Oppose the Desert Rock Power Plant!
The Desert Rock Power Plant is a 1500 megawatt (large!) conventional coal fired power plant proposed for the Navajo Nation. If built, the plant will spew over 10 million tons of greenhouse gases into the Atmosphere every year, essentially canceling out New Mexico's attempts to reduce its overall greenhouse gas output for at least a decade. The plant is proposed to built by Sithe Global Power, LLC, an international entity building similar projects around the world.
There are many issues with Sithe's draft air quality permit in relation to other pollutants:
- A lack of proper consideration of greenhouse gas emissions by the EPA: The Clean Air Act DOES support the assertion that EPA should be regulating CO2 emissions. There is currently a case before the Supreme Court to decide this.
Besides the CO2 issue, the draft air permit is inadequate in the following ways:
- A lack of ozone impact analysis,
- EPA improperly allows Desert Rock to take credit for emission reductions at other power plants that occurred because these plants were out of compliance to begin with,
- Inadequate Public Notice,
- Inadequate compliance with Federal Environmental Justice Requirements,
- No small particle impact analysis,
- No mercury emission limits specified in the draft permit,
- No soils and vegetation impact analysis,
- Improper exclusion of start-up and shut-down emission controls,
- Improper categorical exclusion by the EPA of consideration of alternative combustion technologies (such as IGCC)
- A secret visibility (smog) impact mitigation plan; Initial modeling results are said to have indicated that at least six Class I regions would be significantly impacted (Class I regions are places of high national interest to protect).
See the information on the website of the San Juan Citizen's Alliance for more information about these issues.
Desert Rock will also use 4000+ acre feet of water per year, extracted from deep Navajo aquifiers and lost forever.
Sithe and the Navajo Nation has sought an $85 million state tax break for the project in both the 2006 and 2007 New Mexico State Legislative Sessions. The first time, this was defeated only due to the failure of a major tax "omnibus" bill that included the Desert Rock incentive, due to a last minute filibuster in the House spurred by other political factors.
In the 2007 the measures were defeated due to a massive opposition from people in the Navajo Nation who were outraged by the possible impacts to their land and lives, who organized into two groups ("Dooda Desert Rock", which means "No Desert Rock", and Dine Cares), and also by a large alliance of environmental and public policy groups, including the CCAE, the Sage Council, Sierra Club, Conservation Voters New Mexico, San Juan Citizens Alliance, New Energy Economy, New Mexico Interfaith Alliance for Environmental Stewardship, Climate Change Action Project, League of Young Voters, and others.
The two bills, HB 178 and SB 431 were defeated: HB 178 never made it past its first committee, and SB 431 never made it past its second committee. At the end of the Session, Navajo Representative Ray Begaye expressed profound concerns both about the economic and environmental aspects of the proposal, and also about the lobbying effort of the proponents. See the letter published by Representative Begaye at the end of this page.
As part of the effort to oppose the Desert Rock incentive, on February 5, 2007, the citizens of New Mexico gathered at the New Mexico State Legislature to express their disapproval.
Several hundred people attended. Speakers included a large group of Navajos who traveled all the way to Santa Fe to voice their concerns, and many advocates who described the environmental short-comings of the proposed plant.
Many of these Navajo People returned to the Roundhouse repeatedly during the remainder of the Session to ensure that the Desert Rock bills did not pass. We acknowledge their dedication and the primary role they played in educating the Legislature that these bills were not appropriate.
Desert Rock Power Plant:
Fundamental Issues in Depth
- Both scientific studies (IPCC and others) and the economic study on global warming by Stern point to the next decade as being a crucial period during which serious green house gas mitigation must be instituted, or serious risks from global warming will result. Instead of initiating a path for decreasing green house gas emissions in the State, Desert Rock would INCREASE the total net emissions in the State by an estimated 16%. This magnitude of increase could not be counteracted by other mitigation policies for the better part of that crucial decade described above. And in particular, the savings proposed by the Governor to take action by 2012 are almost exactly the amount that Desert Rock will increase those emissions, once it is fully operational.
- Mercury is a serious health hazard in NM, and mercury emissions by Desert Rock will not be controlled by present EPA stance. Uncontrolled, Desert Rock would increase mercury emissions in the state by about 40%. Overall levels of controlled pollutants will put the 4 Corners region over the top on EPA air quality standards if Desert Rock is built. The disposal of fly ash from pollution control processes could pose a serious health hazard, but is not a controlled standard.
- The accuracy of all the submitted figures for pollutant control at Desert Rock have been seriously questioned by expert testimony from Dine Care, San Juan Citizens Alliance, et al. The EPA judges Desert Rock on the basis of “Best Available Control Technology”, but did not allow comparisons to Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle systems. IGCC is significantly better than the traditional Desert Rock plan ON ALL COUNTS. (For example, mercury can be practically eliminated entirely, CO2 emission is lower, and ultimate CO2 capture is financially feasible.) An IGCC plant would therefore significantly ameliorate the problems associated with building a new electric power plant in the 4 Corners.
- An even better alternative to Desert Rock than IGCC is a concentrated solar power system, which has NO environmental downsides. It would also create jobs in the Navajo Nation, just as Desert Rock does.
- It does not appear that Navajo people close to the proposed site of the Desert Rock Plant were sufficiently informed about the project. Signature drives by Dooda Desert Rock and allies suggest that the vast majority of Navajo residents in the area oppose the plant.
Desert Rock Facts and Statistics
Owners: Sithe Global Power of Houston, TX.
Electricity Production: 1500 MW (two 750 MW units),
Expected electric energy produced per yr for Desert Rock is 11,169 GWh.
Total electric energy produced in NM in 2003 was 32,500 GWh.
Cost: $2.2 Billion
Fuel: Coal (mine mouth facility)
Location: 580 acres about 30 mi S of Shiprock
CO2 emissions: 10.5 MMtCO2e per year.
Desert Rock is proposed by Sithe in partnership with Dine Power Authority (a Navajo nation enterprise). It will be a “market plant” which means it will sell power to other buyers. Sithe claims prospective buyers will be APS the Salt River Project and PNM (PNM denies they will buy power from Desert Rock). The land is leased to Dine Power and subleased to Sithe. Sithe has brokered a 67% reduction of taxes from the Nation, and is in negotiation with the County for additional tax breaks.
LETTER FROM REP. RAY BEGAYE: Navajo Times, Friday, March 16, 2007:
Troubling issues about Desert Rock
Sithe Global Power, LLC is an international development company engaged in the development, construction, acquisition and operation of electric generation facilities in attractive markets around the world.
Sithe Global is affiliated with Blackstone Capital Partners, an affiliate of The Blackstone Group (which owns approximately 80 percent of Sithe Global) and the Reservoir Capital Group (which owns approximately 20 percent of Sithe Global).
I have reviewed the comprehensive plan that the Navajo Nation has provided to me at my office in Santa Fe.
What troubles me about the proposed Desert Rock power plant is the fact that there is no environmental safety net at a time when New Mexico and neighboring states are imposing strict emission requirements on coal-fired power generation facilities.
Also, there is no provision for sharing with the Navajo communities that will be most directly affected by the proposed Desert Rock power plant the revenue from royalties and taxes that will be collected as a result of the Desert Rock power plant.
Finally, the Desert Rock power plant will require water to cool the ?engine? of that plant. What will be the long-term impact on the aquifer and recharge system of the additional demand for water needed to service the proposed Desert Rock power plant?
There have been many rumors circulating how I am opposing the state tax relief proposal for Sithe Global. I say ?To?oo yoo ch?iid at?e!?
I have been trying to negotiate with the Navajo Nation president's office regarding. as a condition of granting any state tax credit to Sithe Global, tightening the emission control standards for the proposed Desert Rock power plant and giving a portion of the requested tax credit to the impacted chapters of the Navajo Nation.
Representatives of Sithe Global and the Navajo Nation are troubled by my proposal to strengthen emission control standards for the proposed Desert Rock power plant.
On a number of occasions during the current session of the New Mexico Legislature, proponents of the proposed Desert Rock power plant have come to the state capital and their behavior have greatly troubled me.
Their participation in the legislative process has included threats, intimidation and misinformation.
Other legislators have also been troubled by the actions by the proponents of the proposed Desert Rock power plant, and the latest actions of these proponents have served to discredit any further attempts at negotiating a resolution to the current impasse.
Rep. Ray Begaye, D-Shiprock
Shiprock, N.M.
