Top Arizona Story
Feds extend comment period on coal-fired power plant

From The Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—The federal government has decided to give people another 30 days to review a massive document on the potential impacts of a proposed coal-fired power plant that the nation’s largest Indian reservation is looking to as its economic salvation.

The $3 billion Desert Rock Energy Project would be capable of producing enough electricity for up to 1.5 million homes in cities across the Southwest including those in Arizona while bringing in tens of millions of dollars each year in tax revenues, lease payments and royalties for the Navajo Nation.

Among the environmentalists and tribal members who had objected to the comment period ending Monday were Rep. John Salazar and his brother Sen. Ken Salazar, both Democrats from Colorado.

While the plant would be located on tribal land in northwestern New Mexico, the lawmakers say it’s controversial among residents throughout the Four Corners region —where New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah meet.

The Salazars said many residents did not receive a copy of the 1,600-page environmental impact statement until the comment period was half over.

“The proposed Desert Rock plant is one that concerns many of my constituents,” John Salazar said in a statement. “The possible impacts of the proposed plant to our air, water and health need to be fully understood. This extension will allow more time for the public to read and comment on this proposal.”

Desert Rock, a joint venture between Houston-based Sithe Global Power and the Navajo Nation’s Dine Power Authority, would be the third coal-fired plant in the Four Corners.

Opponents are concerned that it would only add to the pollution in the region, impacting both residents’ health and the environment.