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75 Hawthorne Street WAS1i San Francisco, I CA 94105Dear Mr. Blumenfeld:

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Founded in 1998, Black Mesa Trust (BMT) is an Indigenous Hopi grassroots, environmental

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education and advocacy organization serving the Native peoples of Black Mesa, and educating the about messages of water, It was incorporated as a non-profit organization by its all-Hopi Board of Directors in 1998.

BMT exists to safeguard, preserve and honor the land and waters of the Black Mesa region; to protect the N-Aquifer upon which Hopi and Navajo people depend; to secure their cultural, economic, and social well-being through the education of youth; and to harness lessons of traditional knowledge with Western science and technology to insure the security of their ancestral land.

In pursuit of these goals, it is imperative that BMT communicate effectively and passionately to Department of Interior (DOt) Secretary Ken Salazar and his key staff the profound concerns regarding the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) and the Central Arizona Project (CAP) which it supports. The immediate and long-term health and well-being of thousands of our Hopi and Navajo people—their families and children, cultures and future—depend upon thoughtful and urgent response to issues that today impact the continued operation of NGS.

Coal, water, and land leases essential to NOS operations will soon expire. New, equitable, and environmentally responsible relationships between the tribes and the owners of NGS and CAP must be developed even as we move forward toward greener technologies and energy paradigms. The sovereignty and economic security of the Hopi Tribe and Navajo Nation, along with the lives of millions who depend on CAP water, and those who live and work in the Southwest are very much at stake.

CAP

BMT is convinced that to secure leases and contracts essential to the immediate future of NGS and operations, Secretary Salazar and hi staff must understand and respond to the issues, and proposals BMT is prepared to articulate. Chief among these are:

The historic and long-term health, water, and economic harms to Hopi and Navajo people caused by Black Mesa coal mines and NGS, which is the sole customer of Kayenta Mine coal.

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and Navajo people;

• BMT’s objections to DOl’s 2004 Arizona Water Settlement Act with Lower Basin Arizona

tribes and the tying of that agreement to continued operations of NGS;

• BMT’s request for DOl Secretary leadership in assessing and implementing clean energy and

other economic development projects to replace the inevitable loss of revenues associated

with proposed changes in energy policy and operations, and in partial economic justice for

irreparable harm caused by Black Mesa mines and NGS; and

• BMT’s conviction that the best way to address the multiple issues facing NGS is to expand

the debate beyond the reduction of nitrogen oxides and to proceed instead to the

development of American energy policy that will bring reason, stability, and predictability to

NGS and CAP operations through a new regional energy equation in which solar energy and

natural gas, in combination with hydro power, equals base-load energy needed to operate

CAP.

To insure DOI’s address of these concerns and proposals, BMT will arrange for its Executive

Director Vernon Masayesva and Marshall Johnson, founder of To’Nizoni Ani, a Navajo grass root

organization, to meet one-on-one with Secretary Ken Salazar. They will share with the Secretarythe concerns of the people of Black Mesa as well as the proposed solutions to issues affecting NGS

and CAP. They will describe DOl actions needed to protect the health and well-being of Black

Mesa peoples affected by NGS as well as energy initiatives that will create on Black Mesa a model

of responsible energy development, one that will provide economic security and equality to their

governments as detailed in BMT’s Colorado Plateau Clean Energy Initiative.

In the months preceding this critical meeting, BMT and its allies, including Grand Canyon Trust(GCT), Native environmental organization, and BMT’s Circle of Advisors, will create a power point

presentation and white paper summarizing and detailing the concerns and proposals in preparation

for meetings with the. Among those who will participate are:

• Joe Browder, Washington-based consultant with access to DOl and White House, Mr.

Browder assisted with title transfer of federal coal reserves to Navajo Nation in the 1 980s; We

believe this set a precedent for transfer of federal gas reserves to Hopi and Navajo.

• Roger Clark, Director Air Quality Program, Grand Canyon Trust (Flagstaff, AZ), key

advisor and advocate in closing Mohave Generating Station;

• Al Qoyawyma, Retired Director, Salt River Project Environmental Section. An
To insure further the effectiveness and success of these meetings, BMT will first arrange for a meeting with an environmental issues advisor to President Obama, thus emphasizing to DOt the importance the White House accords our concerns and proposals.

In addition, BMT will seek endorsement of efforts from prominent environmentalists and environmental organizations including the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Water Keepers, of which BMT is a member.

BMT will also seek support from Hopi and Navajo Nation political leaders, Governors of New Mexico, Arizona and California, and a study team working to come to a consensus on the best way to reduce nitrogen oxides from NGS.

With the support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9, we can in short order and for the long haul make a difference. We can be effective change agents in safeguarding, preserving and honoring the land, waters and cultures of Black Mesa; in harnessing traditional knowledge and Western technology to create sustainable and responsible energy policy and operations on Black Mesa, and in articulating for Secretary Salazar and other key DOt staff, the necessary reforms and proposals for a new energy development and management paradigm on Black Mesa,

Marshall, Joe and I would like to visit with you within the next two (2) months to present a “winwin” resolutin to NGS issues.

Sincrely,

Vernon Masayesva

Former Chairman of the Hopi Tribe

Founder and Director of BMT