FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) — The Navajo Nation Council has approved a measure that would let disputes over a northwestern New Mexico coal mine that's being bought on behalf of the tribe be settled in state courts rather than tribal courts.
The council voted 17-5 in favor of the measure during a special session Friday in Window Rock, Ariz.
The Farmington Daily Times reports that a number of tribal delegates, attorneys and risk management experts met for about an hour in executive session before the vote.
Zurich American Insurance Company had asked the tribe to waive its sovereign immunity and settle any arbitration in New Mexico and Arizona courts before it and another company issue $500 million in bonds and insurances to a tribal company set up to purchase the mine.