Chapter opposes railroad through Nation
WINDOW ROCK
A week after the Navajo Nation and San Juan County, New Mexico, signed a memorandum of understanding to investigate the feasibility of running a railroad between Farmington and I-40, the NIMBYism is already starting.
Actually, it started a few years ago when talk of a railroad got serious. Christine Benally, a resident of Tsé Al Náozati’í Chapter, produced a 2018 chapter resolution opposing running the railroad through the chapter.
The resolution states the chapter does not have “emergency response capabilities for a derailment, spill or any other contamination or accident.” The resolution passed 29-3. “The people need to be consulted, heard and represented beforehand,” Benally stated in an email to the Times.
Vice President Myron Lizer, a proponent of the railroad, said in a telephone interview Wednesday he expected some pushback from the chapters and individuals along the rail line, but he hopes “we can come together, mindful of the economic situation we’re in.”
“Obviously, we have to have buy-in from the chapters,” Lizer said.
He noted that, with the recent closure of the Navajo Generating Station and three more coal-fired power plants on the borders of the Nation set to shutter within the next few years, the Nation has to aggressively pursue economic development, and the railroad may be just the thing to jump-start the economy.
“Without the power plant and mining jobs, we’re in danger of losing our entire middle class,” Lizer said.
He noted that the county and tribe have asked the state of New Mexico for $500,000 for a feasibility study for the railroad, so the idea has not cost the tribe a cent so far. “I think it’s worth pursuing,” he said. “Like any business venture, we need to do our due diligence. We don’t want to risk losing the Nation’s money.”
The railroad could be private, public or a private-public partnership, Lizer said. “If the Nation owns it, we would benefit the most,” he noted, “but it’s a lot of money up front.”
While Benally’s objections focus on the transport of hazardous materials, Lizer said the cargo could just as easily be produce from the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry or Native American Beef.
In addition to the 1,000 construction jobs the railroad would create, the hope would be for factories to spring up alongside it, luring in investors with the Trump administration’s “Opportunity Zone” tax incentives.
“One idea that’s been talked about is what they call a ‘cracking plant,’” Lizer said. “Through a process I don’t have time to explain right now, you can turn natural gas into plastic that can be used for all sorts of products.”
A factory like that could easily create 600 to 700 full-time jobs, in addition to the construction jobs to build it, according to Lizer. “People could come for the construction jobs and stay on to work at the plant,” he proposed.
While a route for the railroad has not been formulated, Lizer said the logical choices would be alongside either U.S. 491, in which case it would run through Tsé Al Náozt’I’í, or New Mexico State Road 371.
Paralleling state or federal highways, “the rights-of-way have already been cleared,” Lizer explained.
The vice president said that if the feasibility study looks good, the Nation would reach out to all the affected chapters and make sure they were on board before finalizing any plans.
“It’s an education process,” he said. “I think when people understand how much this will benefit the Nation, they’ll be able to make an informed decision.”
Tsé Al Náozt’I’í Chapter President Frank Smith said he would welcome a public hearing at the chapter so people could get their questions about the railroad answered. “I think once people understand it better, the vote might turn out different,” he said.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow