Letter to the editor: Time for Nation to remove NTEC CEO

To the editor:

Navajo Transitional Energy Co. has now entered their fifth month with no bonds and permits for the Wyoming and Montana mines they recently purchased. Montana and Wyoming have had to provide more extensions to NTEC to continue operating the mines.

The Navajo Nation was correct in not supporting the purchase of the northern mines. Without Navajo Nation support, it is hard for NTEC to convince the state regulators to provide them a mining permit.

CEO Clark Moseley, with the support of the board, made a bad decision based on what has happened to date.

From the beginning, the Navajo Nation leadership was skeptical of the senior managers of NTEC, especially the non-Navajos.

Three of the managers, including Clark Moseley, came to NTEC from coal companies that all failed and went into bankruptcy.

They each were all let go from their former employees. NTEC now has a former cloud peak senior manager as part of the NTEC senior management team.

There are now five NTEC senior management team members who came from bankruptcy companies of which they were all let go.

NTEC management and board of directors no longer has the trust of the Navajo people or tribal leadership. They cannot come into Window Rock and talk to tribal leadership about trust any more.

They cannot even attend public meetings with the Navajo people and ask them to trust and support them.

It is time for the Nation to remove the CEO and board of directors.

All the trust is gone between NTEC and the Navajo people. The people just see non-Navajos once again taking advantage of the Navajo people’s money and resources from mining.

It is BHP all over again, where Navajo money goes far away from the reservation.

Newly appointed board members with a new CEO can fix NTEC and bring it back to the Navajo people.

Arizona Public Service Co. Four Corners Power Plant has announced it will close the plant earlier than 2031.

APS’s decision to shut down early was partly based on NTEC moving its headquarters to Denver and Gillette, Wyoming.

Now the Nation is saying that moving NTEC headquarters could be illegal based on the operating agreement that states NTEC headquarters and managers have to be physically located on the Navajo Nation.

The small Farmington staff of NTEC is working hard to keep a positive outlook. Bitsi Fuel Mine employees at various chapter meetings have leaked how frustrated the NTEC staff is at the whole situation.

The NTEC CEO recently even changed the Navajo spokesperson, Mr. Zah, to a non-Navajo company. Erny Zh is now just heard at various pow wows and is told to state no comment.

Yours,

James White

Shiprock, New Mexico

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