Contacts:

San Francisco (CA) – The long-contested air permit for the controversial Sithe Global Desert Rock coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Reservation was officially revoked by the Environmental Protection Agency today due to confirmed deficiencies in the permit’s environmental analysis.

The appeal was filed in August of 2008 with the Environmental Appeals Board in Washington DC by attorneys for DINÉ Care, Environmental Defense Fund, Grand Canyon Trust, Natural Resources Defense Council, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Sierra Club, and WildEarth Guardians. Alleged in the appeal were “numerous significant substantive and procedural errors” in the environmental analysis of the permit process.

In a rare move, the EPA’s Region 9 office in San Francisco requested in April of this year that the EAB voluntarily remand the permit, before the Board had fully reviewed the appeal. In it’s motion, Region 9 stated, “Given the number of the issues in the appeal that Region 9 seeks to reconsider and the prior withdrawal of a portion of the permitting record by Region 9, a complete remand of the Final PSD Permit and administrative record will promote efficiency in the Agency's decision-making and potentially enable Region 9 to resolve several disputed issues.”  Among the issues are inadequate analysis of Desert Rock’s particulate matter, mercury, ozone precursor, and carbon dioxide emissions, and failure to consult with other agencies on the permit.

Today’s decision to officially remand the permit brought praise for the appellants.

“We’ve been saying for a long time that the Desert Rock permit process was flawed from the start due to existing adverse environmental and human public health conditions,” said Lori Goodman with DINÉ Care. “This situation would be worsened by the addition of Desert Rock. We are thankful that EPA has now stepped up to uphold the law and look out for the health of the people of the Four Corners Region, including the Navajo Nation.”

“This is a coal plant that should never be built,” said Mike Eisenfeld with SJCA. “It’s time for Sithe Global to consider some of their expertise in siting renewable energy in the region rather than continuing to bankroll the Desert Rock project that has insurmountable issues.”

“We firmly believe that the EPA has accepted and acknowledged their responsibilities to evaluate Desert Rock under the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act,” said Janette Brimmer with Earthjustice in Seattle, attorneys for several groups including Dine’ Care and San Juan Citizens Alliance. “Given this remand, we now have a chance to ensure that EPA fully complies with all legal requirements and properly applies good science in order to fully protect the air and all the residents of this beautiful region of the county.”

The Blackstone Group and Sithe Global are trying to develop three large, dirty coal-fired power plants in the United States. These include the Desert Rock Energy Project, the ToquopEnergy Project, and the River Hills Energy Project.

These three plants would produce over 2,500 megawatts of electricity for 50 years and, combined, would emit over 20 million tons of climate change-causing carbon dioxide every year, or over 1 billion tons of CO2 in the plants’ lifetimes. In addition, these plants would produce millions of tons of toxic pollutants in the form of airborne emissions and spent coal ash, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, selenium and a variety of heavy metals, while also displacing real opportunities for clean, renewable energy and the jobs that come with them.

Local opposition to these plants from Nevada, Utah, the Four Corners region, and Pennsylvania is organized and very vocal. In addition to calls for these plants to be stopped, locals are also asking Blackstone to invest their dollars in clean renewable energy, not dirty coal. But we need your help. Here’s how you can take action.

WHO ARE BLACKSTONE AND SITHE GLOBAL?

The Blackstone Group is one of Wall Street’s largest private equity and investment firms with assets listed under management worth nearly $95 billion at the end of 2008. They currently own approximately 130 companies with interests ranging from health care to telecommunications to real estate to energy. They are heavily invested in fossil fuels development including coal, tar sands, and petroleum refineries.

Sithe Global is a major private energy developer that constructs, and operates large-scale power plants both domestically and internationally. Their portfolio of projects totals nearly 7,000 megawatts of power projects, with a total capital investment potential of over $15 billion. Most of Sithe’s projects are coal-fired, natural gas-fired or hydroelectric power plants, but also include waste coal, one wind farm, and a palm oil venture.

In 2005 Blackstone purchased an 80% ownership in Sithe Global from its previous owner, Reservoir Capital, which retained a 20% ownership.

It is clear that Blackstone and Sithe Global are out of touch with national energy markets. Worse, they’re out of touch with the communities which will be harmed by these coal plants. These communities want clean energy and a clean future with long-term jobs for their children and grandchildren. What they don’t want are dirty coal plants and coal-waste facilities, and investors don’t want bad investments surrounded by uncertainty.

WHO IS STEVEN SCHWARZMAN?

Blackstone’s CEO Steven Schwarzman is worth an estimated $2.5 billion and, in addition to his 35-room Park Avenue suite, owns houses in Saint-Tropez, Jamaica, East Hampton, and Palm Beach. His five properties plus renovations are estimated to have cost over $125 million. Schwarzman is said to have the biggest living room in New York City. He made headlines in 2007 when he celebrated his 60^th birthday with a $3 million party on Park Avenue that included many celebrities and high-profile financial industry members. A brief biography of Steven Schwarzman can be found at http://blackstone.com/team/bios/Schwarzman.html.

Comparisons between Blackstone and local communities

Mesquite, Nevada

The per capita income in Mesquite, Nevada, was $20,191 in 1999. The median family income was $42,941 in the same year. Mesquite’s population in 2000 was 9,389.¹

Navajo Nation

The per capita income on the Navajo Nation was $6,217 and the medium family income was $11,885 in 2000, well below the poverty line. The population of the reservation in 2000 was 173,987. According to the Indian Country Extension website, Navajos generate an estimated $40.5 million in the informal economy.²

Blackstone Group

Blackstone has $94.56 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2008.³

Stephen Schwarzman: Chairman, CEO, and co-founder of the Blackstone Group

• Schwarzman’s net worth is estimated at $2.5 billion.⁴
• Although Schwarzman’s salary is $350,000, in 2008 his total compensation, including stock awards and other compensation, was almost $1.4 billion.⁵
• In 2007, Schwarzman celebrated his birthday with a $3 million party in New York that included celebrities and high-profile financial industry members as guests, Rod Stewart providing entertainment, and Patti LaBelle singing “Happy Birthday.”⁶
• Schwarzman lives in a 35-room co-op in Manhattan, which he purchased for $37 million. He also owns houses in Saint-Tropez, Jamaica, East Hampton, and Palm Beach. His five properties plus renovations are estimated to have cost over $125 million.⁷