Endangered Fish Threaten Power Plant

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2010-01-12 09:00:00 UTC
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Two species of endangered fish in the San Juan River threw a wrench in plans for a Desert Rock Energy coal-fired power plant.

Problems started last spring, when the EPA withdrew the air quality permit it had issued nearly a year earlier. There were a number of reasons, including concern over the impact of mercury and other heavy metal emissions on local endangered species. New Mexico's Assistant Attorney General and Obama's EPA agreed that the previous administration had cut corners when they originally issued the permit.

Since I can't resist an absurd quote from an industry hack, here's a gem from Jeff Holmstead, an executive at the law firm that represents the plant's developer ... and, wait for it, former head of the air program at EPA:

“I don’t think anyone ever imagined that the new team at EPA would seem to have such little regard for due process or basic notions of fairness,” Holmstead said. “Everyone understands that a new Administration has discretion to change rules and policies prospectively. But I’ve never seen any Administration try to change policies and rules retroactively.”

(Does Holmstead not remember a recent eight year period? Oh, wait, he was there. He was the one who, with the ironically named Clear Skies Act, changed the 25-year-old Clean Air Act to make it easier for coal plants to avoid spending money on new pollution controls.)

In late December, the Desert Rock Energy Project received another blow when the Bureau of Indian Affairs withdrew its biological assessment, citing "significant concerns" for fish. The San Juan River that runs through the Navajo Nation is home to the Colorado Pikeminnow, which has been listed as endangered by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1967, and the Razorback Sucker, which first appeared on state protection lists in 1973.

Some members of the Navajo Nation have joined Holmstead in advocating for the plant. Others have joined environmentalists in protesting that the river is already polluted with heavy metals and further biological assessments would prove that the ecosystem can't handle any more. The latter -- and the fish -- have won this round, but the fight isn't over yet. If Desert Rock comes back with a revised proposal that incorporates the latest environmental controls, the plant could still end up being built.

Photo credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.
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