Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. said on August 11 that he has been negotiating with Peabody Western Coal to continue operations on the Black Mesa Coal Mine near Kayenta, Arizona. The Tribe, which is currently involved in a $600 million lawsuit against the mining company, recently passed a resolution backed by tribal grassroots groups to end Peabody’s use of a specific aquifer by the end of 2005. Shirley criticized the resolution, warning that the mine’s closure would cost the tribe $35 million per year and hundreds of jobs for Navajo workers.
