Photos: Among Navajo, concern mounts over coal mine and power plant pollution

Navajo reservation resident Cynthia Dixon outside her trailer home in Fruitland, N.M., looking toward a coal mine in the distance. Residents in the area, including Dixon, blame the pollution from the mine and nearby power plants for health problems. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Dec. 15, 2014 6 AM PT

Nobody knows for sure whether the Four Corners power plant or the San Juan Generating Station are making people sick, but their presence continues to divide tribal members on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico.

Navajo farmer Joe Allen waters a flower at a relative’s grave. Access to the family cemetery had been blocked by Four Corners plant officials, and Allen threatened to ram the gate with his truck before security guards allowed him through. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

A security guard from the Four Corners Power plant in Fruitland, N.M., and Navajo farmer Joe Allen argue about a gate blocking access to a family cemetery. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Navajo activist Sarah White, 65, uses an inhaler. White is convinced that pollution from the Four Corners plant is ruining her health: “I can just imagine what I’m breathing in.” (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Rosalyn Dixon, left, her aunt Cynthia Dixon and activist Sarah White. Navajo officials say the coal mine and Four Corners power plant in Fruitland, N.M., help the Navajo economy, but residents say the facilities are harmful to their health and crops. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

A crane lifts coal and dirt at the coal mine in Fruitland, N.M. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Navajo resident Joe Allen walks to a small family cemetery as dust rises from a coal mine in the distance. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Cynthia Dixon in her trailer in Fruitland, N.M. Dixon often finds a layer of black dust coating the inside of her home, and says she has trouble breathing because of the soot in the air. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)