ISSUES – NATIVE AMERICAN REPRESENTATION

There are 19 Native American pueblos as well as Navajo and Apache nations in New Mexico. Unfortunately, many of these communities are viewed as places where resources are abundant and regulation is limited; they also are often seen as areas in which there is chronic unemployment, and in which jobs can be traded for environmental degradation. In addition, many indigenous communities receive little or no protection from government regulators.

Richard Deertrack, former member of the Law Center's Board of Directors, member of Taos Pueblo, and former client, wrote in the Fall 1997 issue of the Green Fire Report:

    “Many Indian tribes ... don't feel they can have an effect on environmental issues and they feel they are at the mercy of the federal laws and Congress, and the administration and the courts because they don't understand the process. This is where the Law Center-people who are dedicated and who know the process, who are experts and know the language-are so important to Indian tribes and other communities.”
    “Environmental issues challenge the sovereign rights of Indian tribes ... The Law Center enhances the ability of the tribes to set up internal mechanisms to develop and use laws for our own protection, to protect our sacred areas, our water, our land, and anything else of value to the tribe. The Law Center gives us the tools to bridge the gap between traditional and western concepts of law, to use the court system to help the tribe protect their sovereignty and culture.”

Major cases under the Native American Representation Program:

OPEN CASES

• Crownpoint Uranium Project [Click for more info]

    Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM)/Southwest Research and Information Center (SRIC) - Hydro Resources, Inc. and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) — initiated in 1996 — our clients are fighting proposed uranium mining in Navajo communities. The mining threatens the sole source of drinking water for over 15,000 Navajo citizens.

• Generic Environmental Impact Statement [Click for more info]

    ENDAUM/SRIC/Haaku Water Office of Acoma Pueblo/Bluewater Valley Downstream Alliance against the NRC — initiated 2007 — our clients seek to prevent the NRC from making it easier for companies to obtain in situ leach uranium mining licenses.

• Haaku Water Office of Acoma Pueblo — government to government consultation [Click for more info]

    Haaku Water Office of Acoma Pueblo — initiated 2008 — The Law Center represents the Haaku Water Office in government-to-government consultations with state and federal agencies concerning proposed uranium projects within the Pueblo's Cultural Province.

• Haaku Water Office of Acoma Pueblo — Marquez Canyon permit [Click for more info]

    Haaku Water Office of Acoma Pueblo against Neutron Energy — initiated 2007 — our client is fighting the first non-minimal exploration permit for uranium. Neutron Energy, the applicant, seeks to drill 41 boreholes on land near Mount Taylor, which is is culturally and environmentally significant to the Acoma People.

• Taos Regional Airport Expansion [Click for more info]

    Taos Pueblo against the Town of Taos and the Federal Aviation Administration — initiated in 1994 — our client is fighting the expansion of the Taos Airport, which threatens the culture and environment of Taos Pueblo.
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CLOSED CASES

• Picuris Pueblo mica mine case [Click for more info]

    Picuris Pueblo against the Oglebay Norton Specialty Minerals and Franklin Industrial Minerals — initiated in 1998 and concluded in 2005 — our clients successfully fought the largest mica mine west of the Mississippi River, which was located on the tribe's aboriginal lands. The Pueblo is now reclaiming the site.

• Los Alamos National Laboratory Open Burning Permits

    TEWA Women United/Embudo Valley Environmental Monitoring Group/Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety against Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) — 2005 - 2006 — due to our work, and that of our clients, LANL cancelled two air quality permits that would have allowed it to openly burn toxics such as depleted uranium, diesel fuel, and explosives.

• Counselor Chapter gas drilling

    Counselor Chapter (a Navajo community near Cuba, NM) against the Bureau of Land Management — 2003 - 2004 — we worked with our client to successfully pressure the Bureau of Land Management to remove two parcels of land from oil and gas leasing. Although the parcels contained land important to Navajo citizens for historical, religious and cultural reasons, the BLM failed to contact the tribe prior to offering the lands for drilling.

• Los Alamos National Laboratory Water Quality Issues

    Pueblo of San Ildefonso against Los Alamos National Laboratory — 1996 - 1997 — our clients fought LANL on three issues: protection of the environment from past, current and future contamination by the Laboratory, protection of sacred sites from Laboratory activities, and the recognition of San Ildefonso Pueblo as a sovereign nation by the Department of Energy.

• North-Central New Mexico Solid Waste Authority Proposed Landfill

    Santa Clara Pueblo against the North-Central New Mexico Solid Waste Authority — 1996 — Our client successfully fought the location of a regional landfill adjacent to the Pueblo's boundary.

• Zuni Salt Lake Mine

    Research and Policy Analysis, the Water Information Network, the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, the Zuni Mountain Coalition, and several individuals against Salt River Project — 1996 - 1997 — our clients fought to protect Zuni Salt Lake from de-watering that would be associated with a coal mine. Zuni Pueblo subsequently succeeded in blocking the mine.
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