Judge blocks Arizona lithium drilling that tribe says is threat to sacred lands

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 Hualapai Tribe. They accuse the U.S. Bureau of Land Management of illegally approving drilling planned by an Australian mining company in the Big Sandy River Basin 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, Arizona Lithium Ltd. and the bureau at a hearing in Phoenix 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 yesterday [Macau time.

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 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, among other things. MDT/AP