Flagstaff City Council Tables Hopi Settlement Over Snowbowl

By Laurel Morales
March 10, 2016
Navajo
Ethan Sing
Navajo activist Klee Benally chains himself to an excavator on the San Francisco Peaks, which he and 13 tribes consider sacred.

The Flagstaff City Council says they need more time to settle a lawsuit with the Hopi Tribe over use of reclaimed wastewater on a mountain the Hopi and a dozen other tribes consider sacred. The Hopi claim the city’s decision to sell treated wastewater to a ski resort causes a public nuisance.

After a year of negotiations, the Hopi Tribe and city officials came up with a solution. The city would build a $1.6 million earthen filtration system for the already treated wastewater headed to Arizona Snowbowl. The city’s general fund would cover most of the project. The ski resort would pay part of the maintenance costs.

The Hopi Tribal Council has unanimously approved the deal.

Flagstaff’s outside counsel Lee Storey said instead of a long court battle, the two parties chose to come up with this agreement.

“We spent countless hours looking at options with our consultants, with Hopi consultants on what might make sense and would be doable in keeping with the contract and the obligations the city has with Snowbowl, which are real and valid, and also trying to resolve litigation with the Hopi people,” Storey said.

The ski resort has used the treated wastewater to make snow for four years and has stayed open for an extended season as a result. 

Flagstaff Utilities Director Brad Hill would not say whether the system would filter out so-called “compounds of emerging concern.” Studies conducted on Flagstaff’s treated wastewater show it contains trace levels of endocrine-disrupting chemicals including hormones, antibiotics and pharmaceuticals. Toxicologists have found these compounds to be harmful to animals, but they are unregulated.

“Basically you’re admitting there’s a problem with the water but you’re not setting a standard for the treatment,” said Navajo activist Klee Benally. “You’re doing the minimal that you need to as required by a settlement.”

Benally reminded the city council they are complicit to the desecration of a sacred sight. And he said the city will likely face more lawsuits.

“Don’t just think about the ramifications of the lawsuits,” Benally said. “Think of the impacts for our people.”

Flagstaff council members expressed concern about the other 12 tribes that were not part of the negotiations. Others worried about the costs of the filtration system.

And the city wants to resolve its suit with Snowbowl over attorneys fees and damages. So the settlement is on hold until there are more answers than questions.