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NEWS RELEASE: Hopi Tribe Initiates Litigation against the City of Flagstaff to Enjoin the Illegal Contract for the Sale of Reclaimed Wastewater to the Snowbowl

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KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz. – On Friday, August 19, 2011, the Hopi Tribe filed a lawsuit against the City of Flagstaff in Arizona Superior Court in Coconino County challenging the City’s decision in September 2010 not to amend or cancel the contract for the sale of reclaimed wastewater to the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort (“Snowbowl”) for snowmaking.

 

The lawsuit states that the City’s contract to sell 1.5 million gallons of reclaimed wastewater per day to Snowbowl is illegal because it violates several Arizona laws that govern the proper use of reclaimed wastewater. The contract provides for the use of reclaimed wastewater in a mountain setting where runoff and overspray cannot be prevented, as Arizona law requires. Additionally, restrictions on limiting human contact with wastewater cannot be met, and harm to the unique alpine environment in the area, including rare animals and plants, cannot be prevented.  The contract is also illegal under Arizona law because it will result in unreasonable environmental degradation and will further deplete limited drinking water resources.  As stated in the complaint, the use of reclaimed wastewater for snowmaking will unreasonably harm the environment, create a public nuisance, and infringe upon the public’s, including the Hopi Tribe’s, use and enjoyment of the area around Snowbowl as well as infringe on the Hopi Tribe’s reserved water rights.

 

The City’s sale of reclaimed wastewater to the Snowbowl will cover a portion of the San Francisco Peaks with artificial snow made from reclaimed wastewater. The San Francisco Peaks, and in particular Snowbowl, is ecologically unique and contains rare types of habitat and species. The City’s illegal contract allows wastewater to run off and spray into wilderness areas specifically used by the Hopi Tribe and others, impeding and infringing on the use and enjoyment of these areas by the Hopi Tribe and others.

 

Reclaimed wastewater is water that has been used and processed through the City’s wastewater system.  Snowmelt from artificial snow made from reclaimed wastewater will be environmentally harmful because it contains chemicals including endocrine disruptors, which can interfere with natural hormone levels and processes in humans and animals. Negative impacts of endocrine disrupters include aberrant sexual development, behavioral and reproductive problems. Key species in the San Francisco Peaks ecosystem, such as frogs, are particularly susceptible to these harmful effects.

 

The Hopi Tribe will show that the illegal contract for the sale and use of reclaimed wastewater at Snowbowl will result in a very large net economic loss for the San Francisco Peaks community. The small increase in profits anticipated by the Snowbowl and minimal economic benefits to the area are far outweighed by much higher costs, including environmental damage, for the San Francisco Peaks’ community, including the Hopi Tribe. The effects of the reclaimed wastewater cannot be confined to the ski area and, therefore, users of the Peaks in the vital and accessible areas around Snowbowl will be harmed if the illegal contract is allowed to stand. The Hopi Tribe seeks a judicial order prohibiting performance on this contract to sell reclaimed wastewater to Snowbowl, as the contract is for an illegal purpose and contrary to public policy.

 

The Hopi Tribe Chairman Leroy Shingoitewa stressed the importance of the case to the Hopi Tribe: “the health and safety of the Hopi people is indistinguishable from the health and safety of the environment — protection of the environment on the San Francisco Peaks is central to the Tribe’s existence. The use of reclaimed sewage on the San Francisco Peaks as planned by the City of Flagstaff and Snowbowl will have a direct negative impact on the Hopi Tribe’s frequent and vital uses of the Peaks.”

 

 

 

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2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Christine Prat

    August 24, 2011 at 11:16 PM

    French translation/traduction en français:
    http://www.chrisp.lautre.net/wpblog/?p=375

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anti-colonial

16th Annual No Thanks, No Giving!

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Indigenous Action presents:
16th Annual No Thanks, No Giving!
Food share, anti-colonial resistance & solidarity discussion circle, & online fundraiser!


DONATE: 



1:30p – 4pm
We will prepare and serve mutton stew and other foods for all who join us. Please bring any dish to contribute if you wish, we also plan on actively distributing (possibly mobile) any extra foods.

Local volunteers needed! Contact: indigenousaction@gmail.com

At 2:30p we will have a talking & action circle focused on anti-colonial resistance & solidarity. Representatives of Kinłani Mutual Aid, Haul No!, volunteers with Protect the Peaks, and autonomous organizers supporting unsheltered relatives will present & discuss upcoming actions & organizing. We will also discuss building Indigenous solidarity with local efforts to Free Palestine. Come ready to share, support and get involved! Everyone welcome!
This event is free, please bring donations for unsheltered relative support (tents, sleeping bags, tarps, jackets, etc).

This is also our yearly fundraiser for Táala Hooghan infoshop and Indigenous Action activities!
Please donate online via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/indigenousaction
Support Indigenous autonomous organizing and agitation!

*We will not host a livestream this year.

When: Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023
1:30pm – 4:00pm MST.

Where: Táala Hooghan Infoshop1704 N 2nd St, Kinłani (Occupied Flagstaff), AZ

MASKS REQUIRED This event will be held both indoors and outdoors (dress warm!) with limited indoor space. We will maintain social distancing & mask protocols for immunocompromised relatives.

For 16 years we have hosted No Thanks, No Giving! as an anti-colonial event to bring together radical Indigenous voices, share traditional foods, and benefit unsheltered relatives at Táala Hooghan Infoshop in Kinlani (Flagstaff, AZ). More info: www.indigenousaction.org

#nothanksnogiving #MutualAid #indigenousmutualaid #solidaritynotcharity

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anti-colonial

New Book: No Spiritual Surrender, Klee Benally

New Book: No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred is a searing anti-colonial analysis rooted in frontline experience.

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No Spiritual Surrender, Klee Benally Book
New Book: No Spiritual Surrender, Klee Benally

NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE & SELECT BOOKSTORES: No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred

No Spiritual Surrender: Indigenous Anarchy in Defense of the Sacred is a searing anti-colonial analysis rooted in frontline experience. Klee Benally (Diné) unrelentingly agitates against colonial politics towards Indigenous autonomy and total liberation of Nahasdzáán (Mother Earth).

Available now from Detritus Books detritusbooks.com

406 pages | $20 Nonfiction | Paperback Available in select bookshops.

About the author: Klee Benally is a Diné (Navajo) anarchist and undisciplined agitational propagandist. Originally from Black Mesa. Klee currently resides in occupied Flagstaff, Arizona. kleebenally.com, indigenousaction.org

www.detritusbooks.com

Wholesale inquiries: detritusbooks.com
Now booking speaking tour dates: indigenousaction@gmail.com

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#indigenouspeoplesday

Indigenous Action Podcast Episode 17: Decolonization isn’t a Holiday

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Rejecting Indigenous Peoples’ Day of Tokenism

Indigenous Action
Indigenous Action
Indigenous Action Podcast Episode 17: Decolonization isn’t a Holiday
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Hosts Klee and Bonn talk with some awesome guests & revisit our 2017 ‘zine “Uprooting Colonialism: The Limitations of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.” We dig into the questions, “How do whitewashed celebrations of Indigenous Peoples Day undermine decolonization?” and “What does it mean to be an anti-colonial abolitionist?”

Guests:

Amrah Salomón J. is a writer, artist, activist, and educator of Mexican, O’odham and Tohono O’odham, and European ancestry.
@oodhamantiborder, @defendoodhamjewed, Cashapp: $DefendOodhamJewed, Paypal.me/DefendOodhamJewed, Venmo: @DefendOodhamJewed

Kittie Kuntagion, @kittiekuntagion

Andrew Pedro, @desert.dweller.58 Got tired of seeing disapointing activist bullshit, now focused on music. Organizes metal/punk shows on and of the Rez.

Hosts:
Bonn: @bonnabella.xvx, Venmo: bonnabellaxvx 
Klee: @kleebenally

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is IA-podcast-promo-bonn-klee-1024x574.webp

About the podcast: Indigenous Action is an autonomous anti-colonial broadcast with unapologetic and claws-out analysis towards total liberation. We feature radical frontline Indigenous voices and dig deep into critical issues impacting our communities. So take your seat by this fire and may the bridges we burn together, light our way. www.indigenousaction.org/podcast

Email us at IAInfo@protonmail.com. 

Subscribe, like, share on iTunes | Spotify, and Youtube.

Read the ‘zine herehttps://www.indigenousaction.org/uprooting-colonialism-the-limitations-of-indigenous-peoples-day/

From the 2017 ‘zine: “…if the state dismantles these statues and proclaims Indigenous Peoples’ Days, what do we actually achieve if the structures and systems rooted in colonial violence remain intact? Is it merely political posturing or window dressing to diminish liberatory agitations? Our senses are heightened as most re-brandings of Columbus Day into IPD appear to whitewash ongoing colonial legacies… If the goal is for Indigenous autonomy, liberation of the land, people, and other beings, then why plead with our oppressors to merely acknowledge or recognize our existence?…To claim Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an act of decolonization is a failure of liberal assimilationists… Symbolically ending Columbus’ legacy while continuing to perpetuate and benefit from the violence of the ‘doctrine of discovery’ is just one more dead-end direction of Indigenous liberalism. If we understand that colonization has always been war, then why are we fighting a battle for recognition and affirmation through colonial power structures?… Indigenous Peoples’ Day, as a process of collusion with occupying state forces, risks becoming a colonial patriotic ritual more than anything that amounts to liberation.”

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