Would state regulation apply to power plant on Navajo land?
One item that often arises at discussions on state emissions regulation is if a new cap is passed, it will not apply to a power plant on Navajo land west of Farmington. Cibola County Commissioner Lloyd Felipe said that obviously the Navajos choose to have the power plant on their land, however, “In Acoma, we choose not to,” he said. As the new cap is being considered by the Environmental Impact Board, conservation groups on Wednesday asked federal agencies to require the region’s heaviest-polluting power plant to take measures to reduce its emissions. Environmental groups claim the Four Corners Power Plant, operated by Arizona Public Service, often causes a layer of haze to form over Mesa Verde National Park and other wilderness areas in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. “This plant, for whatever reason, has escaped a lot of the controls that other big old coal-fired power plants have been subject to over the years,” said Janette Brimmer, a staff attorney with EarthJustice, one o
