Sacred Land News Alert

Victory! Salt River Project Abandons Attempt to Re-Open Mohave Generating Station

Facing strong opposition from Hopi and Navajo activists, the Salt River Project has dropped their plan to re-open the shuttered Mohave power plant, which would have also re-opened Peabody Coal's Black Mesa stripmine and the slurry line that transported the coal using huge quantities of precious, pristine underground water.

Thanks to everyone who wrote comment letters on the Black Mesa draft Environmental Impact Statement. Public concern and vigilance paid off once again.

Disaster! Westlands Water District Purchases 3,000 Acres on California's McCloud River

In a political power play intended to strengthen the government's push to raise the height of Shasta Dam, the infamous Westlands Water District has reached far to the north to purchase privately owned land south of Mt. Shasta that includes 7 miles of the McCloud River. The Bollibokka fishing club land was sold for $35 million, and it contains 26 Winnemem Wintu ancestral villages, burial grounds and several important sacred sites. Read the front page article from the San Francisco Chronicle (Jan 28).

In an upcoming action alert we will ask for letters to Senator Barbara Boxer urging her to introduce legislation reinstating federal recognition of the Winnemem Wintu. Stay tuned: When the time comes we will send a sample letter. Thanks.

Below is Salt River Project's announcement about the Mohave power plant:

Scott Harelson, SRP
(602) 236-2500
hsharels@srpnet.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 6, 2007

SRP Ceases Effort to Restart Mohave Generating Station

Concludes that Timeline Delays would Render the Facility Economically Unfeasible

Salt River Project, a 20 percent owner of the Mohave Generating Station (MGS) in Laughlin, Nev., is ending efforts to return the plant to service.

Returning the Mohave facility to service would have provided much-needed energy to Arizona and the growing greater Phoenix metropolitan area. However, after efforts failed to reach a purchase agreement with Southern California Edison (SCE), the majority owner and operator of MGS, SRP has concluded that it will be unable to bring the facility back into service with the appropriate environmental emission controls in sufficient time to make it economically feasible for SRP customers.

SRP believes SCE intends to continue with its ongoing effort to identify potential new buyers for Mohave.

The 1,580-megawatt plant has been shut down since December 2005, pursuant to a consent decree.

In June 2006, SCE and two other co-owners, Nevada Power Co. and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, announced they would no longer pursue a restart of the plant. In September 2006, SRP announced its plans to seek a new ownership group to extend the life of Mohave.

SRP had formed a new ownership group that was prepared to complete a number of steps including, among others, the construction of approximately $750 million in additional pollution-control systems that would have significantly reduced emissions from the plant, exceeding the requirements of the consent decree.

Other steps included the development of a new water supply system for the Black Mesa Coal Mine, located on the Navajo and Hopi Reservations in northeastern Arizona. The new ownership group was prepared to commit to providing infrastructure that would have made groundwater from the new system available to nearby Hopi and Navajo communities that are currently without fresh-water delivery facilities.

In addition, a restart of Mohave would have extended the coal operations at the Black Mesa Mine, providing greatly needed employment for tribal members and revenue for education, medical care and other social services for the Navajo and Hopi Indian communities.

SRP is the third-largest public power utility in the nation, providing electric service to more than 900,000 customers in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area.