Trump administration slows on fracking plans after outcry for impacted Navajo Nation

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The Trump administration has relented and will allow more time for opinions on plans to lease public land to oil and gas companies after outrage that the tribal communities who would be most affected were unable to join the scheduled "virtual" meetings and are being severely impacted by the coronavirus.

Department of Interior (DOI) Secretary David Bernhardt agreed on Wednesday to extend the comment period on drilling plans for areas around Chaco Canyon Historical Park in New Mexico.

Last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), part of the DOI, held a series of Zoom meetings - despite the fact that many Native American communities in the area have limited access to internet. A Federal Communications Commission report found that less than half of households on tribal lands have access to fixed broadband service.

The Navajo Nation, who are most impacted by the fracking plans, has now surpassed New York as the area with the highest number of coronavirus cases per capita in the US.

Navajo Nation has a population of around 173,000 people across their lands in Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. The tribe has 4,153 confirmed cases and 144 deaths from Covid-19.

The crisis prompted Doctors Without Borders - who typically work in war zones - to send a team to the Navajo Nation, the first time the organisation has done so in the US.

The Chaco Canyon region is home to thousands of sacred, ancestral sites of indigenous peoples including the Hopi, Navajo and Zuni. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.

In a statement to The Independent, Food & Water Action organizer Margaret Wadsworth said: “This extension is a victory for the communities fighting to protect Chaco and the people whose health and well-being are threatened by more fracking. The Bureau of Land Management should have made this decision in the first place.

"The Navajo Nation has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and could not meaningfully participate in hearings where their voices would be essential. The real task for the BLM is to create a plan that puts the protection of our air, water, and health first, and not the interests of oil and gas corporations.”

The BLM “Farmington Mancos-Gallup Management Plan” involves 4.1m acres and proposes up to 3,200 oil and gas wells in the next 15 years. “BLM’s environmental impact statement predicts that 75,000 acres will be disturbed over the next two decades, 60% of which will remain disturbed by the end of the project,” the Union of Concerned Scientists noted.

Public meetings are part of the democratic process of decision-making when it comes to public lands. Last week, the first "virtual meeting" - which had a Zoom and dial-in option - was mired with technical difficulties. Some callers seemed to struggle with poor phone reception and other technical aspects.

BLM’s deputy director for policy and programs, William Perry Pendley, had described online meetings over the oil drilling proposals as a way “to reduce our carbon footprint”.

A number of people who joined the call made emotional pleas for BLM to extend the public comment period due to the coronavirus pandemic. Hundreds of other tribal, political and conservation leaders also demanded an extension.

Navajo Nation Council Delegate Daniel Tso said earlier this month that the Covid-19 pandemic had prevented them from being able to engage fully in the process and asked for the comment period to be delayed.

On Wednesday, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said he will extend the comment period for the drilling plans “most likely for 120 days" after meeting with leaders from the Navajo Nation and All Pueblo Council of Governors. The 90-day public comment period was scheduled to end on 28 May.

Mr Bernhardt told The Albuquerque Journal that "obviously, the pandemic is an issue" and said that he had been "moved" by his visit to the region and speaking with the indigenous leaders. "I anticipate that requirement will be extended," he added.