Tom Purdom
Staff Writer
7-2-03
PUEBLO OF ZUNI — Major federal support lined up to look at a proposed private coal mine that Zuni Indians say will kill the tranquil, sacred Zuni Lake.
New Mexico Sens. Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, along with New Mexico Congressmen Steven Pearce and Tom Udall, crossed party lines Tuesday to voice one message: temporarily suspend mining activity approved by a federal permit issued to the Salt River Project's Life of Mine Plan.
Their message went in the form of a letter written to Rebecca Watson, assistant secretary for land and minerals management of the U.S. Department of Interior, and Aurene Martin, acting assistant secretary of Indian Affairs, also part of the DOI.
The letter, signed by the New Mexico Congressional Delegation, asks that operations be suspended pending the outcome of a more definitive study on the area.
SRP, the nation's third-largest electric utility, wants to build a strip coal mine on 18,191 acres straddling Cibola and Catron counties to supply coal to the Coronado Generating Station near St. Johns, Ariz. The Coronado Generating Station supplies electrical power to Phoenix. The Fence Lake Mine would draw water from the Atarque Aquifer. SRP said taking the water from the aquifer would have no affect on the Zuni Salt Lake, some 11 miles from the mine.
Zuni Salt Lake is sacred and considered home of Salt Mother, a principal Zuni deity.
The Zunis contend that the Atarque Aquifer feeds Zuni Salt Lake, as does the Dakota Aquifer. In addition, SRP is building a railroad to carry the coal to St. Johns and the rail line crosses The Sanctuary, more than 5,000 acres of land surrounding Zuni Salt Lake. The Sanctuary is considered another sacred Native American site where warring nations may enter, put down weapons and walk in peace. Salt Mother is a deity of peace.
The Zuni Salt Lake is as important to many Native Americans as the Vatican is to the rest of the world. Zuni Tribal Councilman Dan Simplico said late Tuesday he was elated at the news.
"This is a real strong message," Simplico said. "On a scale of one to 10, this goes beyond 10."
Several Native American tribes, as well as the Sierra Club and other interested parties, have been fighting SRP.
Simplico, contacted while on a business trip to Albuquerque, said the Zuni people have called upon their ancestors for help.
"What you see happening now is a demonstration of the power of beliefs of the people of Zuni," Simplico said.
The New Mexico Congressional Delegation in a Tuesday news release said the Zuni Tribe began a study and has now received evidence showing Salt River Project's use of the Atarque Aquifer will affect the Zuni Salt Lake.
When the DOI approved the permit in May 2002, it carried conditions, one of which denies water from the Dakota Aquifer to SRP and the other mandates SRP to conduct long-term pump tests of the Atarque Aquifer to determine if Zuni Salt Lake would be affected.
SRP contended in its 1993 permit application package that the Atarque Aquifer is a leaky-confined aquifer in which pumping effects would not be seen more than one-half mile in any direction and that the aquifer did not feed the Zuni Salt Lake.
Rather than take SRP's word for it, the Pueblo of Zuni initiated a study of its own.
The delegation's letter to the DOI states: "New geologic mapping shows not only that the Atarque Aquifer is present in the bedrock to the south and east of Zuni Salt Lake, but also that it is in contact with the lake for at least 3,000 feet and is contributing water to the lake."
The letter goes on to point out more facts, one of which involves SRP's own hydrology consultant, who wrote a brief with the New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division reversing a previous SRP claim that Atarque Aquifer is a leaky-confined aquifer and instead is a confined aquifer.
The Pueblo of Zuni, along with strong support from the Pueblos of Acoma and Laguna, the Hopi Nation, the Ramah Navajo Band and the All Indian Pueblo Council, called on DOI to suspend the federal permit based on the new evidence.
The New Mexico Delegation's letter reminded DOI of the May 2002 permit.
"Special Condition 13 of the DOI decision expressly reserves the right in DOI to rescind or modify the federal approval if newly discovered evidence or some other factor makes such action appropriate, consistent with the DOI's trust responsibility to Native American tribes," the letter states. It also states, "the Zuni Salt Lake varies in natural depth over time from a few inches to a maximum of four feet; there is therefore little margin for error in protecting this sacred lake."
A delegation news release states: "It is our understanding that the Bureau of Indian Affairs currently is conducing a hydrologic study of its own of the Atarque Aquifer and that the New Mexico Mining and Minerals Division has called for SRP to make an affirmative showing that there will be no harm to the Zuni Salt Lake from the proposed Fence Lake Mine's pumping by performing a pump test which puts the question to the test."
After reading a copy of the letter, Simplico said, "I've never seen any kind of support like this publicly being delivered to anyone making this kind of decision."
SRP offices were closed by the time information for this story was received.