#Lithium drilling project temporarily blocked on sacred #TribalLands in #Arizona

The case is among the latest legal fights to pit #NativeAmerican tribes and #environmentalists against President Joe #Biden’s administration.

By Scott Sonner, Associated Press

"A federal judge has temporarily blocked exploratory drilling for a lithium project in Arizona that tribal leaders say will harm land they have used for religious and cultural ceremonies for centuries.

"Lawyers for the national environmental group #Earthjustice and Colorado-based Western Mining Action Project are suing federal land managers on behalf of the #HualapaiTribe. They accuse the U.S. Bureau of Land Management of illegally approving drilling planned by an Australian mining company in the #BigSandyRiverBasin in northwestern Arizona, about halfway between Phoenix and Las Vegas.

"The case is among the latest legal fights to pit Native American tribes and environmentalists against President Joe Biden’s administration as green energy projects encroach on lands that are culturally significant.

"U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa granted a temporary restraining order late Monday, according to court documents. Humetewa is suspending the operation until she can hear initial arguments from the tribe, #ArizonaLithium Ltd., and the bureau at a hearing in #PhoenixArizona on Sept. 17.

"The tribe wants the judge to issue a preliminary injunction extending the prohibition on activity at the site pending trial on allegations that federal approval of the exploratory drilling violated the National Historic Preservation Act and National #Environmental Policy Act.

"'Like other tribal nations who for centuries have stewarded the lands across this country, the #Hualapai people are under siege by #mining interests trying to make a buck off destroying their cultural heritage,' Earthjustice lawyer Laura Berglan said in a statement Wednesday.

"The tribe says in court documents that the bureau failed to adequately analyze potential impacts to sacred springs the Hualapai people call Ha'Kamwe,' which means warm spring. The springs have served as a place 'for healing and prayer' for generations.

"The tribe and environmental groups also argue that a 2002 environmental review by the bureau and the U.S. Energy Department determined that the land was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places as a traditional cultural property.

"Arizona Lithium plans a total of 131 drilling sites across nearly a square mile (2.6 square kilometers) to obtain samples to help determine if there's enough lithium to construct a mine and extract the critical mineral needed to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles [#EVs], among other things."

Read more:
https://news.azpm.org/p/news-topical-nature/2024/8/21/221500-lithium-drilling-project-temporarily-blocked-on-sacred-tribal-lands-in-arizona/

#ProtectTheSacred #WaterIsLife #HaKamwe #SacredSite #CulturalGenocide
#EnvironmentalRacism
#NoMiningWithoutConsent
#LithiumMining #NoLithiumMining
#EarthJustice #BigSandyRiver
#WesternMiningActionProject #CorporateColonialism

BREAKING NEWS! Federal Judge Halts #Haaland's Runaway Train of Destruction of #NativeAmerican #SacredPlaces in #Arizona

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, August 21, 2024

"In a bizarre twist, attorneys for the U.S. government said an Australian company has to drill into #Hualapai's Ceremonial Place because it is necessary for '#GreenEnergy transition.' A federal judge ruled otherwise and halted the drilling for #lithium with a temporary restraining order.

"The head of a #Navajo tribal enterprise had already rushed in and agreed to head up the drilling into the sacred. On Monday, Hualapai defenders began an encampment to protect their sacred land and water.

"U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa granted a temporary restraining order, and became the first judge to halt Biden and Haaland's runaway train of destruction, which includes granting mining permits at Native sacred places for lithium, and bulldozing Native historic villages and burial sites for #WindEnergy -- in violation of federal laws.

[...]

"In the usual scam of environmental impact statements, the U.S. government claimed the drilling would have 'no significant impact' on Hualapai's Ceremonial Place and the Sacred Spring. #Biden's Interior Department, headed by #DebHaaland, and her BLM issued the drilling permit to Australia's #HawkstoneEnergy, now calling itself #ArizonaLithium.

"The #HualapaiTribe is seeking a preliminary injunction to prohibit the drilling, pointing out that it violates the National Historic Preservation Act and National #Environmental Policy Act.

"The Ha’Kamwe' springs are on Hualapai land known as Cholla Canyon. There is archaeological evidence of the tribe’s presence there dating to 600 A.D.

“Today our people celebrate the granting of the temporary restraining order, but understand our fight is not over,” Hualapai Tribe Chairman Duane Clarke said in a statement Wednesday. “We will continue to bring awareness to the protection of our water.”
Ha'Kam'we Springs

"Meanwhile, Haaland is also being sued by the Tohono O'odham and San Carlos Apache Nations for destruction of their ancient village sites, medicine gathering areas, and burial places in the San Pedro Valley in southern Arizona.
Bulldozers for #SunZia transmission lines are destroying sacred and historic sites in violation of federal laws. A Tucson federal judge refused to halt the destruction. Pattern Energy plans to take wind energy from New Mexico to California.

"In the ongoing fake green energy transition, the Navajo Transitional Energy Company signed an agreement with the Australian lithium company to head the drilling operation."

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/08/judge-halts-haalands-runaway-train-of.html

#WaterIsLife #HaKamwe #WaterIsLife #SacredSite #ProtectTheSacred #CulturalGenocide #EnvironmentalRacism #NoMiningWithoutConsent #LithiumMining #NoLithiumMining #EarthJustice #BigSandyRiver #WesternMiningActionProject