The tribal sovereigns and communities on the San Juan River Basin deserve for lawmakers to vote in favor of the San Juan Coal Plant Clean Up Act, House Bill 142.
All stakeholders in this effort must have an agreement on the capability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to and recover from impacts and minimize damage to social well-being, including damage to the economy, health and the environment. Voting in favor of this bill is the first step to implementing resilience in the Four Corners. This act is a pathway toward restoration of the site conditions as they were before the land disturbance.
The economic risks posed by potential contamination of groundwater wells and the San Juan River are enormous. The river is a primary water source for Navajo and Jicarilla Apache people — well over 50% of the San Juan River watershed are Native American lands. The impacts of contamination will be much more widespread, with nearly every major population in New Mexico impacted by the river, whose waters are diverted to feed the Rio Grande all the way to Albuquerque.
Some 200,000 acres of land are irrigated in the San Juan watershed. Recreational boating, fishing and rafting bring vital economic dollars to local communities. To ensure toxic chemicals from the San Juan site do not contaminate groundwater and flow into the San Juan River, it is critical to remove coal ash from any risk of contact with groundwater. If coal ash comes in contact with groundwater, hazardous toxins will continue to leach into water in perpetuity. Contamination of the river via careless industry oversight poses an enormous economic risk to our state.
The health of the San Juan watershed and the people who depend on it cannot be left in the hands of corporate executives. It must be independently verifiable, transparent and thorough. Comprehensive cleanup now will prevent an environmental, health and economic disaster later.
An independent assessment and remediation plan will include measurable steps & shall do the following:
Ensure toxic metal contaminants don’t leach into the ground and leak into waterways or otherwise harm the public, animals or agriculture and cause negative public health consequences.
Create necessary closure provisions and corrective actions that include safe and appropriate disposal of waste, regular groundwater monitoring and regular reporting available for the public on accessible internet sites.
An independent assessment could prevent leaking of toxic contaminants into the San Juan River, a catastrophic intergenerational injustice that must be avoided in New Mexico, where water is already a precious and dwindling resource. Rather than rubber stamp industry plans, an independent comprehensive assessment of the potential dangers and impacts to health and the economy is necessary to protect the San Juan community and those downstream.
Vote to protect our waters, our communities and the sovereign nations.
Don’t kick the can down the road; we need a real solution.
Elaine Cimino is director of the Common Ground Rising Community Based organization, working to educate the public on public health and environmental impacts facing our communities.
