On July 1, Dineh residents of Big Mountain, Coal Mine Mesa in Arizona, released and distributed a general 'letter to the editor' in which they describe the human causes of the severe drought that is now impacting their homeland. The situation is characterized as dire, with the water supply to some Dine communities now at critically low levels.
Most egregious, according to the letter, are the continuing activities of Peabody Coal Company, owned by Lehman Brothers. To transport the coal it mines on Dineh and Hopi land, Peabody currently pumps 3.3 million gallons of water daily out of the ancient aquifer used by the Dineh as a primary source of drinking water. Under the original agreement between the Dineh and Hopi nations and Peabody, the use of the aquifer can be halted in extreme circumstances such as the severe drought that is now affecting the region. No action has been taken to stop the company, however, from, as the letter states, “sucking billions of gallons of pristine drinking water each minute, while the water for the peoples is not available, and they have to pay for the drinking water which they have to haul in water tanks up to their homes from small cities.”
The signers of the letter also contend that widespread contamination of their water resources has occurred due to ruptures in the pipeline, which apparently is operated without a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Five months ago, the situation became worse when the U.S. government's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) water tower in Rocky Ridge, which is a public drinking water source for about 4,000 Dineh People, was shut off. In addtition, wells situated in the Hopi Partition Land (HPL), which are owned and maintained by the BIA, “have been capped off and dismantled, windmill blades and troughs bulldozed”. Facing these critical conditions, with many of their primary water sources cut off, the peoples are demanding that the BIA “repair the Rocky Ridge water tower and all HPL livestock wells or pay for their repair from mining royalties.”
The ancestral lands of the Dineh and Hopi contain major deposits of coal. The coal from Peabody's Black Mesa mine is transported to the Mojave Power Plant through its pipeline, which has ruptured several times, causing considerable pollution of the surrounding watershed. BIA-operated water windmills have also been linked to the incidence of different diseases including cancer, for instance in the case of one radioactive windmill in the Coal Mine Mesa Canyon.
The subscribers of the letter are demanding 'corporate accountability' on the part of Peabody Coal Company and its parent company, Lehman Brothers. The letter clearly sets out the implications of government and BIA inaction on this critical issue, in a place where less than ten inches of rain fall a year: “At one time, large herds of antelope, elk, beavers and herons populated this part of the little Colorado basin. Before the rain and groundwater took care of us and our animals. Now there is no water at all. We believe we have a human right to water and livelihood. We believe when a government denies certain communities fundamental rights, it places the rights of all the citizens in jeopardy. Our distinct identity as a people is crucially linked to the lands we have occupied since time immemorial. Displacement from our territories means death and the destruction of our identity, culture and way of life. Without water we cannot survive.”
