Update: Interior to Hold Public Listening Sessions on Future of Navajo Generating Station

Date: May 5, 2017
Contact: interior_press@ios.doi.gov
Dan DuBray (USBR) ddubray@usbr.gov

WASHINGTON – The Department of the Interior will host four listening sessions in Arizona during the week of May 15th where members of the public; local, state, and tribal elected officials; and other stakeholders can express their views on the future of the Navajo Generating Station (NGS).

Monday, May 15

Time: 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Location: The Heard Museum – Monte Vista Room
2301 North Central Avenue - Phoenix, AZ 85004

Wednesday, May 17

Time: 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm

Location: Page Community Center
699 South Navajo Drive
Page, AZ 86040
(Navajo translators present)

Thursday, May 18

Time: 11:00 am – 2:00 pm

Location: Kykotsmovi Community Center
Kykotsmovi, AZ 86039
(Hopi and Navajo translators present)

Friday, May 19

Time: 9:00 am to Noon

Location: Nakai Hall – Navajo Nation Fairgrounds
Window Rock, AZ 86515
(Navajo translators present)

NGS is a three-unit, 2,250-megawatt, coal-fired power plant located on tribal trust lands leased from the Navajo Nation near Page, Arizona. Coal for NGS comes exclusively from the Kayenta Mine located on tribal trust lands leased from the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe. NGS co-owners have expressed their intention to not operate the facility after December 2019; as a result, stakeholders associated with NGS have been jointly discussing the facility’s future in talks facilitated by Interior and its Bureau of Reclamation and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The intent of the planned listening sessions is to provide attendees with an opportunity to tell Interior officials what they think should be the future of NGS. The Department will not be responding to comments or answering questions at these listening sessions. Comments may also be submitted in writing at the listening sessions or submitted electronically before or after the listening sessions at ngs@usbr.gov.

Statements will be limited to a maximum of three to five minutes for each speaker (based on the number of persons wishing to speak), to allow as many people as possible an opportunity to have their voices heard. A third-party moderator will facilitate the listening session and a court reporter will be present to create a transcript of each session. Navajo and Hopi translators will be present as noted on the schedule. At the beginning of each listening session, there will be a brief presentation by the Department regarding ongoing activities related to NGS.

For more information on the public listening sessions, please contact the Department of the Interior at ngs@usbr.gov