Hopi Federal Judge First to Halt Desecration from Lithium Drilling

Federal Judge Diane Humetewa, Hopi, is First to Halt Interior Sec. Deb Haaland's Lithium Drilling Permits in Native Ceremonial Places

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Sept. 18, 2024

Federal Judge Diane Humetewa, Hopi, is the first federal judge to halt the lithium permits being given out by Interior Sec. Deb Haaland. Humetewa granted a temporary restraining order halting an Australian company's lithium drilling at Hualapai's Sacred Spring.

Now, U.S. District Judge Humetewa will rule on whether to make it permanent. Humetewa is the first to ask attorneys to submit arguments concerning the federal laws that protect historic and archaeological sites and the environment.

Judge Humetewa 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.

Biden's Justice Dept attorneys joined the drillers in court to argue for the drilling to proceed.

And the Navajo Transitional Energy Company, a tribal enterprise in Farmington, NM, plans to do the drilling. CEO Vern Lund has joined the board of the Australian-owned company Hawkstone/Arizona Lithium of Perth, Australia.

In a separate case, the Tohono O'odham and San Carlos Apache have filed a lawsuit against Interior Sec. Haaland for the bulldozers now destroying ancient village sites, burial places and medicine grounds in southern Arizona. A Tucson federal judge refused to halt the destruction by the SunZia Transmission Lines, for a wind energy project that plans to take electricity from New Mexico to California. The wind energy company, Patten Energy, is owned by the Canadian Pension Fund.

The lithium drilling continues at the Paiute Massacre Site in northern Nevada by the Canadian-owned Lithium Americas/Lithium Nevada. Paiute and Shoshone elderly and mothers have been charged in a court case for defending the grounds where their ancestors remain. Haaland said she supports the lithium mining.

Apache Stronghold filed a case before the U.S. Supreme Court this week, to halt the planned destruction of their ceremonial place, Oak Flat in Arizona, targeted for a massive copper mine by Australia's Rio Tinto and BHP, and pushed by the Biden administration. Rio Tinto already blew up 46,000 years of sacred Aboriginal teachings in caves in Australia. Rio Tinto was forced to admit widespread sexual attacks in its mines, with the highest number in Australia and South Africa.

Arizona tribe fights to stop lithium drilling on culturally significant lands

ASSOCIATED PRESS | Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024 6:04 p.m.

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 supporters appeared 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 gathered outside the courthouse before the hearing.

Duane Clark, chairman of the Hualapai Tribe, said the fight to protect the tribe’s ceremonial waters is about ensuring a future for his people.

“As we look to our future, we look to our past, to our ancestors, and this is the biggest threat that is harming us right now,” Clark said before walking into the courthouse. If drilling continues, he said, future generations will suffer.

Continue reading:

https://triblive.com/news/world/arizona-tribe-fights-to-stop-lithium-drilling-on-culturally-significant-lands/