Dennis Winterringer, Leader, Black Mesa Project EIS
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
PO Box 46667
Denver, CO 80201-6667

RE: My comments on BMP Draft EIS (Black Mesa coal mine and Mohave Generating Station)

Dear Mr.Winterringer,

The Black Mesa coal mine and the Mohave Generating Station should be PERMANENTLY closed.  Your proposal to re-open the mine and re-construct a 270-mile pipeline to ship water and coal from the Hopi and Navajo reservations to the Mohave Generating Station would be a terrible mistake.  The water you propose to mine from beneath these arid reservations was deposited there during the last ice age, and once gone will not be replaced.  The loss of this water has already harmed local wells and springs, and there is no way to know what future damage will occur.  To mine this water for use in a coal-slurry pipeline is a tragic and senseless waste of a priceless resource.

The Black Mesa coal-slurry pipeline is the only such pipeline in the country, and exists only because the groundwater is essentially free to Peabody.  But the Hopi and Navajo people should not have to subsidize Peabody with their water.  Moreover, the coal will be used to fire one of the most antiquated and dirty coal-fired power plants in North America.  This plant has been shut down for air-quality violations since 2005, and should clearly remain shut down.  It is no longer a matter of debate that human-caused global warming is occurring, and coal-fired plants like this one are one of the worst emitters of greenhouse gases.

Nothing about your proposal to re-open this mine, rebuild the 270 mile slurry pipeline, commence mining approximately 2 billion gallons of water per year from beneath the Hopi and Navajo reservations, and contribute hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is acceptable given the current state of our understanding of our earth and our climate.  Your decision will set these actions in motion for the next 20 years.  I strongly urge you to immediately cancel this proposal and keep the Black Mesa coal mine and the Mohave Generating Station closed for good.  I will join millions of concerned Americans in continuing to closely monitor your actions in this extremely important matter.

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