Navajo activists appeal a federal permit that could keep a reservation coal mine open until 2136

In August, the Trump administration approved a permit to dramatically expand a coal mine owned by the Navajo Nation in northwestern New Mexico, a move that could keep it operating until 2136, 110 years from now. Two local groups are now appealing.

The San Juan Citizens Alliance and the Indigenous-led nonprofit Tó Nizhóní Ání argue that the final environmental impact statement was fast-tracked and flawed after a single public scoping meeting earlier this year.

Revenue versus risk

The Navajo Nation relies heavily on coal revenue, which funds jobs and services across the largest reservation in the country. But opponents say the costs are too high: risks to groundwater and the potential uprooting of some longtime Navajo families and burial sites.

They also question the business case. The mine's only customer is the Four Corners Power Plant, whose majority owner, the private utility Arizona Public Service, expects to exit the aging facility within roughly a decade. No other coal buyer has been identified.

"They're talking about things like, this coal may be needed for the Department of War — needed for the national energy emergency, and I just think that it's a facade," said Mike Eisenfeld of the San Juan Citizens Alliance. He said he could accept the plant running past 2031, but that the government needs a credible analysis of the years after that, and that going beyond 2038 "is ridiculous."

'A Navajo decision'

The mine is owned by the Navajo Transitional Energy Company, or NTEC. Federal mining officials told KJZZ they "worked closely" with the Navajo Nation throughout permitting. Critics note that NTEC is headquartered outside Denver and that none of the nine members of its executive management team are Navajo or tribal members.

NTEC said growing the mine by nearly 12,000 acres is "a Navajo decision" that is "consistent with federal law and in the public interest." It pointed to 2,211 acres of land it restored, which the Nenahnezad Chapter officially reclaimed last year, and said only three potentially affected permittees could be affected, promising advance notice so any relocation is handled "in the family's best interest."

Sovereignty and the energy transition

The dispute reflects a dilemma facing many tribal nations: how to protect land, water and sacred places while sustaining economies long built on fossil fuels. The Navajo Nation is also weighing other energy projects, including a proposed hydropower development on Black Mesa that has drawn its own scrutiny.

For Diné families who live near the mine, the outcome will shape whether they stay, and what the land looks like for their grandchildren.