Royalties Ruling Mixed For Navajos

Onderwerp:            Royalties Ruling Mixed For Navajos
     Datum:            Thu, 10 Feb 2000 17:47:08
       Van:            KOLA <kolahq@skynet.be>
       Aan:            (Recipient list suppressed)

<+>=<+>KOLA Newslist<+>=<+>
[article provided by JH. Thanks!]

Royalties Ruling Mixed For NavajosBy William Claiborne
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 9, 2000; Page A10

CHICAGO, Feb. 8—A federal judge dismissed a $600 million mining royalties
claim against the Interior Department but sharply criticized a former Reagan
administration Cabinet member for secretly siding with the world's largest
private coal producer in a dispute with the Navajo Indian nation.
   .S. Court of Claims Judge Lawrence M. Baskir said that although federal
law did not explicitly require then-Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel to
act in the Navajos' best interests, the Interior Department had "violated
the most fundamental fiduciary duties of care, loyalty and candor" in
dealing with the Indians in their dispute with Peabody Western Coal Co.
   The Navajos' principal claim of breach of trust was upheld, but their
attempt to obtain monetary relief from the federal government was rejected.
The tribe still has a companion lawsuit pending against Peabody.
Navajo Nation President Kelsey A. Begaye said today that the tribe was
pleased with the "factual findings" in the case but disappointed that Baskir
ruled the court does not have jurisdiction to award damages. He said the
tribe is considering filing an appeal.
    In their 1993 lawsuit, the Navajos accused Hodel of derailing a decision
by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to increase the tribe's royalty rate
on Peabody coal mining operations in northeastern Arizona from an effective
rate of 2 percent of the coal's value to 20 percent. The lawsuit contended
that Interior's intent was to let Peabody negotiate directly with the tribe
for a royalty rate of 12.5 percent.
   The court found that in 1985 Hodel met privately with Stanley Hulett, a
Peabody lobbyist and former Interior official, after which Hodel ordered
subordinates to block a decision on the 20 percent royalty rate and send
tribal officials back into negotiations with Peabody without knowing about
the earlier BIA decision. Hulett was described in court papers as being a
"close friend and later business associate" of Hodel.
   In a 26-page opinion issued in Washington late Friday, Baskir said there
is "no plausible defense for a fiduciary [Hodel] to meet secretly with
parties having interests adverse to those of the trust beneficiary . . . and
then mislead the beneficiary concerning these events."
   Such private meetings, the judge held, "betray the public trust."
Nonetheless, the Navajos had been unable to cite any federal law that would
require compensation for the government's "fiduciary wrongs," Baskir said.
Hodel, who served as interior secretary and as energy secretary in the
Reagan administration and later headed the Christian Coalition, lives in
Silverthorne, Colo. A spokesman, Joel Vaughan, said Hodel "remains convinced
the department conducted itself properly at all times."

<+>=<+>
KOLA Information: http://users.skynet.be/kola/index.htm
KOLA Petitions: http://kola-hq.hypermart.net
KOLA Greeting Cards: http://users.skynet.be/kola/cards.htm
<+>=<+>
if you want to be removed from the KOLA
Email Newslist, just send us a message with
"unsub" in the subject or text body
<+>=<+>