Screwing the Native Americans Again

In the desert of Northern Arizona, there is a Native American Reservation for the Hopis and Navajo.  Unfortunately for them, there is a huge coal deposit nearby, named Black Mesa.  Just as the Native Americans were screwed when the Europeans came over and decided to take over North America, the coal company Peabody Coal and the government has decided that the coal is much more important that the welfare of the Hopis and Navajo.

The Black Mesa coal mine issue is actually an old issue.  The mine was first opened about a century ago, but had been closed a few decades later.  Now, Bush & Co. want to open it again, with no regards to the welfare of the Hopi and Navajo.  They were screwed then, and they'll be screwed again.

Some of the problems with the mine:

1. The Environmental Impact Report, which is supposed to look at all of the possible environmental issues that may occur, has completely ignored the problem of water availability.  The mining of the coal requires the use of billions of gallons of water, which the desert cannot possibly replenish.  The mining of the coal, when it first started, had drained all of the natural springs and aquifers for dozens of miles around, and lowered the groundwater level to a dangerously low level.  Because of this, the Hopis and Navajo had to travel 20-30 miles through the desert to access water... which just might have been contaminated.  And now they want to start mining again?
2.  There is no mention of the problems of air pollution for the local residents, and the mine workers are only to be given basic precautions... despite all of the know problems resulting from coal dust pollution, such as black lung disease and asthma.
3. The mining agreement does not take into account the CO2 emissions that are going to occur if the mine opens.

However, there is a bright spot on the horizon.  U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, who is tapped to take over the Dept. of the Interior under Obama's administration, is calling for a suspension of the proposed mining agreement until the environmental review can be re-examined.  If he is heeded, and the mining agreement is not given a green light, I think we can expect it to be scrapped.  Which is the environmentally and politically correct thing to do, considering the reasons given above. 

Source: Gristmill, Why Raul Grijalva Matters at Interior