DENVER—Two Colorado Democrats have asked for more time for the public to comment on a proposed power plant in the Four Corners region.
Sen. Ken Salazar and Rep. John Salazar sent a letter dated Friday to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne asking for 60 more days for residents to comment on a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Desert Rock Power Plant in northern New Mexico.
The comment period is currently scheduled to close Aug. 20.
The brothers said some of their constituents did not receive a copy of the roughly 1,600-page draft environmental impact statement until the comment period was half over.
“This project is extremely controversial. Many of our constituents and local elected officials have expressed concern about the proposed plant’s impact on air and water quality,” the letter said.
The proposed 1,500-megawatt, coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation is a joint venture between Houston-based Sithe Global Power and the Navajo Nation’s Dine Power Authority.
DPA and Sithe have touted Desert Rock as one of the cleanest coal-burning plants in the country that could bring in about $55 million a year for the Navajos and provide 400 permanent jobs.
Desert Rock spokesman Frank Maisano called the Salazars’ letter a delay tactic. He said project opponents already have given federal officials and the power plant developers plenty of information.
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Information from: The Durango Herald,
