Federal judge denies a request by two Arizona tribes to block work on SunZia power line
Arizona Republic
by Hayleigh Evans
April 17, 2024
A federal judge has denied two Arizona tribes’ request for an injunction to halt construction on the SunZia power transmission line through the San Pedro River Valley.
The Tohono O’odham Nation and San Carlos Apache Tribe, with Archaeology Southwest and the Center for Biological Diversity, filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management over the agency’s approval of Pattern Energy’s route through the valley.
The court in Tucson ruled that the tribes waited too long to file an injunction and concluded that the BLM had complied with the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires identification of historic properties and efforts to mitigate impacts to those sites.
“Our goal is not only to protect our ancestral cultural history and the San Pedro River Valley’s pristine environment, but to also ensure the federal government is held accountable for its actions in violation of laws designed specifically to protect sacred lands,” Jose said in a written statement. “This is far too important of an issue to be deterred by this ruling,” he added. “The United States’ renewable energy policy that includes destroying sacred and undeveloped landscapes is fundamentally wrong and must stop.”