Arizona tribe fights to stop lithium drilling on culturally significant lands
A Native American tribe is trying to persuade a U.S. judge to extend a temporary ban on exploratory drilling for a lithium project in Arizona
PHOENIX — Members of an Arizona tribe are trying to persuade a federal judge to extend a temporary ban on exploratory drilling for a lithium project near lands they have used for religious and cultural ceremonies for centuries.
Leaders of the Hualapai Tribe and others are scheduled to testify Tuesday in U.S. District Court before the judge who issued a temporary restraining order last month for work at a site halfway between Phoenix and Las Vegas. Demonstrators are expected to gather outside the courthouse before the hearing.
The case is among the latest legal fights pitting Native American tribes and environmentalists against President Joe Biden’s administration as green energy projects encroach on lands that are culturally significant.
The tribe wants the judge to issue a preliminary injunction extending the prohibition on activity pending a trial on allegations that the federal Bureau of Land Management failed to adequately analyze potential impacts to sacred springs that the Hualapai people call Ha’Kamwe,′ which means warm spring.
The springs have served as a place of healing and prayer for generations, the tribe has said in court filings.
Lawyers for Arizona Lithium Ltd. have argued that the tribe’s claims are speculative and that both the federal government and the mining company have presented evidence that lithium exploration is “a significant public interest as the nation strives to address climate change.”
Arizona Lithium has plans for 131 drilling sites across nearly a square mile (2.6 square kilometers) to obtain samples. The work will help them determine if there’s
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