In their most recent “Drillbits & Tailings” bulletin, Project Underground reports that the sacred sites and water supplies of the Zuni peoples in western New Mexico will be protected from coal mining operations under the provisions of the Fence Lake Mining Plan. The Salt River Project, which was approved by the Department of Interior in May 2002, plans to develop the 18,000-acre Fence Lake Mine. The Zuni have been resisting the development of coal mining activities, contending that they will harm the sacred Zuni Salt Lake. Rebecca Watson, the Department’s assistant secretary for land and minerals management, said that the “approval of this project includes special provisions in the plan to address the concerns of the pueblos and tribes.”
