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February 24, 2012
President Bat·ack Obama
The White House
1600 Petmsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President,
In the coming weeks, your Administration, led by the Envirotm1ental Protection Agency (EPA),
will make a set of decisions about the future of Arizona's largest coal-fired power plant, the
Navajo Generation Station (NOS). Although part of the decision relates to power generation and
its potential impact on haze in the Grand Canyon, the outcome will also have a profound impact
on the state and tribal economies as well as the supply of water which is of paramount concern to
all of us in Arizona.
In August 2009, EPA began a formal review of the NOS in order to determine the Best Available
Retrofit Teclmology for the plant. We agree that efforts to make progress toward the long-term
goal of reducing haze in Class I areas are important. We also believe that it is possible to craft a
rule that is in compliance with the Regional Haze rule without jeopardizing the health and wellbeing of the affected Tribes, the state economy, and critical water supplies.
The economic impacts of the options being considered will resonate tlu·oughout our state and
could be especially devastating to the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe. It is our understanding that
NOS, located on the Navajo Nation, and Kayenta Coal Mine, together provide jobs for over
1,000 employees, more than 80 percent of whom are Navajo. According to an Arizona State
University study, NOS and the mine will indirectly account for more than $20 billion in Gross
State Product for Arizona between 2011 and 2044, and contribute approximately 3,000 jobs
annually.
We also urge you to consider the unique role that NOS has with respect to the Central Arizona
Project (CAP), which supplies water to 80 percent of Arizona's population. NOS provides 95
percent of the power for the federally authorized CAP. It was an historic environmental
compromise to protect the Grand Canyon and provide water for CAP that led to the construction
of NOS. By statute, the United States has the largest single share of power output from NOS for
the pumping of water by CAP.
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We have been advised that a recently released study sponsored by the Department of the Interior,
and conducted by the National Renewable Energy Lab, estimates that the cost of water will
increase between 13 percent and 32 percent as a result of actions contemplated by EPA. We
understand that the report notes that the increase will fall disproportionately on the Tribes and
agricultural community. In lieu of paying for renewable water supplies provided by CAP, there
is the risk that the agricultural consumers will return to the use of disappearing ground water
supplies. This outcome would defeat the entire rationale for CAP, which still ranks as one of the
largest reclamation projects in history.
Mr. President, we appreciate the opportunity to raise these issues. We ask that the Administration
take these and other comments into consideration as it judiciously moves to develop a sound and
reasonable solution for NOS.
Sincerely,
ED PASTOR
Member of Congress
Member of Congress
Member of Congress
Cc: Hon. Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior
Cc: Hon. Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy
Cc: Hon. Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator, U.S . Environmental Protection Agency