History of Farmington, New Mexico
Farmington (Navajo language|Navajo: Tótah) is a city in San Juan County, New Mexico|San Juan County, New Mexico, United States. It is the principal city of the Farmington, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is a hub for much of northwestern New Mexico and the Four Corners (United States)|Four Corners region. As of the United States Census, 2000|2000 census, the city had a total population of 37,844. Farmington is located at the junction of the San Juan River|San Juan, Animas River|Animas, and La Plata rivers, on the Colorado Plateau in the northwest part of the San Juan Basin.
Primary industries are natural gas, coal, and oil. Major coal mines are operated by BHP Billiton 25 to 30 km (15 to 19 miles) southwest of Farmington, and the coal is used for nearby electric power generation at the Four Corners Power Plant. A new coal-fired electric power-generating plant has been proposed in 2006 for the same area. The site for the proposed plant, part of the Desert Rock Energy Project of Sithe Global Power, LLC, also is within land of the Navajo Nation. Environmental effects of such plants have been controversial, in part because of possible effects on air-quality; because the plant is proposed for Navajo Nation land, environmental problems are being considered by both the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In the spring of 2007, the Bureau of Indian Affairs issued a draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Desert Rock Energy Project, and controversies about possible environmental effects of the proposed plant continued (http://www.desert-rock-blog.com/).
The site of a 1967 underground nuclear test called "Gasbuggy", part of Operation Plowshare, was in the Carson National Forest about 50 miles (80 km) east of Farmington and about 25 miles (40 km) south of Dulce, New Mexico; the test was an attempt to fracture rock so as to facilitate gas extraction.
The Navajo Nation (reservation) is just W and SW of Farmington, The Ute Mountain Indian Reservation is to the NW, and the Southern Ute Indian Reservation is to the NE. Historic Native American sites are close by. Aztec Ruins National Monument and Salmon Ruins are ancient pueblo sites short distances northeast and east of Farmington. Mesa Verde National Park is about 40 miles (64 km) to the NW, and Chaco Culture National Historical Park is about 50 miles (80 km) to the SE. The city has been a target of several civil rights investigations, including the 2005 report, The Farmington Report: Civil Rights for Native Americans 30 Years Later.[http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/122705_FarmingtonReport.pdf]
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