Arizona Snowbowl Starts Making Fake Snow from Treated Sewage… and it’s Yellow

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, December 24, 2012

Contact: Rudy Preston
Email: info@truesnow.org
Phone: 480-382-5288
www.TrueSnow.org

Arizona Snowbowl Starts Making Fake Snow from Treated Sewage… and it’s Yellow

FLAGSTAFF, AZ (San Francisco Peaks) — After a decade of legal battles and opposition from environmental groups, concerned citizens, and Indigenous Nations, Arizona Snowbowl ski area has started making fake snow from Flagstaff’s treated sewage effluent.

Surprise… it’s yellow!

“My parents always told me not to eat yellow snow, this is absolutely disgusting,” said Katie Nelson, longtime resident of Northern Arizona. “ Will parents tell their kids it’s OK to play in it? I used to be a skier and snowboarder, but I am boycotting Snowbowl because they obviously don’t care about my health or the environment.” stated Nelson.

Snowbowl is set to be the only ski area in the world to make snow from 100% treated sewage effluent. This action has raised serious concerns from community and environmental groups due to potential risks to human health and the sensitive mountain ecosystem.

“Snowbowl is clearly disregarding public health by not fulfilling their requirement to have signs posted that the fake snow is made from treated sewage and that it must not be consumed. I checked the entire area where kids ski and learn to ski and I could not find any warning signs.” stated Rudy Preston, former board member of the Flagstaff Activist Network. “There were none posted on the childrens ski lifts either,” he continued.

Although Snowbowl manager JR Murray has stated that treated sewage would be “…cleaner than the snow falling out of the sky” the yellow colored snow clearly indicates that something is wrong.

State law mandates that it is illegal for anyone to consume snow made from treated sewage effluent. Ingestion pathways include the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and skin. Additionally, any “direct reuse” cannot even have the “potential for ingestion.” While Snowmaking is considered legal, the “direct reuse” of this treated sewage effluent is in fact “skiing” and ADEQ is ignoring their own laws when it allowed Snowbowl to make snow (Arizona Administrative Code: R-18-9-704).

“Despite the obvious health risks, you would have thought that respect for our Indigenous brothers and sisters would have been enough to stop this project years ago, treated sewage for snowmaking is an absolute affront to Indigenous Nations that revere the Peaks as holy and I for one choose to respect their wishes and will no longer ski at Arizona Snowbowl.” stated Rudy Preston.

Multiple protests and prayer gatherings have been held since Snowbowl opened last Thursday.

On November, 14, 2012 the Hopi Tribe filed a new lawsuit and for injunctive relief due to threats reclaimed water poses to an endangered plant that is found nowhere else in the world but on the Peaks. The Hopi Tribe requested an injunction to be placed on snowmaking activities until consultation was completed with both the US Fish and Wildlife and Department of Agriculture. The court has yet to issue a response.

The wastewater, which is treated to Flagstaff’s highest standard, has been proven to contain endocrine disrupting chemicals and now even anti-biotic resistant genes. Since the Environmental Protection Agency has no regulations addressing these contaminants in treated sewage, the Forest Service, City of Flagstaff, AZ Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), and Snowbowl continue to call it “clean enough to drink” although it would be illegal to do so.

ADEQ regulations allow A+ treated sewer water to contain fecal matter in three out of seven daily samples (R18-11-303 2a). In addition, according to Northern Arizona University biologist Dr. Paul Torrence, the treated sewage effluent may also contain antibiotics such as triclosan and triclocarban, which break down into bio-accumulating cancerous dioxins when exposed to sunlight.

For nearly a decade every environmental concern brought to the courts by Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Flagstaff Activist Network have been swept under the rug on filing technicalities and no court has ruled on the issues raised about direct reuse and ingestion. In another lawsuit by the Hopi challenging the legality of the City’s contract with

Snowbowl, Judge Joe Lodge ruled that the tribe waited too long for the court to make a ruling on clear ADEQ environmental law violations.

Download high resolution pictures here.

Protect the Peaks – Action Camp!

UPDATE! Action camp postponed! Stay tuned for new dates!

Tree-sit Halts Snowbowl Pipeline Construction

Snowbowl Employees Threaten Tree-sitter’s Life, Two Supporters Arrested as Tree-Sit Continues

Contact: Ariana Sauer (602) 388-3726
Xander Vautrin@ (847) 334-7212
protectpeaks@gmail.com
www.protectthepeaks.org

FLAGSTAFF, AZ — Tree-sitter James Kennedy watched from 80 feet above as 2 supporters, who had locked themselves to Snowbowl pipeline equipment to protect James’ “lifeline”, were arrested. At 7:00AM, Snowbowl workers began recklessly moving the line that tethers Snowbowl equipment to the tree-sit platform.

“Two supporters, Eric and Alex, have locked down on heavy construction equipment, where my lifeline is anchored,” stated James Kennedy,a student at NAU. “They did this after police and Snowbowl employees alongside Police Chief Treadway said they would attempt a dangerous relocation of my lifeline. I am NOT harnessed into the platform or tree. any movement will send me falling nearly 80ft.”

At 1:00PM both supporters were arrested by Flagstaff Police. The two community members who were arrested face trespassing charges. Donations can be made for jail support at: www.protectthepeaks.org.

At 4:00PM James started rain-proofing the tree-sit platform in preparation for his second night in the path of Snowbowl’s wastewater pipeline. “Thank you to Eric & Alex who placed readily available bicycle u-locks around their necks and connected them to Snowbowl’s pipeline trench machine. They acted quickly to prevent reckless Snowbowl workers and law enforcement officials from further threatening James’ life.” stated, Liza  Minno Bloom, a supporter on the ground at the tree-sit, “So many people have come out today offering support and have called the Flagstaff City Council urging them to ensure noone’s safety is compromised, they cannot ignore our concerns.”

A rally & march was held tonight starting at Flagstaff City Hall at 5:00 PM. Community members walked through Thorpe Park to the nearby tree-sit site to rally, drum, sing, and express support for the tree-sitter defending public health and the Peaks.

The tree-sit was initiated yesterday to block construction of pipeline that would transport 180 million gallons of sewage effluent from the City of Flagstaff to Arizona Snowbowl for snowmaking on the San Francisco Peaks. Arizona Snowbowl would be the only ski area in the world to use 100% wastewater for snowmaking. The treated sewage effleunt has been proven to contain pharmaceuticals and hormones and more recently to contain Antibacterial Resistant Genes.

The San Francisco Peaks are considered an ecological island and held holy by more than 13 Indigenous Nations.

We invite those of you who believe in the safety and health of our children, the sanctity of our environment, and the protection of public water to demand that:

– The City of Flagstaff rescind the wastewater contract with Snowbowl!
– An immediate moratorium on the City of Flagstaff’s use of treated sewage effluent in public spaces where any person may come in contact with reclaimed wastewater, until new research and technology is available to mitigate long-term environmental & community health risks.
-The use of public water in this desert climate of Flagstaff with only a projected 25-38 years of water left for people’s consumption, should be cleaned and used for people to drink, not for a private corporation to make a profit.
-President Obama fulfill campaign promises to protect human rights and sacred sites.

City of Flagstaff Mayor & Council:
PHONE: (928) 779-7600
EMAIL: council@flagstaffaz.gov

Directions & more info…

Teach-in for Protection of the San Francisco Peaks

Healthy Communities are a Human Right!:
Teach-in for Protection of the San Francisco Peaks

Panels, workshops, and small group sessions addressing:
Sacred Sites, Environmental Justice, Legal Cases, Water Issues, Legislative Action, Civil Disobedience, & more.

Join community & student activists to learn about the environmental & social justice struggle to protect the sacred San Francisco Peaks and how to get involved.

Free & open to the public. All ages welcome, limited childcare provided, wheelchair accessible.

Full program available at: www.ProtectThePeaks.org/teach-in
RSVP: protectpeaks@gmail.com

 When: Saturday, Aug. 18, 2012, 12pm-6pm

 Where: Native American Cultural Center on NAU Campus, Flagstaff, AZ.

More info: www.ProtectthePeaks.org

Full schedule coming soon!

Please consider donating for ads and/or outreach. Email: protectpeaks@gmail.com.

Printable flyers:

Read the Media Advisory here.

Save the Peaks Caravan and Rally Jan. 2012

Forest Service risks safety of children’s health by allowing sewage effluent snow on San Francisco Peaks !

Human health impacts of wastewater snowmaking to be heard at 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, CA

From: Jeneda Benally

What: COURT DATE, CARAVAN, PRESS CONFERENCE, RALLY

When: Saturday, January 7^th, 2012 Caravan launches from Flagstaff.

Monday, January 9, 2012 – Court Hearing (see schedule of events below)

Where: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal
95 Seventh Street, San Francisco, CA

Who:   The Save The Peaks Coalition

Why:   The San Francisco Peaks, a holy mountain near Flagstaff AZ, are in danger of  being used as a toxic recreation area exposing citizens to hazardous contaminants!

Citizens are fighting the United States Forest Service in a legal battle to protect children from hazardous endocrine disruptors and to protect this sacred site from desecration. On January 9th, 2012 The Save the Peaks Coalition et al vs. the United States Forest Service will be heard by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, CA. The case argues that under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, the Forest Service failed to adequately consider the impacts associated with ingestion of snow made from reclaimed sewer water in its Environmental Impact Statement.

The Forest Service approved reclaimed sewer water for the use of snowmaking at a local Northern Arizona ski resort in 2004. The reclaimed sewer water in question is from Flagstaff’s Rio de Flag Sewage Plant. Since May, the owners of Arizona Snowbowl, with the support of the  U.S. Forest Service and the Flagstaff City Council, have already laid 7 miles of a 14.8 mile wastewater pipeline and have clear-cut over 50 acres of rare alpine forest.

According to Howard Shanker, attorney for the Save the Peaks Coalition and the other plaintiffs, “The Forest Service failed to adequately consider the impacts of potential human ingestion of snow made from reclaimed sewer water as required by applicable law. Our government should not be approving such projects without some sort of understanding of the anticipated impacts. By approving treated sewage effluent for snow making without adequate analysis, the government essentially turns the ski area into a test facility with our children as the laboratory rats. That is unconscionable.” Mr. Shanker, a former congressional candidate in Arizona Congressional District 1, represented a number of tribes and environmental organizations in prior litigation over Snowbowl’s proposed expansion and threatened use of treated sewage effluent.

“It is deplorable that the United States Forest Service would allow known endocrine disruptors to come in to contact with our most vulnerable citizens, our children”, states Berta Benally, a plaintiff in the case. “At one point DDT, BPA and asbestos were all considered safe. Years later, after many people have suffered, we now sadly know that they are hazardous!”

The Save the Peaks Coalition is planning a caravan to the San Francisco Court of Appeals on January 9th. Anyone interested in participating can email savethepeakscaravan@yahoo.com.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

January 9th

7:00  AM,  Sunrise Gathering/Ceremony *Photo Opportunity*

To Be Determined, San Francisco

8:00 AM,  March to Courthouse *Photo Opportunity*

95 Seventh Street, San Francisco

9:00 AM,  Prayer Vigil at Courthouse *Photo Opportunity*

95 Seventh Street, San Francisco

More info: TrueSnow.org

(Also on Facebook)

VIDEO: Albuquerque Protest: Protect the Peaks 2011

Albuquerque Forest Service Protest, Protect the Peaks. Video by Krystal Curley, Dine’.

Silent Vigil for the San Francisco Peaks

From TrueSnow.org

August 23, 4PM – City Hall, Flagstaff, Arizona

Water is Life, Don’t sell ours to Snowbowl!

Wear tape or a cloth or something covering your mouth to show how the council has forced silence on this issue!

On Tuesday August 23 we will hold Silent Vigil in front of City Hall and subsequently in city council meeting. It is time to stop for a moment and pay our respects to the plants, trees, animals, and insects who died or lost their homes in the clear-cuts that are taking place up on the mountain at the hands of Arizona Snowbowl.

It would only take four city council members with courage and vision to end this entire treated sewage effluent fiasco forever. With their simple vote to end the contract it could put an end to anger and racism and outright desecration and begin the healing process. It would also keep 180,000,000 gallons of water a year filtering through 1200 feet of volcanic rock back into our own aquifer, instead of dumping it directly above a perched aquifer on the peaks and uphill from the Hart Prairie aquifer.

Flagstaff water for Flagstaff, don’t sell it to Snowbowl.

Please join us in the City Council meeting and let them know what their silence feels like. The council chambers can likely hold about 200 people, so come on down and help us fill the room.

Let them know that water is life, don’t sell ours to Snowbowl.

Nationwide Forest Service Protests for San Francisco Peaks Protection

San Francisco Peaks clearcutting 2011/Protect the Peaks

Nation-wide Protests Planned at Forest Service Headquarters to Halt Sacred Site Desecration on the San Francisco Peaks

We hope you can help organize a demo at the Regional Forest Service office in your area. Please let us know. We may have other supporters in your area and can connect you.

Greetings friends,

This is a call to see if anyone can organize protests at any of the 10 regional Forest Service Headquarters, including the main office in DC!

Even a few people holding banners outside FS offices would greatly help us put necessary national pressure on the Forest Service regarding the Holy San Francisco Peaks crisis, i.e. current clear-cutting and pipe-line construction in conjunction with Snowbowl ski resort’s expansion and plans to make snow with treated wastewater.

It is also important to note that some of the regional foresters have good working relationships with Indigenous Nations and so please consider this when organizing.Folks in the Flagstaff area have been very busy as Im sure you’ve heard. ( If you haven’t heard, check out truesnow.org and www.IndigenousAction.org) Not only have 26 arrests been made so far in response to out efforts to stop desecration and eco-cide of the Peaks, but harassment and bogus citations are given to Peaks campers by USFS agents on a daily basis.The goals of the protests are to:

1. To call for an immediate halt to desecration of the Holy San Francisco Peaks.

2. Call for the USDA to revoke the Special Use Permit for Arizona Snowbowl for greater public interest.

3. Draw attention and elicit comments for the U.S. Forest Service draft report outlining its policies and procedures for protecting Sacred Sites.

4. Demonstrate nationwide support for protection of the Peaks and all Sacred Places!

We can provide a template news release for media contacts in your area.

We can also provide banner templates and tips (or send banners depending on the need).

Below is a sample call out from the already planned Albuquerque, NM protest. Please email me at indigenousaction@gmail.com or protectpeaks@gmail.com if you can help organize a demonstration.

Please forward to your contacts who maybe able to help as well.For some background please visit: www.IndigenousAction.org and www.TrueSnow.org.

Here are the regions:

Southwestern Region – Albuquerque, NM (CONFIRMED!)
Northern Region – Missoula, Montana (FOLKS ORGANIZING NOW!)
Rocky Mountain Region – Golden, CO
Pacific Northwest Region – Portland, Oregon (FOLKS ORGANIZING NOW!)
Intermountain Region – Ogden, UT
Alaska Regional Office – Juneau, AK
Pacific Southwest Region – Vallejo, CA (FOLKS ORGANIZING NOW!)
Southern Region – Atlanta, GA
Eastern Region – Milwaukee, WI
US Forest Service HQ – Washington, D.C.

Direct Action to Protect Holy Peaks Continues

Klee Benally chained to escavator/by Ethan Sing

By Klee Benally – www.IndigenousAction.org

On Saturday, August 13th 2011, after a prayerful gathering on the Holy San Francisco Peaks, my friends Mary Sojourner, Rudy Preston and I were arrested by “law-enforcement” agents for standing against desecration and eco-cide caused by Arizona Snowbowl ski area.

Since June 16th, 26 arrests have been made during protests when Snowbowl started furthering desecration and eco-cide on the Holy Peaks.

As a Snowbowl hired excavator operator tore into sacred earth, plants and boulders to extend the wastewater pipeline trench further up the Holy Mountain, 40 people gathered in prayer in a meadow directly across from the excavation. At times, bulldozers and the excavator were no more than 200 feet from the gathering, so the machinery made it nearly impossible for elders to speak. The noise completely disrupted statements and prayers made by those in attendance.

Although I am not sure how it started, shortly after the prayer gathering a group of 30 people started pushing rocks and dug-up dirt into the pipeline trench. As I watched from a distance, every rock being placed back in the trench–to heal the scarring of desecration–appeared more powerful than any petition I’ve ever read.

Two Forest Service agents, who had apparently been monitoring the prayer gathering, emerged from the woods as the spontaneous action unfolded.

At that point I approached the excavator operator and stated, “Stop. You have interrupted and interfered with our prayers. You must stop.” I then chained and handcuffed myself to stop the excavator.

I was joined by more than 30 people who began chanting and singing. We sang in a way that was a continuation of our prayers. I was chained to the machine for approximately 2 hours.

Forest Service and Coconino County Sheriffs ultimately cut me out after Louise Benally, from Big Mountain, agreed that it was OK for me to do so. I was charged by a sheriff for “trespassing” and “disorderly conduct.”

How can I be “trespassing” on this site that is so sacred to me? This is my church. It is the Forest Service and Snowbowl who are violating human rights and religious freedom by desecrating this holy Mountain. Although an appeal is in the court system Snowbowl is attempting to undermine judicial process. Additionally, Snowbowl and the Forest Service are violating the 2004 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that was signed with Indigenous Nations. This MOA stipulates consultation must occur prior to any construction, this has not meaningfully occurred, if at has occurred at all. Not to mention, the Forest Service and Snowbowl are in violation of the Environmental Impact Statement, as they have followed none of the mitigation measures either. Their actions are far beyond “disorderly.”

After my arrest and release, Mary Sojourner who is a local author and activist, confronted Forest Service and Coconino County Sherrifs. She walked up to the excavator in an effort to stop pipeline construction and was immediately cuffed and put into a police van.

Mary stated, “I took action not just for the Mountain, but for my friend, Klee Benally, who I saw chained to a monstrous extractor, the pipeline trenching machine that had been ripping into the mountain and the peaceful morning air as thirty of us prayed for the Mountain; and so that older women and men would see that one doesn’t have to be young to stand up for a place and community that you love.”

Rudy Preston, local Peaks advocate, was also arrested and charged with two counts of “disorderly conduct” and “trespassing”.

Rudy offered this statement, “I feel like the world changed forever yesterday. Our actions on Nuvatukya Ovi (San Francisco Peaks in Hopi) have led to me seeing the true horrors perpetuated on the Indigenous cultures of our community every single day. Even without sewer water on the mountain, the desecration is a systematic perpetuation of genocide on local peoples for centuries and it is just as strong now as when peoples were forced onto the Longest Walk. My eyes will never again close to this injustice. And my body will not perpetuate it.
”

All that has happened in the last month was made possible by like-minded individuals taking action of all kinds. I hope that others move out of their comfort zone a bit and create actions that reflect their part in this. Not everyone can march in the streets, not everyone can lock down, not everyone has a car. But we all love the mountain and you don’t need to wait for a ‘known organizer’ to tell you what to do next.”

As I, Klee, was chained to the excavator I said, “This is not a game. This is not for show. This is not for media. This is to stop this desecration from happening.”

While construction was only stopped for just about 2 hours, it was stopped nonetheless. This is power.
This is a power that we all share. If one person, three, six, or nine, can stand in the way of machinery and say “enough,” imagine what would happen if it was every one of us who cared?

What is at stake is our prayers, our ways of life, our cultural survival. This is why this has to stop. This is why we say, ‘No desecration for recreation, protect the peaks!’

For more info, action and to donate for jail support: www.indigenousaction.org or www.truesnow.org.

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Blockade Halts Ski Resort’s Desecration of Peaks!

From TrueSnow.org

Flagstaff, AZ — August 8th, 2011. Nine people took direct action at 5:00 AM on Monday morning; blockading the ongoing destruction and desecration of the Holy San Francisco Peaks. The nine individuals directly confronted the eco-cidal actions of Arizona Snowbowl, halting their daily clear-cutting and pipeline excavation plans for eight hours. The group’s police liaison, who was attempting to ensure the safety of the demonstrators, was immediately arrested. More than 50 law enforcement officials, using industrial saws and a jack hammer to forcefully break apart the blockade.

“The action we took today is one part of a series of events with the intent to stop Snowbowl, the US Forest Service, and other corporations from further desecrating the Holy San Francisco Peaks,” stated Haley Coles after being released from jail. “The pipeline will not be tolerated. Spewed waste water turned into artificial snow will not be tolerated. Clear cuts, slash piles, and burning of hundred-year old trees will not be tolerated. The Holy mountain will be defended, and the desecration will be stopped; at whatever cost. We have the mountain on our side,” said Coles.

James Kennedy, also arrested during Monday’s blockade, stated, “Today, a small group of people decided that they had enough of wealthy investors, cultural genocide, and privileged white people who are indifferent to the destructive impacts of their recreational activities. We decided to take matters into our own hands and you can too. Whatever you feel is sacred, defend it with all your heart and take a risk, because our future generations will not forgive inaction.”

Jenna Tomasello, who was also part of the action, stated that “Almost all of our options have been exhausted. The US Supreme Court failed to protect religious freedoms of Native peoples. The Flagstaff City Council has failed to meaningfully listen to its constituents who have consistently vocalized their opposition to Arizona Snowbowl development for decades. And the US Forest Service has failed to protect the public from the environmental impacts of treated sewage effluent. It is time for more people, wherever you are, to open your eyes. Respect the land of which we are dependent on and the people that the land has been stolen from. The only choice for us is to take action against those who threaten Indigenous cultures, the environment and our future. It’s frustrating that we had to do this in order to make this point clear.” stated Tomasello.

“For those of us who have chosen to fight the colonial strongholds, we have also chosen to fight for the minds that hold this power. If harmony is to prevail, all beliefs attempting to control nature must be liberated. We belong to the Earth; the Earth does not belong to us.” stated Tom Lang, who was part of the protest.

All 10 arrested were released within hours due to strong outpouring of community support.

17 people have been arrested during the week of action to “Protect the Peaks.” 23 arrests have been made since June when 6 people locked themselves inside the pipeline trench and to Snowbowl equipment.

“This was an autonomous action planned by those who took part. It was beautiful and powerful and very responsible. They took every measure to ensure their safety. Nobody was unwillingly put in the way. A crowd was not gathered.” stated Rudy Preston, police liaison for the protesters who was also arrested. “The Civil Disobedience roadblock on Snowbowl Road was not a family event or publicized with the rest of the legal actions planned for the ‘Week of Action.'”

“Today will be a day for families, elders, youth, and all people of conscience to come out and once again speak up!” stated Preston.

Since May 25, 2011, the owners of Arizona Snowbowl, with the support of the U.S. Forest Service and the Flagstaff City Council, have laid over five miles of a 14.8 mile wastewater pipeline and have clear-cut over 40 acres of rare alpine forest. A current lawsuit against the Forest Service, focusing on human health impacts of wastewater snowmaking, is still under appeal in the 9th Circuit Court. The individuals at today’s action are separate from the Coalition involved in the lawsuit.

The San Francisco Peaks are Holy to more than 13 Indigenous Nations.

They are a place of worship, a place where deities reside, a place where offerings are made, where herbs are gathered, where emergence has occurred, and more.

Monday’s blockade to protect the Peaks joins four decades of sustained resistance to desecration of the Holy Peaks. Over the past three weeks since Snowbowl began clear-cutting, dozens of protest camps have been established on the mountain and solidarity actions have occurred in Phoenix and Los Angeles.

Demonstrators invite everyone to join them on Tuesday, August 9, at 12:30PM to protest High Desert Investment, the private company in-charge of the current clear-cutting, located at 504 E Butler Ave. Afterward, there will be a gathering at the Flagstaff City Hall at 4:00PM to continue vocalizing opposition to Snowbowl’s destruction and desecration.

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Note to editors: Video & High Resolution Photos Available Upon Request.