"US judge unlikely to rule until next week as Arizona tribe fights to extend ban on lithium drilling", 18 September 2024

Members of an Arizona tribe urged a federal judge Tuesday to extend a temporary ban on exploratory drilling for a lithium project near lands they have used for religious and cultural ceremonies for centuries.

An executive for the Australian mining company that is trying to determine whether there is enough lithium to justify a commercial operation to help expedite production of renewable energy resources testified that every day of delay is costing it money.

The judge indicated she wouldn’t decide for more than a week whether to grant the tribe’s request or lift a temporary restraining order she issued last month.

The Hualapai Tribe says the energy exploration will harm lands it has used for ceremonies for centuries about halfway between Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Arizona Attorney General... shares the tribe’s concerns that federal land managers who approved the project didn’t adequately consider how the groundwater could be affected.

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...

During a daylong hearing in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, Justice Department lawyers defended the Bureau of Land Management’s approval of the drilling near Wikieup, Arizona, about 150 miles (241 kilometers) southwest of the Grand Canyon...

U.S. District Judge ... said at the close of Tuesday’s hearing that she was taking the case under advisement. She gave lawyers on both sides until next Tuesday to summarize their arguments and more specifically respond to questions she asked about the government’s compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

The tribe wants the judge to issue a preliminary injunction extending the prohibition on activity pending a trial on allegations the government failed to adequately analyze potential impacts to sacred springs that the Hualapai people call Ha’Kamwe,′ which means warm spring.

Lawyers for Arizona Lithium 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.”...