Flagstaff, Ariz. • The Navajo Nation will not financially back bonds a tribal energy company needs for a trio of newly acquired coal mines off the reservation, the tribal president said Tuesday, explaining that it’s too risky and his administration wants the company to move away from coal.
The Navajo Transitional Energy Co. recently bought Montana's largest coal mine and two mines in Wyoming at auction after Cloud Peak Energy declared bankruptcy.
The mines can keep operating for now because more than $370 million in reclamation bonds posted by Cloud Peak remain in place, state officials said.