*PROTECT THE PEAKS – STOP DESTRUCTION & DESECRATION NOW!*

Today we take direct action to stop further desecration and destruction of
the Holy San Francisco Peaks. We stand with our ancestors, with allies and
with those who also choose to embrace diverse tactics to safeguard
Indigenous People’s cultural survival, our community’s health, and this
sensitive mountain ecosystem.

On May 25th 2011, sanctioned by the US Forest Service, owners of Arizona
Snowbowl began further destruction and desecration of the Holy San Francisco
Peaks. Snowbowl’s hired work crews have laid over a mile and a half of the
planned 14.8 mile wastewater pipeline. They have cut a six foot wide and six
foot deep gash into the Holy Mountain.

Although a current legal battle is under appeal, Snowbowl owners have chosen
to undermine judicial process by rushing to construct the pipeline. Not only
do they disregard culture, environment, and our children’s health, they have
proven that they are criminals beyond reproach.

Four weeks of desecration has already occurred. Too much has already been
taken.  Today, tomorrow and for a healthy future, we say “enough!”

As we take action, we look to the East and see Bear Butte facing
desecration, Mt. Taylor facing further uranium mining; to the South, Mt.
Graham desecrated, South Mountain threatened, the US/Mexico border severing
Indigenous communities from sacred places; to the West, inspiring resistance
at Sogorea Te, Moana Keya facing desecration; to the North, Mt. Tenabo,
Grand Canyon, Black Mesa, and so many more… our homelands and our culture
under assault.

We thought that the USDA, heads of the Forest Service, had meant it when
they initiated nationwide listening sessions to protect sacred places. If
the process was meaningful, we would not have to take action today.

More than 13 Indigenous Nations hold the Peaks Holy. The question has been
asked yet we hear no response, “what part of sacred don’t you understand?”

For hundreds of years resistance to colonialism, slavery, & destruction of
Mother Earth has existed and continues here in what we now call Arizona.

The United States recently moved to join the United Nations Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, evidently the US has not currently
observed and acted upon this declaration, otherwise we would not be taking
action today. This document informs our action, we also assert that UNDRIP
supports the basis for our action.

Article 11, 1: Indigenous peoples have the right to practice and revitalize
their cultural traditions and
customs. This includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past,
present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological
and historical sites, artifacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies and
visual and performing arts and literature.

“Article 11, 2: States shall provide redress through effective mechanisms,
which may include restitution,
developed in conjunction with indigenous peoples, with respect to their
cultural, intellectual, religious and spiritual property taken without their
free, prior and informed consent or in violation of their laws, traditions
and customs.”

“Article 12, 1: Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practice,
develop and teach their spiritual and religious traditions, customs and
ceremonies; the right to maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to
their religious and cultural sites; the right to the use and control of
their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation of their human
remains.”

“Article 25: Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen
their distinctive spiritual
relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used
lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources and to
uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this regard.”

For nearly 4 decades, resistance to desecration and destruction of the Peaks
has been sustained.  Prayer vigils, petitions, lobbying, protests, and many
diverse tactics have been embraced.  Historic court battles have been
fought.

We continue today resisting Snowbowl’s plan to spray millions of gallons of
wastewater snow, which is filled with cancer causing and other harmful
contaminants, as well as clear-cut over 30,000 trees. The Peaks are a
pristine and beautiful place, a fragile ecosystem, and home to rare and
endangered species of plants and animals.

Our action is a prayer.

We invite those of you who could not join us today and who believe in the
protection of culture, the environment and community health to resist
destruction and desecration of the Peaks:

- Join us and others in physically stopping all Snowbowl development!

- Honor and defend Indigenous Peoples’ inherent right to protect Sacred
Places

- Resist colonialism and capitalism! Embrace diverse tactics to end
Snowbowl’s and all corporate greed

- Demand USDA end Snowbowl’s Special Use Permit

- Demand that the City of Flagstaff Mayor and Council find a way out of
their contract to sell wastewater to Snowbowl

- Demand that Arizona Department of Environmental Quality change its
permission allowing wastewater to be used for snowmaking.

— Protect the Peaks! –

Navajo Nation President ‘We’ve Got to Stop the Construction’

FLAGSTAFF, AZ — Local environmental justice organizations, Tribal representatives, and members of Flagstaff community held a media conference on Saturday, May 28 to address threats of Arizona Snowbowl’s ski expansion development and current construction of wastewater pipeline for snowmaking.

On Tuesday May 25th, Snowbowl began construction of a wastewater pipeline on the holy San Francisco Peaks, located in Northern Arizona.

Standing at the base of the Holy San Francisco Peaks, Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly stated, “We’ve got to stop the construction.” President Shelly affirmed his commitment to protecting the Peaks and urged for greater protection of all sacred sites, “We need to make a law… we need larger organizations to protect these mountains.”

Kelvin Long, director of ECHOES stated, “We’re going to protect our mountain, we’re not going to allow snowmaking to happen.”

Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly

Howard Shanker, attorney for the Save the Peaks Coalition and other plaintiffs stated, “Native American’s don’t have first amendment rights when it comes to federal land use decisions. For our federal government to be involved in the desecration of a sacred and holy site that is so important to so many people, for the economic benefit of so few is a tragedy. All people of conscience should be involved in this process, should be fighting this process and should step up and say wait a minute this isn’t right.”

“Snowbowl is proceeding at their own risk, when we prevail in court they’re going to have to take the pipes out of the ground.
The federal government is doing everything it can to make sure snowbowl has a consistent ski season even though they’re attempting to use reclaimed sewer water, which scientifically is not proven safe.” Shanker said.

The wastewater, which would be purchased through contract from the City of Flagstaff, has been proven by biologists to contain harmful contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and hormones. In their Environmental Impact Statement the Forest Service did not consider the impact of ingesting waste water in the form of artificial snow or from the storage pond by humans and animals.

This point is the basis of the Save the Peaks Coalition’s current lawsuit which is currently appealing a District Court decision in favor of Snowbowl’s proposed actions.

Thomas Walker, former Navajo Nation Tribal Council Delegate stated, “The Navajo Nation has historically been opposed to any kind of development on the San Francisco Peaks… this mountain is not to be desecrated.”

Steve Darden of the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission and former Flagstaff City Council member sent a message to the youth, “In our Hogans and sweat lodges we are offering our prayers, were relying on you young ones to step up.”

Jihan Gearon of the Indigenous Environmental Network connected her organization’s work to stop the Tar Sands in Canada to Snowbowl’s wasetwater pipeline, “The Tar Sands are the largest industrial project ever in the entire world… pipelines break and pipelines spill, I can pretty much guarantee that they are never safe. Not only us, but everyone if Flagstaff needs to be made aware of. The construction happening on the mountain now is a wake-up call.”

Clayson Benally, a member of the Save the Peaks Coalition and plaintiff in the current suit against the Forest Service stated, “Our youth and our children will potentially be impacted by this snow. This is all for the profit of one business thats outside of city limits that doesn’t pay into the tax base of Flagstaff. They put economic profit over our health, over our own community’s health and well being, that goes too far.”

“This is a pre-emptive strike from Snowbowl… when we win in court what are they going to do?” stated Benally.

Earlier in the day 40 people, including Winifred Bessie Jumbo the current Miss Navajo, gathered in prayer on the San Francisco Peaks. Before and during the prayers, more than a half-dozen armed law enforcement agents from Coconino County Sheriffs and the Forest Service monitored the gathering and patrolled the area.

For more than a dozen years Indigenous Nations, environmental activists, and concerned community members have worked together to protect the holy site and surrounding area from further ecological destruction, public health threats, and spiritual desecration.

Arizona Snowbowl’s development plans include clear-cutting 74 acres of rare alpine habitat that is home to threatened species, making new runs and lifts, adding more parking lots and building a 14.8 mile buried pipeline to transport up to 180 million gallons (per season) of wastewater to make artificial snow on 205 acres.

The Peaks are central to the ways of life of more than 13 Indigenous Nations.

###

By Klee Benally – Indigenousaction.org

Flagstaff, AZ — Owners of Arizona Snowbowl ski area have begun moving pipeline and construction equipment to the base of the holy San Francisco Peaks, located in Northern Arizona. The Peaks are central to the ways of life of more than 13 Indigenous Nations.

Snowbowl owner Eric Borowski plans on starting the development today.

Although currently challenged by a legal appeal in the 9th Circuit Court, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has permitted the ski area to begin development.

The Coconino National Forest, headed by the USDA,  manages the Peaks as public lands. Snowbowl has operated under a special use permit since the 1980′s, which was initially challenged by Indigenous Nations and environmentalists all the way up to the Supreme Court.

According to the Forest Service, “Construction is anticipated to begin this month along a segment of Snowbowl Road. . . Snowbowl Road will remain open; however, delays and temporary closures will occur throughout the duration of construction, approximately five months.”
The Forest Service also stated that Snowbowl Road will be closed each day from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

For more than a dozen years Indigenous Nations, environmental activists, and concerned community members have worked together to protect the holy site and surrounding area from further ecological destruction, public health threats, and spiritual desecration.

Snowbowl’s development plans include clear-cutting 74 acres of rare alpine habitat that is home to threatened species, making new runs and lifts, adding more parking lots and building a 14.8 mile buried pipeline to transport up to 180 million gallons (per season) of wastewater to make artificial snow on 205 acres.

Snowbowl Construction Equipment located at Hwy 180 and Snowbowl Rd

The wastewater, which would be purchased from the City of Flagstaff, has been proven by biologists to contain harmful contaminants such as pharmaceuticals and hormones. In their Environmental Impact Statement the Forest Service did not consider the impact of ingesting waste water in the form of artificial snow or from the storage pond by humans and animals.

This point is the basis of the Save the Peaks Coalition’s current lawsuit which is currently appealing a District Court decision in favor of Snowbowl’s proposed actions.

On April 1, 2011 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied an emergency motion by the Save the Peaks Coalition to stop Snowbowl ski area and the U.S. Department of Agriculture from cutting down approximately 30,000 trees.

In 2002, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, with no real public process, quietly decided to allow wastewater to be used for snowmaking purposes. Later that same year the Flagstaff Mayor and City Council signed a contract to allow the sale of sewage effluent for snowmaking on the holy mountain. The contract has since been renewed administratively, behind closed doors without any public input.

Snowbowl would be the only ski area in the world to use 100% wastewater for snowmaking purposes.

In 2010 Flagstaff City Manager Kevin Burke revealed a plan, secretly negotiated with the USDA, for use of Flagstaff’s drinking water instead of the sewage effluent. Snowbowl was offered 11 million tax payer’s dollars to subsidize the increased costs of using potable water. Stating that the US government believed drinking water snowmaking to be “less offensive” to Indigenous Nations, the plan was pushed without the consent of or any consultation with Indigenous Nations.

Facing overwhelming community and Tribal opposition, City of Flagstaff officials ultimately rejected the plan.

Following the failed attempt to use drinking water the USDA, while still aggressively battling the Save the Peaks Coalition in court, began listening sessions to hear Indigenous Peoples concerns on the protection of sacred places. Ironically, the sessions were initiated in part due to the Peaks controversy.
The USDA is expected to issue a report for policy changes sometime this year.

In response to threat of development, more than 150 people rallied outside of Flagstaff City Hall and held a march for protection of the holy San Francisco Peaks on April 16th.

###

On April 15, 2011 an occupation was established to protect sacred site known as Sogorea Te (Glen Cove, near Vallejo, CA).
Website: www.protectglencove.org Read the rest of this entry »

Web site: www.TrueSnow.org

NEWS RELEASE

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Court Denies Injunction to Halt Snowbowl Development

FLAGSTAFF, AZ — The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today denied an emergency motion to stop Snowbowl ski area and the U.S. Department of Agriculture from cutting down thousands of trees on the San Francisco Peaks, outside of Flagstaff, Arizona.

The Save the Peaks Coalition and other plaintiffs filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit and sought an emergency injunction that would stop all tree cutting and construction in furtherance of snowmaking pending the outcome of the appeal.

Judge Murguia, at the District Court level, previously denied the Coalition any injunction pending appeal.

“The ski resort can start their destruction tomorrow and there isn’t a legal recourse that can be taken.” stated Jeneda Benally, a plaintiff in the case. “The legal system has failed to protect citizens and the delicate ecosystem of the San Francisco Peaks and instead compromised it’s ethics by protecting a single for profit business that has blatant disregard for our children’s health.”

According to Howard Shanker, the attorney for the Save the Peaks Coalition and other plaintiffs, “We are gravely disappointed in the decision not to grant an injunction but will vigorously pursue our appeal in any event.”  According to Shanker, “we remain hopeful that, at some point, the courts will properly apply the law to the facts of this case.”  Shanker previously represented a number of the Tribes and environmental organizations in the first round of litigation opposing snowmaking with reclaimed sewer water.

The Justice Department under the Obama Administration continues to vigorously fight to cut down trees and to spray reclaimed sewer water to make snow on the San Francisco Peaks while the Administration has held ‘listening sessions’ on sacred sites protection, including the San Francisco Peaks, across the country.

Snowbowl threatens to clear-cut approximately 28,994 trees from 76.3 acres for construction of water impoundments, buildings, and trails. They would also begin cutting down 167 trees along the 14.8 mile snowmaking transmission line and approximately 800 trees in approximately 47.4 acres within the Agassiz and sunset trail areas.

In 2006, the Snowbowl Ski area, which operates under a permit on federal land, was granted permission by the U.S. Forest Service, part of the Department of Agriculture, to make snow using 100% reclaimed sewer water.  Something that is not done anywhere else in the world.  The project would use sewer water treated to Arizona A+ standards – A+ water in Arizona is known to contain endocrine disruptors, which block or mimic normal hormone activity.  It also contains a host of personal care products and pharmaceuticals, including things like steroids, antibiotics, and caffeine, which are neither tested for, nor adequately removed from the water during the treatment process.

The San Francisco Peaks, including the area used by Snowbowl, are sacred to 13 of the Native American Tribes in the southwestern United States.

In 2006, the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the Yavapai-Apache Nation, the White Mountain Apache Tribe, the Havasupai Tribe and the Hualapai Tribe filed suit to stop the project which, they asserted, amounted to federally approved and sanctioned desecration of one of the best documented Native American sacred sites on record.  The tribes were joined by a number of individuals and organizations, including the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity.  After a unanimous ruling by a three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of the tribes and environmental groups, the Ninth Circuit, however, agreed to re-hear the case en banc – something they only do about one or two percent of the time.  In an eight to three decision, the en banc panel reversed the prior panel decision and allowed Snowbowl and the Forest Service to go forward with the planned desecration of the area.

Shortly thereafter, a group of concerned citizens from the Flagstaff area, including the Save the Peaks Coalition, filed suit under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) challenging the Forest Service’s review of the impacts associated with the potential ingestion of snow made from reclaimed sewer water.  The prior three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit unanimously found that the Forest Service failed to adequately consider such impacts.  The en banc panel, however, vacated that decision without addressing the merits of the claim.  On review of the issue in the current litigation, District Court Judge Mary Murguia found, contrary to the prior Ninth circuit ruling, that the Forest Service review was adequate and that the case should not be allowed to go forward.

Initial approvals for the controversial project were made under the administration of George W. Bush.  It was initially the Bush Justice Department and Department of Agriculture that vigorously fought to spray potentially unsafe reclaimed sewer water onto the sacred site.  The Obama Administration, which has made a public show of respecting tribal sovereignty and sacred sites, was however, quick to pick up the mantle. Judge Murguia was nominated by Obama to go to the Ninth Circuit.  Shortly after ruling against the Save the Peaks Coalition, her appointment was confirmed.

It appears that the prior three-judge panel consisted of Democratically appointed judges.  The en banc panel appears to have split in its eight to three decision largely on political party lines.  With the three dissenting judges having been appointed by Democratic Presidents.  In any event, the Administration continues to expend resources and time fighting to disrupt a unique and sensitive ecosystem, which also happens to be sacred land to Native Americans.  All to provide Snowbowl, a private, for profit company that operates on federal land, a consistent and reliable operating season.

###

Protesters: NAU Get Off Mount Graham!
Winona LaDuke, ‘It’s Time to Say No.’

Written by Klee Benally and MT Garcia

FLAGSTAFF, AZ — On Tuesday, February 1, a dozen people including students and community members gathered at Northern Arizona University to protest the college’s partnership with a telescope development located on a sacred site.

NAU is listed on the telescope project’s website as a “project partner” along with University of Arizona and Arizona State University at 25% of the development’s partnership.

Mount Graham, located near Tucson, Arizona, is holy to San Carlos Apache, White Mountain Apache, Pascua Yaqui, Chiracahua and other Indigenous Nations who have struggled for years to stop the development with support of environmental groups.

The protest started at 5pm on the corner of Butler and Milton. The demonstrators held banners that read, “Stop desecration and extinction on Mount Graham,” and “Protect sacred sites, defend human rights.”

At the Highcountry conference center parking garage, a banner was dropped that read, “NAU off Mount Graham, protect sacred places”.

At 6pm the group started marching to Ardry Auditorium where it planned to support prominent Indigenous activist and author, Winona LaDuke’s speech for Holocaust Remembrance Day. On the way to the Auditorium, the protesters marched and chanted through the Union surprising NAU students.

The march grew to more than 30 people, who at times took to the streets and were chanting, “NAU off Mount Graham,” and connecting the struggle to protect the San Francisco Peaks with “Save the Peaks, save Mount Graham.”

“This is an issue of Indigenous People’s religious freedom and protection of sacred places. We’re here to address NAU’s complicity in desecrating a very sacred site.” said Bobby Lynn, a student at NAU who was part of the protest and march, “NAU should know better than to partner with the Mount Graham telescope. Here in Northern Arizona, Snowbowl ski area is attempting to further it’s desecration by expanding and making snow from treated sewage. This issue has divided our community and caused so much harm. We are in solidarity with those struggling to protect Mount Graham!” said Lynn.

Winona LaDuke urged everyone in attendance to “deconstruct empire” and addressed issues in Arizona, such as the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort, Mount Graham telescope, uranium mining, and copper mining. “I wanna encourage you all, to do good work, to make things better. I want to encourage you, whether it is the uranium mining at the Grand Canyon, leave it in the ground. Whether it is the Snowbowl. Whether it’s the copper mining, and the sacred lands of the Apache or the telescope project that this University here became complicity in. Its time to say no.”

TAKE ACTION TODAY:
Contact NAU President Haeger and urge him to respect the Apache, to save the Mount
Graham red squirrel and to get NAU out of the Mount Graham telescope project.
Phone: (928) 523-3232
Email: John.Haeger@nau.edu

More information about the issues:
www.mountgraham.org
www.savethepeaks.org
www.truesnow.org
www.stopuraniummining.org

Comment Deadline: January 14th

Canyon Mine Near Red Butte

Denison Mines Corp., a Canadian corporation has submitted water and air quality permit applications to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) in an attempt to operate uranium mines near the Grand Canyon.

Not only do these mines directly threaten the Ecoregion of the Grand Canyon, they further corporate attacks on community health, environment and sacred places.

These mines include the currently operating Arizona 1 Mine and the proposed Pinenut and EZ mines north of the Grand Canyon and the proposed Canyon Mine on the south rim near Red Butte, a site held holy by the Havasupai Nation.

The legacy of uranium mining in the region has been so harmful that the Dine’ (Navajo), Hualapai, and Havasupai Nations have all banned uranium mining and activity on their lands.
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has documented well water as undrinkable in at least 22 communities on the Dine’ Nation. The EPA states that, “Approximately 30 percent of the Navajo population does not have access to a public drinking water system and may be using unregulated water sources with uranium contamination.”

The Colorado river which, flows through the Grand Canyon, supplies water for drinking and agricultural use for up to 27 million people.

Haul Routes

If all the permits are allowed, up to 12 trucks per day would haul uranium ore from each of the mines to a processing mill in Blanding, Utah.
The haul routes would take uranium ore from the various mines through the communities of Fredonia, Kanab, Williams, Flagstaff, Cameron, Tuba City, and Kayenta.

The ADEQ air quality permits and Department of Transportation regulations would merely require Denison to “cover the haul truck loads with a tarp and maintain the truck beds to ensure that ore does not fall out.” (ADEQ Denison Mines Permitting and Uranium Mining Facts, Questions & Answers November 2010)

Although environmental groups have successfully lobbied the US Secretary of Interior to suspend new uranium claims in a 5 mile buffer zone near the Grand Canyon, the suspension does not include pre-existing claims such as Denison’s.

Today there estimated to be more than 8,000 applications for uranium mining operations in the Grand Canyon region.

TAKE ACTION NOW!
Deadline for public comments is January 14th at 5pm
Send your comments to Arizona Department Of Environmental Quality
Email: tb4@adeq.gov

For more info call toll free: 1800-234-5677

Printed materials including draft permits: http://www.azdeq.gov/environ/air/permits/denison.html

Additional information and action:

Center for Biological Diversity’s info and online comment letter: http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5430

Sierra Club’s info and online comment form: https://secure2.convio.net/sierra/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=5411

http://www.indigenousaction.org/uranium-mining-begins-near-grand-canyon/

Info from the Grand Canyon Trust: http://www.grandcanyontrust.org/news/2010/12/publci-comment-sought-on-uranium-mining-plans-near-grand-canyon/

Arizona Daily Sun Article: Uranium foes: Where’s the benefit?
http://www.azdailysun.com/news/local/article_ef465d09-6bc7-5279-9529-947bcfa13696.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE:            Wednesday December 1, 2010

NOTE TO EDITORS: For a background, legal documents, photos, updates, and further information please visit: www.TrueSnow.org . Interviews can be arranged.

District Court Rules For USFS in Save the Peaks Case

Plaintiffs will Appeal the Court’s Decision to the Ninth Circuit Court

FLAGSTAFF, AZ — The case known as The Save the Peaks Coalition, et al. v. U.S. Forest Service (USFS) was heard before Honorable Judge Mary H. Murguia and today a decision was made.

The Court ruled against the plaintiffs claims that the final FEIS prepared by the USFS ignores thorough consideration of a number of critical health issues. The plaintiffs contend that a new and thorough FEIS should be filed by the USFS. If this reveals that the use of reclaimed sewage water is a public health risk then snowmaking should not be permitted for the Arizona Snowbowl on the San Francisco Peaks.

Howard Shanker, representing the Save the Peaks Coalition and additional plaintiffs, will file an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court. According to Shanker, “ the decision misstates the facts of this case and misapplies the law.  That’s why there is an appeal process.” Further, according to Shanker, “it is remarkable that the Obama Administration is complicitous in this effort to put treated sewer water on the San Francisco Peaks.  Not only is the site sacred to Native Americans in the Southwestern United States, the Forest Service has, at best, no idea what the long term health impacts will be on people who ingest this snow made from treated effluent.  Who figured the Snowbowl ski area was ‘too big to fail’”.

Judge Mary Murguia ruled that plaintiffs were barred from bringing this action by the doctrine of latches largely because of the “near completion of the project”.

“This is remarkable in light of the fact that there was a stipulation in place until yesterday barring any ground clearing activities in furtherance of snowmaking and no final approvals were provided by the government until recently – none of which have been implemented on the ground.  That is the project is not “near completion” but rather has not even begun.” stated Shanker.

Judge Murguia also ruled that the Forest Service adequately considered that people would ingest snow made from reclaimed sewer water in the EIS.  “Notwithstanding that the only other court to rule on this issue substantively was the three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit, which found that the Forest Service failed to comply with NEPA and the fact that the EIS does not contain a discussion of the impacts.” stated Shanker.

The suit asserts, among other things, that the FEIS ignores the possibility of human ingestion of snow made from treated sewage effluent. Snowbowl would be the only ski area in the world to use 100% wastewater to make snow. They would use 1.5 million gallons per day, storing and spraying this wastewater on a mountain that is holy to more than 13 Indigenous Nations.

“This case was filed because we insist that our children not be used as guinea pigs for the profit of a single private business operating on our public lands,” stated Jeneda Benally, a complainant in the lawsuit. “The Forest Service already has admitted that there was no consideration of the impacts if children consumed wastewater snow that they acknowledge contains untreated contaminants.”

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality regulations allow A+ class treated sewer water to contain fecal matter in three out of seven daily samples (R18-11-303 2a). Moreover, studies done by Dr. Catherine Propper, Professor of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University, on this same treated sewer water have concluded the waste water contains pharmaceuticals, hormones, endocrine disruptors, industrial pollutants such as pesticides and herbicides, and narcotics. David Norris, PhD, an integrative physiology professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, found that pharmaceutical ethinylestradiol (an orally active semisynthetic steroidal estrogen) made it through the Boulder Wastewater Treatment Plant and into Boulder Creek. He reported that the percentage of native male fish in Boulder Creek decreased and that numerous intersex fish were found downstream of the wastewater treatment plant. He stated “the fish are a wake-up call; our bodies and those of the much more sensitive human fetus are being exposed everyday to a variety of chemicals that are capable of altering not only our development and physiology but that of future generations as well.”

In addition, according to biologist Dr. Paul Torrence, the treated sewage effluent may also contain antibiotics such as triclosan and triclocarban which break down into bio-accumulating cancerous dioxins when exposed to high altitude sunlight. Plaintiffs involved in this ongoing lawsuit have consistently insisted that the USFS take a hard look at what might happen to the people when they come in contact with or ingest snow made from treated sewage effluent. Under the National Environmental Policy Act, the USFS is obligated to consider these types of potential impacts on the quality of the human environment.

In 2007, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court found that the USFS failed to adequately consider the possibility of human ingestion of snow made from treated sewage effluent. In Judge William Fletcher’s opinion, he concludes that “the FEIS does not contain a reasonably thorough discussion of the risks posed by possible human ingestion of artificial snow made from treated sewage effluent, and does not articulate why such discussion is unnecessary.” While the decision of the three-judge panel was later overturned on a technicality by an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit, issues surrounding the completeness of the FEIS were left unresolved.

# # #

IMPORTANT: We have a critical opportunity to stop Snowbowl’s attempt to desecrate the Holy San Francisco Peaks on August 30th. Please join us for a VERY IMPORTANT public meeting on August 30th at 5:30PM at Sinagua High School in Flagstaff, AZ. The Flagstaff City Council will be voting on whether or not they will amend Snowbowl’s contract to sell drinking water for snowmaking.

Sinagua High School is located at 3950 East Butler Avenue Flagstaff, AZ.

Visit www.truesnow.org for more info.

If you cannot make it to this meeting (even if you can) please TAKE ACTION NOW:

URGENT: CALL FLAGSTAFF CITY COUNCIL TODAY! (928) 779-7600

To contact members of the City Council:

To email all: council@flagstaffaz.gov

For more information about your Mayor and Councilmembers or to contact individually click on one of the names below:

Mayor Sara Presler                      spresler@flagstaffaz.gov
Vice Mayor Celia Barotz              cbarotz@flagstaffaz.gov
Councilmember Art Babbott        ababbott@flagstaffaz.gov
Councilmember Karla Brewster    kbrewster@flagstaffaz.gov
Councilmember Coral Evans        cevans@flagstaffaz.gov
Councilmember Scott Overton     soverton@flagstaffaz.gov
Councilmember Al White             awhite@flagstaffaz.gov

To make an appointment with the Mayor or a Councilmember call (928) 779-7600.

Send Letters to the Editor of the Arizona Daily Sun:

Randy Wilson

CHIMAYO, NM—For too long, the US government and corporations have sacrificed the environmental integrity, the health, and the well-being of indigenous and poor communities to secure access to resources through the threat and use of force. We cannot reverse the course of a nuclear future unless we undo the legacy of racism and violence.

This week, young people from across the country are arrived at the Disarmament Summer Encampment to spend an exciting 10 days organizing for a nuclear-free world. Think Outside the Bomb (TOTB)—the nation’s largest youth-led network working for nuclear abolition—is hosting about 150 youth who have joined together to oppose the far reaching nuclear-industrial-complex.

The encampment is the culmination of TOTB’s Disarmament Summer Campaign, which has come at a time when the nation is spending more on the nuclear complex than ever before, including budgeting seven billion dollars to modernize facilities in New Mexico, Kansas City, and Tennessee—a series of projects that would give the U.S. the capability to make new new nuclear weapons. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), in Los Alamos, New Mexico, stands to play a major role in this nuclear relapse as plans are advanced to construct a new Chemical Metallurgy Research and Replacement (CMRR) facility. The CMRR facility holds potential to increase LANL’s ability to construct new plutonium pits—the core and trigger mechanism of high-powered nuclear weapons. At a time when budget crises and funding cuts are all too familiar, the nation cannot afford to continue building these incredibly costly and potentially destructive weapons.

“It’s time for our country to begin stepping toward real change, which cannot be done as long as we are throwing billions of dollars into the furnace that is the nuclear-industrial-complex,” said Jono Kinkade, TOTB media contact. “People are demanding better jobs and renewable energy, and in order to head in that direction we need to send our policy makers a sobering wake up call.”

During the encampment, participants will paint the expansive picture of the nuclear-industrial-complex through workshops, informative first-hand stories, and an ongoing discussion about why nuclearism still plagues this country and how we can put an end to it.

“We came to terms with assortment of expensive and toxic problems of nuclear weapons and nuclear power decades ago, and yet the industry is pushing like never before to take us into a nuclear relapse,” said Liz Woodruff, TOTB media contact and organizer with the Snake River Alliance in Boise, Idaho. “We can do so much better than to waste billions of dollars on a dangerous and obsolete energy source.”

Attendees of the encampment hail from all over the map—spanning from Washington State to South Carolina, as well as the Marshall Islands to right here in New Mexico. This diversity of geographical origins and the wide array of backgrounds makes Think Outside the Bomb truly unique. This rich, interwoven character creates the perfect atmosphere for resistance to the pervasive negative effects of the nuclear-industrial-complex. Uranium mining, enrichment, nuclear power, weapons, waste and haphazard disposal are all on TOTB’s map, and throughout the week we will be highlighting each one of these stages in more detail.

“This encampment is the active creation of a nuclear weapons free world” explained Steve Stormoen, a member of TOTB and a leader in the construction of the encampment. “It would be shortsighted to base our resistance only on opposition to bombs. Instead, we are focused on building a culture to combat the bomb-making mentality. A nuclear-free future is possible today, here and now, by building community, creating a space for sustainable living, and engaging in direct acts of resistance to nuclearism.”

The encampment infrastructure was built by TOTB and local allies, including students from Northern New Mexico College; residents of Santa Fe and Pojoaque; and members of TEWA Women United. After spending a few days addressing the slew of nuclear topics, participants will head into Los Alamos, NM on Friday, August 6, to commemorate the U.S. attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. After a rally at Ashley Pond in downtown Los Alamos, TOTB will march toward the entrance of Los Alamos National Labs.

Come join us to learn the deeper details of the nuclear complex and hear personal stories of people affected by the toxic legacy of nuclearism.

More information, visit http://www.thinkoutsidethebomb.org

Directions to the Encampment:
From Santa Fe: Take US-285 N/US-84 W for about 23 miles. After the Long John Silver’s, make a right at 76. Stay on 76 for about 7 miles until you pass the Family Dollar. Soon after the Family Dollar, take a sharp right on Country Road 102. At the end of Country Road 102, make a right (ignore the left arrow sign), and go into the 2nd driveway on the left marked 6A.

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Who we are:
Think Outside the Bomb is a cross-cultural alliance of youth working together to reignite hope from below and build a grassroots, consensus-based, nonviolent direct action movement. In partnership with the Tribal Environmental Watch Alliance, TEWA Women United, the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment, Products of Atzlan youth group, and the Southwest Indigenous Uranium Forum, we are committed to collective liberation, a sustainable future, and an end to the cycle of nuclear violence.

Please spread the word. If you cannot make it to Phoenix or Flagstaff please consider organizing a vigil, rally or event in your community!
If you would like to help with outreach you can pick up posters at Taala Hooghan infoshop in Flagstaff (1700 N 2nd St. near Rt 66 and 4th St.) or you can print your own from www.truesnow.org. Volunteer support is also needed, contact phxrally@TrueSnow.org.

SAVE THE PEAKS!
July 15th – 16th, 2010
PHOENIX, AZ
Prayer Vigil • March • Rally

Arizona Snowbowl is attempting to expand development on the San Francisco Peaks and make fake snow out of treated sewage effluent on our public lands. This wastewater has been proven to contain harmful contaminants such as pharmaceuticals, hormones and cancer causing agents.

The US Forest Service has ignored public health concerns and approved this development without any tests to determine the health effects if our children eat the wastewater snow.

Snowbowl would be the only ski area in the world to use 100% wastewater to make snow. They would use 1.5 million gallons per day, storing and spraying this wastewater on a mountain that is holy to more than 13 Indigenous Nations. Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: COURT DATE MOVED TO JULY 16 - Read the News Release Here.

Phoenix, AZ—At 1:30 p.m. (MST-AZ) on Monday, June 14th a U.S. District Court Judge will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the proposed use of treated sewage effluent on the San Francisco Peaks located in Northern Arizona. This case  addresses whether or not a private, for-profit business, Arizona Snowbowl Resort Limited Partnership (ASR), which operates on public land managed by the United States Forest Service (USFS), will be permitted to make fake snow using treated sewage water. The current legal challenge has forced the ski business to agree not to begin development.

The case known as The Save the Peaks Coalition, et al. v. U.S. Forest Service will be heard before Honorable Judge Mary H. Murguia. The suit asserts, among other things, that the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) prepared by the USFS ignores the possibility of human ingestion of snow made from treated sewage effluent.

According to Howard Shanker, attorney for the Save the Peaks Coalition and the other plaintiffs,
“The Forest Service failed to adequately consider the impacts of potential human ingestion of snow made from reclaimed sewer water as required by applicable law. Our government should not be approving such projects without some sort of understanding of the anticipated impacts. By approving treated sewage effluent for snow making without adequate analysis, the government essentially turns the ski area into a test facility with our children as the laboratory rats. That is unconscionable.” Mr. Shanker, a former congressional candidate in Arizona Congressional District 1, represented a number of tribes and environmental organizations in prior litigation over Snowbowl’s proposed expansion and threatened use of treated sewage effluent.

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality regulations allow A+ class treated sewer water to contain fecal matter in three out of seven daily samples (R18-11-303 2a). Moreover, studies done by Dr. Catherine Propper, Professor of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University, on this same treated sewer water have concluded the waste water contains pharmaceuticals, hormones, endocrine disruptors, industrial pollutants like pesticides and herbicides, and narcotics. Additionally, according to biologist Dr. Paul Torrence the treated sewage effluent may also contain antibiotics, such as triclosan and triclocarban which can break down into bio-accumulating cancerous dioxins when exposed to the high altitude sunlight of the peaks. There have also been documented cases of treated sewage released into the Colorado river that have caused numerous outbreaks of norovirus among Grand Canyon rafters. Plaintiffs involved in this ongoing  lawsuit have consistently insisted that the USFS take a hard look at what might happen to the people when they come in contact with or ingest snow made from treated sewage effluent.
Under the National Environmental Policy Act, the USFS is obligated to consider these types of potential impacts on the quality of the human environment. In 2007 a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court found that the USFS failed to adequately consider the possibility of human ingestion of snow made from treated sewage effluent. In Judge William Fletcher’s opinion, he concludes “the FEIS does not contain a reasonably thorough discussion of the risks posed by possible human ingestion of artificial snow made from treated sewage effluent, and does not articulate why such discussion is unnecessary.” The holding of the three-judge panel was later overturned on a technicality by an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit.

Despite these public health threats and widespread public opposition to ASR’s proposed development, the City of Flagstaff maintains a contract to sell up to 180 million gallons of treated sewage to ARS. Arizona Senators John McCain and Jon Kyl have also attempted to pressure the USFS to move the plans forward. McCain even threatened to roadblock Obama appointees to the Department of Agriculture if ASR was not allowed to begin construction for snowmaking with reclaimed sewer water immediately.

“It’s disturbing to know that our elected officials care more about a single for profit business’ interests than public health, ecological integrity, and religious freedom” said Berta Benally, a plaintiff in the case and a volunteer supporter of the Save the Peaks Coalition. Berta Benally continued, “These politicians are completely disconnected from our community. Would they endanger their own children’s health by putting them at risk of being immersed in fake snow made from recycled sewage?”

Even Arizona Congresswoman (CD1) Anne Kirkpatrick’s endorsement of using subsidized taxpayer funds to divert scarce freshwater resources toward snowmaking has come under criticism from local environmental groups and Indigenous Nations.

“The City of Flagstaff is trying desperately to find a new water source based on projections that there will not be enough fresh water to sustain us by 2050. I wonder if it is smart choice for Representative Kirkpatrick to subsidize the theft of clean drinking water from our grandchildren’s mouths” said Avi Henn, Graduate Student in Environmental Sciences at NAU.

Volunteer supporters of the Save the Peaks Coalition are organizing a caravan from Northern Arizona, and rally and march at the Sandra Day O’Conner Federal Court House in Phoenix on June 14th.

“We want to build public awareness and participation in the protection of public health and ecological integrity of the Holy San Francisco Peaks” stated Alberta Nells, a volunteer supporter of the Save the Peaks Coalition. “We are working with local environmental groups, Indigenous Nations and concerned citizens to promote a unified voice for environmental justice, cultural survival and sacred sites.” The San Francisco Peaks are held holy by more than 13 Indigenous Nations from throughout the Southwestern United States.

For a full background, legal documents, photos, and further information on the Save the Peaks Coalition please visit: www.savethepeaks.org.

# # #

Thousands of Claims Threaten Public Health & Sacred Lands

By Klee Benally

Grand Canyon, AZ — In defiance of legal challenges and a U.S. Government moratorium, Canadian company Denison Mines has started mining uranium on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. According to the Arizona Daily Sun the mine has been operating since December 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

BLACK MESA, AZ — The Department of Interior (DOI) has denied Peabody Coal Company’s expansion operations on Black Mesa, AZ.

Peabody had been planning to combine both their Kayenta and Black Mesa mines, pump more water for transporting coal, reactivate the Black Mesa mine, and acquire a “Life of Mine” permit.
Peabody’s expansion plans were initially approved in a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) by the Bush Administration.

Environmental groups appealed the FEIS on grounds that Indigenous People’s religious freedom would be violated, there was not enough outreach to impacted communities, and that the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Judge Robert G. Holt’s decision stated, “OSM violated NEPA by not preparing a supplemental draft EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) when Peabody changed the proposed action. As a result, the Final EIS did not consider a reasonable range of alternatives to the new proposed action, described the wrong environmental baseline, and did not achieve the informed decision-making and meaningful public comment required by NEPA. Because of the defective Final EIS, OSM’s decision to issue a revised permit to Peabody must be vacated and remanded to OSM for further action.”

The DOI judge who reviewed the case did not rule on the religious freedom violation or other claims.

Peabody, the Navajo Nation & the Hopi Tribal Council still can appeal the decision.
Peabody Coal is still operating their Kayenta mine.

Peabody Coal has been operating on Black Mesa for more than 40 years. Since 1974 more than 14,000 Dine’ have been forcibly relocated from their ancestral homelands on Black Mesa due to mining interests.

Read more here: Black Mesa Water Coalition News Release, Forgotten People: Victory for Black Mesa, Censored News, Black Mesa Indigenous Support

(Also posted at www.arizona.indymedia.org)

Stop Snowbowl! Protest Sat. Dec. 19 At Flagstaff City Hall!

When: Saturday, December 19th starting at 10AM

Where: Flagstaff City Hall on the Rt. 66 side

The struggle to protect the Holy San Francisco Peaks and community health from ski resort expansion and wastewater snowmaking continues.

Although a current lawsuit filed by the Save the Peaks Coalition and community members has halted the ski business’ efforts to make sewage snow, community support is still needed.

In the face of political pressure from the State of Arizona’s Congressional Delegation, (more) the US Forest Service approved a component of the ski area’s proposed development that is not associated with snowmaking. 

Regardless of the approval Snowbowl cannot currently expand due to the lawsuit.

While it is unclear as to how long the court case will stop Snowbowl from expanding and making sewer water snow, in the context of the legal battle the Obama administration is doing everything in their power to put wastewater snow on the holy San Francisco Peaks. 

When the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort opened on Thursday, a small group of protesters held signs and banners to ensure that skiers were aware of public health threats and the desecration of the sacred mountain.

Arizona Snowbowl employees called the Forest Service and County Sheriffs in an attempt to have the protesters and others with them arrested for “trespassing” on public lands. No charges were made.

You can join us in our stand for the protection of sacred places and community health.

PROTEST SNOWBOWL!

When: Saturday, December 19th starting at 10AM

Where: Flagstaff City Hall on the Rt. 66 side

If you can’t join us please visit www.savethepeaks.org for more information on what you can do to help stop Snowbowl and protect sacred places!

You can contact Congress and urge them to convene immediate hearings on the protection of Sacred Places.

Contact info is included below. 

Klee Benally

indigenousaction@gmail.com

Online database of current US Congress contacts: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

Ann Kirkpatrick, Arizona (D)

1123 Longworth HOB, Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2315 Fax: (202) 226-9739
https://forms.house.gov/kirkpatrick/dc-contact-form.shtml

Flagstaff Office

1515 East Cedar Avenue, A6, Flagstaff, AZ 86004

Phone: (928) 226-6914  Fax: (928) 226-2876

John Kyle, Arizona (R)

730 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

Phone: (202) 224-4521 Fax: (202) 224-2207

http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm

John McCain, Arizona (R)

241 Russell Senate Office Building
, Washington, D.C. 20510-0303
  Phone: 202-224-2235  
Fax: 202-228-2862

http://mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=Contact.Home

John Conyers, Jr., Michigan, (D)
House Committee on the Judiciary, Chair

2426 Rayburn House Office Building,
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-5126
  Fax: 202-225-0072

Email: john.conyers@mail.house.gov

NOTE: On July 11, 2008, more than 1,000 Native rights and environmental justice advocates arrived in Washington, DC after walking across the US to raise awareness about key issues affecting Native peoples and the environment. The successful journey, known as the Longest Walk 2, delivered a 30-page manifesto and list of demands to Congress, which included the protection of sacred places.

House Judiciary Chair, US Representative John Conyers (D-MI) promised representatives from the Longest Walk 2 that their issues would be addressed but set no timetable. “The Committee on the Judiciary will hold hearings on each one of these items that you have outlined here,” stated Rep. Conyers.

To read the Longest Walk resolutions go to: www.longestwalk.org