Kayenta Mine

The Kayenta Mine, located 10 miles southwest of Kayenta, Arizona, has been operated by Peabody Western Coal Company since 1973 through lease agreements with the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe. The mine is 40,000 acres and produces approximately 8 million tons of coal annually, which it ships to the Navajo Generating Station near Page, Arizona.

Mine Data

 * Owner: Peabody Western Coal Company
 * Parent company: Peabody Energy
 * Location: Kayenta, Arizona
 * GPS coordinates: 36.48412084834495 N, 110.27616441249847 W
 * Annual Production: 7,982,584 short tons
 * Type of coal: Bituminous Coal/Lignite
 * Mine type: surface
 * Equipment:
 * Number of employees: 440

Questions over Peabody operating permits
In 2010, Brad Bartlett of Energy Minerals Law Center in Durango, CO, asked the U.S. Office of Surface Mining (OSM) Reclamation and Enforcement for the operating permit for the Kayenta coal strip mine. When they could not find it, he filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on April 9, 2010, with the agency asking for records related to renewal of the Kayenta operating permit. In response to this FOIA request about a permit currently in force, OSM claimed that it had nothing to disclose about the permitting documents and communications with Peabody Coal about them. Bartlett appealed OSM’s response to the Department of the Interior on June 14, 2010. On August 3, the FOIA Appeals Office denied release of the documents and denied Plaintiffs’ request for an explanation of the agency’s search methodology. On September 30, 2010, a coalition including Black Mesa Water Coalition, Center for Biological Diversity, Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment (Diné CARE), Sierra Club, and To’ Nizhoni Ani filed their complaint seeking judicial review of this outcome.

Black Cross Movement targets Kayenta Mine
In November 2010 the Black Cross Movement planted symbolic black crosses in front of the Navajo Nation's Kayenta Mine in New Mexcio, which was named in the spring of 2010 as one of the most dangerous mines in the country.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Arizona and coal
 * Black Mesa coal mine
 * Peabody Energy
 * U.S. coal politics
 * Coal and jobs in the United States
 * Coal phase-out
 * Headquarters of U.S. coal mining companies
 * Global list of coal mining companies and agencies
 * Proposed coal mines
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * Coal

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