Fracking will ruin sacred, preserved sites in the ‘American cradle of civilization’ - lawsuit

[Judi Lynn]

Fracking will ruin sacred, preserved sites in the ‘American cradle of civilization’ - lawsuit
Published time: March 14, 2015 16:37


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Anasazi Indian ruins (Photo from wikipedia.org)
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A Navajo advocacy group has asked a federal judge to halt hydraulic fracking permits in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, claiming that drilling threatens a historic UNESCO heritage site considered sacred by Navajo, Hopi and Pueblo peoples.

Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment and three other groups have sued the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Department of Interior, calling on a federal judge to vacate the 130 fracking permits issued by the BLM and enjoin fracking activity in the Mancos Shale of the San Juan Basin until the BLM adheres to the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, according to Courthouse News.

The 4,600-square-mile San Juan Basin of New Mexico's Four Corners region is home to Chaco Culture National Historical Park, which includes the Anasazi ruins and other archeological remains of structures that were among North America's largest around 1,000 years ago.

Chaco and the surrounding areas, known as the “American cradle of civilization,” are considered a UNESCO World Heritage site. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization calls the area “remarkable for its monumental public and ceremonial buildings and its distinctive architecture – it has an ancient urban ceremonial centre that is unlike anything constructed before or since.”

More:
http://rt.com/usa/240581-fracking-anasazi-chaco-navajo/

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Groups File Suit to Protect Chaco Canyon From Fracking
ICTMN Staff
3/12/15

Environmental groups including the Navajo organization Diné CARE filed suit against two federal agencies on March 11 in an attempt to keep fracking from harming the ancient astronomical site of Chaco Canyon.

The suit was filed by the Western Environmental Law Center and WildEarth Guardians against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Department of the Interior on behalf of Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment (Diné CARE), the Natural Resources Defense Counsel and the San Juan Citizens Alliance, among other groups. The groups are objecting to the approval over the past two years of more than 130 proposals for fracking operations, the Western Environmental Law Center said in a release.

Though these operations so far are 20 miles from Chaco Canyon, they are encroaching ever closer.

In 2011 the National Trust for Historic Preservation designated the Greater Chaco Landscape of New Mexico as “endangered.”

The recent upsurge in leases being sold by allottees, who some say are ill-informed as to the ramifications, has caused concern among Navajo citizens, and calls for more oversight.

In addition, citing the global warming dangers that fracking poses, the groups expressed concerns about the methane emissions in the San Juan basin that are visible from space.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/03/12/groups-file-suit-protect-chaco-canyon-fracking-159576

[jwirr]

1. Can anyone say earthquakes?

[mopinko]

2. ffs.

get them the fuck out of there. who thought this was a good idea?
the blm should be abolished, it really should.

[bluedigger]

3. "Legislative resolution: Drilling is ‘best use’ for Cedar Mesa and San Rafael Swell"

State lawmakers are declaring grazing and mineral extraction the "highest and best use" for Cedar Mesa and the San Rafael Swell.

A resolution sailing through the Legislature, SCR4, is aimed at curbing what lawmakers say are abuses of the Antiquities Act by Democratic presidents — a sort of warning shot meant to discourage President Barack Obama from designating another monument in the state.

But the bill's language is prompting conservationists to wonder why lawmakers would prefer mining and drilling such cherished landscapes — both candidates for national monument status — over preserving their archaeological sites and geologic wonders for future generations.

Utah conservatives contend national monuments have become trophies handed down to curry support for liberal politicians without regard to what Congress had in mind when it passed the Antiquities Act more than a century ago.

"There is not a lot a state can do when a president wants to make hay with special interest groups, gobbling up a lot of our public lands and moving it away from multiple use," sponsoring Sen. Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George, told the House Natural Resources committee on Friday. "Past being prologue, you know it's coming again with this president."

http://www.sltrib.com/news/2258169-155/legislative-resolution-drilling-is-best-use

[niyad]

4. they want to frack chaco canyon? stupidity apparently has no limits.

[appalachiablue]

5. Pollution, environmental toxins, drilling, earthquakes, ruining ancient sites- for oil $. Ecocide.

The destruction of nature and civilization for profit and human greed; it has to end, and not well it appears.
I love New Mexico.

[mountain grammy]

6. Why? Why?

New Mexico has an abundance of sunshine and wind. Stop this insanity!

[Fred Sanders]

7. ISIS and Republicans do not care for artifacts and antiquities, or history for that matter.

State "lawmakers" were bribed, or intimidated, or both, by corporations, only explanation that makes sense.

Could happen:

500 Illegal Fracking Wells Injecting Water Waste into California Aquifers Revealed

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1127&pid=82357

[rhett o rick]

9. Pres Obama says that fracking is the bridge to a new energy future. HRC also supports fracking.

The Progressive Wing of the Party doesn't support fracking, but the Conservative Wing certain agree with the Republicons that fracking will be a wind fall for corporations.

[freshwest]

11. Yes, this is far worse than Orwell's Memory Hole. It's the Langoliers. A new reality.

[Dont call me Shirley]

8. I hope the Navajo succeed! Mesa Verde and Chaco are very special places.

The methane bubble over the four corners is massive.

"FARMINGTON — The Four Corners is a national "hot spot" for concentrations of atmospheric methane, according to a new study.

The joint study by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Michigan published in the journal "Geophysical Research Letters" last week reported a high concentration of the greenhouse gas methane across 2,500 square miles in the Four Corners, including San Juan County, which was the largest concentration of methane in the United States.

The study — which uses data collected before hydraulic fracturing became a common practice — indicates the likely sources of the emissions are coal-bed methane production and leaking industry infrastructure."

http://www.daily-times.com/four_corners-news/ci_26721808/four-corners-methane-hot-spot-nasa-study-says

[Scootaloo]

10. I swear it's like someone's using Captain Planet villains as a how-to guide!

[freshwest]

12. I think it's the galactic planet strippers from Independence Day, myself...

Abandoned the Close Encounters of the Third Kind loving aliens coming to save us stuff.

When I saw Independence Day, all I could think of was the meme, 'Now that's what I'm talking about!'

[Nihil]

13. It's hard to believe that this would even be considered, much less granted!

As noted upthread, how can US politicians complain about ISIS destroying ancient monuments
when their own administration is sanctioning the same behaviour in their own country?