Contact: Elouise Brown, Dooda (NO) Desert Rock Committee President, (505) 947-6159
DOODA (NO) DESERT ROCK SAYS AGENCY ACTION VINDICATES ITS POSITION
By Dooda (No) Desert Rock
Photo: Four Corners Power Plant
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Elouise Brown, the president of Dooda (NO) Desert Rock, said today that the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to require the Four Corners Generating Station to reduce nitrogen oxide omissions vindicates its position on the plant and the other one nearby.
Elouise Brown, the president of Dooda (NO) Desert Rock, said today that the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to require the Four Corners Generating Station to reduce nitrogen oxide omissions vindicates its position on the plant and the other one nearby.
“President Shirley and his ‘yes’ men mocked me when I said that emissions from the two existing plants endangered Navajo health, but the decision to regulate this kind of greenhouse emission vindicates my position,” Brown said.
“On August 24, 2007 the Region IX EPA said that ozone was a particular concern for the Four Corners area and warned of a study that found that people living in Shiprock are more than five times as likely to need examination for respiratory complaints than others.”
“We filed a discrimination complaint against the EPA for the failure to take action on that finding, only to have the complaint dismissed because the U.S. Justice Department says that citizens cannot make Title VI discrimination claims against federal agencies. We have consistently demanded that the EPA heed its own warnings,” she continued.
“We know that the EPA decision to require the Four Corners Plant to do more about regulating emissions comes in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that greenhouse gases can be regulated under the Clean Air Act and that the State of New Mexico challenged the Desert Rock air permit because those gasses are not regulated. While this decision may follow that trend, we also hope that Dooda (NO) Desert Rock’s advocacy for the health of Navajos in our area and our efforts to have the August 24, 2007 warning heeded played a role” in the decision,” she said.
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“On August 24, 2007 the Region IX EPA said that ozone was a particular concern for the Four Corners area and warned of a study that found that people living in Shiprock are more than five times as likely to need examination for respiratory complaints than others.”
“We filed a discrimination complaint against the EPA for the failure to take action on that finding, only to have the complaint dismissed because the U.S. Justice Department says that citizens cannot make Title VI discrimination claims against federal agencies. We have consistently demanded that the EPA heed its own warnings,” she continued.
“We know that the EPA decision to require the Four Corners Plant to do more about regulating emissions comes in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that greenhouse gases can be regulated under the Clean Air Act and that the State of New Mexico challenged the Desert Rock air permit because those gasses are not regulated. While this decision may follow that trend, we also hope that Dooda (NO) Desert Rock’s advocacy for the health of Navajos in our area and our efforts to have the August 24, 2007 warning heeded played a role” in the decision,” she said.
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