9th Circuit Courts Rule: No Sewage on Sacred Land

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled the Forest Services approval of the Snowbowl Ski Resort's plan to use treated sewage effluent to make snow on the San Francisco Peaks, an area sacred to more than 13 Native American tribes, would burden the religious integrity of Native Americans who view the mountain as integral to their spiritual practices. Klee Benally, a Navajo with the Save the Peaks Coalition says the ruling is a victory for indigenous rights.

"The San Francisco Peaks are integral for the cultural survival of our people. The Peaks have deep spiritual significance for all of these nations. What this ruling means is it is restoring and its recognizing the rights that we should have as inherent to protect our sacred lands to protect our cultural identity to protect our cultural survival."

Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort would have been the first ski resort in the country to use treated waste water to make snow. Their plans, backed by the US Forest Service, included the creation of a new pond to store more than 10 million gallons of waste water to make snow as needed and the spraying 1.5 million gallons of that water on the the sacred area daily. The plan also included clear cutting over one hundred acres of pristine forest to make way for skiers. The 9th Circuit Courts struck down that plan because it violates the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act and the National Environmental Protection Act. Robert Tohe is a Navajo with the Sierra Club. He says the courts ruling was also a victory for the environmental rights of skiers and children.

"Reclaimed water once it was made into artificial snow on that mountain-the forest service and Snowbowl were unable to prove what the health effects would be on people that ingested this reclaimed water up there. Particularly with children. When children play in the snow for a large part they're unsupervised-that play at will. The Arizona Snowbowl and US Forest Service couldn't prove scientifically what the effects of ingesting that would have caused down the road."

Despite the 9th Circuit Court ruling the ski resort is urging the Department of Justice to challenge the ruling in the US Supreme Court. In a written statement, Arizona Snowbowl General Manager Eric Borowksy criticized the Native groups challenging the ski resorts plans, stating one tribe, the White Mountain Apache already use sewer water to make snow. But lead attorney in teh case Howard Shanker says the Arizona Snowbowl is fabricating facts to win a losing battle.

"Look it's just ridiculous. I've seen some of the statements they're making. The White Mountain Apache use fresh water to make snow and Sunrise Mountain is not a sacred site. Some of the other things they are saying are actually ridiculous too. They're talking about tax payer money. And here's a failing ski resort in an area of the country that doesn't get snow on federal land that's looking for the federal government to prop em up by letting them use reclaimed sewer water. So the statement made by Snowbowl are pretty disingenuous."

The Arizona Snow Bowl argued that using artificial snow was crucial to the company's economic survival. In 2002 the ski resort had only 4 days of skiing weather. But the courts ruled the lack of snow did not indicate the Snowbowl would go out of business if it were to continue as a low key ski resort and the owners were aware of the desert climate when they bought the resort in 1992. Shanker and others hope the courts ruling will pave the way for Native Americans to protect their sacred sites from development.