The state Attorney General’s Office and the New Mexico Environment Department have stepped into the legal fray over the proposed Desert Rock Energy Project in northwest New Mexico, asking the federal government to take all the time it needs to answer the complex environmental questions surrounding the $3 billion plant.



Sithe Global Energy and the Navajo Nation, which are partners in the $3 billion coal-fired power plant, earlier had sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over how long it’s taken the EPA to approve an air permit for Desert Rock. In recent weeks the EPA has said it will decide on the permit by July 31 as part of a proposed settlement of the lawsuit, according to a statement Thursday by Attorney General Gary King.



Whoa there, King is telling the EPA. "New Mexico cannot afford to sit idly by as attempts are being made to skirt the legal requirements for a new coal-fired power plant to be built in the state," the attorney general said.



The two New Mexico agencies filed paperwork Thursday in U.S. District Court in Houston to intervene in the case. That essentially gives New Mexico a seat at the table in the lawsuit between the EPA and the Desert Rock partners, said Attorney General’s Office spokesman Phil Sisneros.



The two New Mexico agencies say that if the EPA approves the Clean Air Act permit by July 31, it would violate other important environmental laws such as the Endangered Species Act. The EPA still hasn’t started its formal consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on whether the 1,500-megawatt plant, which is expected to emit thousands of tons of air pollutants and require vast amounts of water, would affect endangered plants and animals in the Four Corners region.



"This permitting process is truly putting the cart before the horse," King said in the release. "We believe there are a number of regulatory issues that need to be addressed by the EPA before it can make a decision on this permit."



In addition to the endangered species work, King said, the plant’s carbon dioxide pollutant levels must be determined, it must comply with new federal standards for ozone pollution must be met and certain standards for hazardous air pollutants have yet to be addressed by the EPA.



If the EPA does approve the air quality permit by July 31, the state will appeal, Sisneros said today. "You can bet we’ll explore all legal remedies," he added.