A proposed hydrogen pipeline that could stretch over 200 miles and cross through Navajo Nation territory is drawing scrutiny from skeptics and at least one Navajo advocacy group.
Jessica Keetso, of environmental advocacy group Tó Nizhóní Áni, expressed opposition to the pipeline during a panel discussion at an environmental journalism conference in Tempe, Arizona, according to the Arizona Republic.
“We don’t want this in our community. It’s not welcome,” Keetso said of the pipeline, planned by Tallgrass Energy to move hydrogen between Shiprock, New Mexico, to north of Flagstaff, Arizona. The pipeline would parallel an existing Navajo-owned natural gas pipeline that passes through 13 communities, the newspaper reported.
Tallgrass Energy intends to turn a closed coal-fired power plant near the Navajo Nation into a plant that would either make hydrogen or transport it, along with a facility in Farmington, New Mexico, intended to capture carbon dioxide.
The project is part of the Western Interstate Hydrogen Hub, a regional network of hydrogen facilities that did not make the final list of regional hubs chosen for $7 billion in federal funding.