#Black mesa arizona upgrade

In addition to the impact of coal on the natural environment of Black Mesa, twelve thousand Navajos have been removed from their lands due to the mining, the largest removal of Native Americans since the 1880s. Since the plant was the sole customer of the Black Mesa mine, and because Peabody did not have an alternative source of water, operation of the mine and slurry line ceased as well.

#Black mesa arizona upgrade

The owners of Mohave chose to shut down the plant rather than upgrade it to acceptable pollution standards. According to the EPA, the coal plant was the dirtiest in the Western U.S., emitting up to 40,000 tons of sulfur dioxide per year. In 2005, the Mohave Generating Station shut down as a result of a Clean Air Act lawsuit and because Navajo and Hopi tribes both passed resolutions ending Peabody’s use of the Black Mesa aquifer. During its operation, the Black Mesa coal mine fed the Mohave Generating Station, a power plant in Laughlin, Nevada, via the 273 mile long pipeline. Peabody Western Coal Company began strip mining operations on Black Mesa in 1968, and until recently this was North America’s largest strip mining operation and site of the only operating long-distance coal slurrypipeline (owned by Southern Pacific). “The Black Mesa region of Arizona, indigenous home of the Diné (Navajo) and Hopi peoples, is the location of the largest coal deposit in the United States, with approximately 21 billion tons of coal and a long-term value as high as $100 billion. Hopi child loading coal (photo by Jackie Kleiger) Coal Resources Today The utilization of coal may have been an accidental discovery, but the technique of mining demonstrates the ingenuity and industry of the Hopis.” The use of coal was an important aspect of the culture of the Hopis in this region in Pueblo III, IV, and V time. Comparatively little was used for firing pottery. Over 90 percent of the coal was carried to the houses for fuel.

“More than 27,000 tons of coal were mined close to Awatovi and the total for the whole Jeddito Valley (this is east of where the current Hopi villages are) probably exceeded 100,000 tons. Boy playing at loading coal which is how Hopis actually heat their homes.Ī 1942 report (Prehistoric Coal Mining in the Jeddito Valley, Arizona by John T.