ALBUQUERQUE — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday asked an appeals board to allow the agency to reconsider an air permit issued last year for a planned coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation in northwestern New Mexico.
Regional EPA officials want to reconsider the parts of the permit for the $3 billion Desert Rock Energy Project that were appealed by the state of New Mexico and environmentalists who were concerned about air quality, carbon-dioxide emissions and violations of the Endangered Species Act.
EPA spokesman Darrin Swartz-Larson said Monday it was unclear when the Environmental Appeals Board will rule on the EPA’s request, but environmentalists were already hailing the agency’s motion as a big roadblock for Desert Rock.
“It’s still our position that the project should not be built,” said Nick Persampieri, an attorney with Earthjustice, which represents a coalition of environmental groups. “There’s no demonstrated need for the project, and we are hopeful that the final outcome will be that the project will not be built.”
The tribe’s Dine Power Authority and Houston-based Sithe Global LLC have partnered to build the 1,500- megawatt power plant on the Navajo reservation south of Farmington.
They have said Desert Rock would be one of the cleanest coal-burning power plants in the nation and it would generate more than $50 million in annual revenues for the tribe and create jobs for a reservation where more than half of the people are unemployed.
Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr. said Monday he was disappointed to learn of the EPA’s move only after the motion was already filed.
He said he had hoped that a new administration in Washington would mean a change in the way the federal government has consulted with his tribe.
Shirley has requested a meeting with President Barack Obama to talk about Desert Rock.
“This isn’t just about energy,” Shirley said. “This is about sovereignty. This is about saving self.”
Jeff Holmstead, lead attorney in the fight to build Desert Rock and a former assistant administrator for air at EPA, said he was surprised by the EPA’s action and the agency seems to have little regard for due process or fairness.
