Katie Hobbs with Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and Hopi Chairman Lamar Keevama, created a pact to monitor the closures of coal mines in the Four Corners area.
Gabriel Pietrorazio, Senior Broadcast Field Correspondent at KJZZ, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the new plan.
The plan allows mining to continue for 110 year, but according to the mine’s owners, Navajo Transitional Energy Company, it won’t be definitively 110 years of coal mining as they will have to continue to receive permits every 5 years.
According to Pietrorazio, in the Final Environmental Impact Statement, the Feds acknowledged that after the lease expires with the Four Corners Power Plant, they do not know who the next buyer will be; however, they have an idea of who it could be.
“The company has disclosed in previous Navajo Nation council meetings that the majority of their customers are based in Asia,” Pietrorazio said. “They’re expanding in places like Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam where there’s a great demand for coal.”
As part of the pact to monitor the closure of coal mines, the administration is also looking to support coal miners who could potentially lose their jobs as a result of closures and find them work elsewhere.
The decision for this plan has been set in stone by the Department of the Interior. Now, there’s an implementation phase which could potentially be devastating for some Navajo families.
“There’s a community called Burnham, it’s about less than 200 or so residents,” Pietrorazio said. “They will be permanently displaced, along with their livestock and other animals as well, as the mine continues to grow.”
