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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/02/federal-court-rules-for-lithium-mining.html">bsnorrell.blogspot.com</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Federal Court Rules for Lithium Mining on Paiute Massacre Site at Thacker Pass</h1>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">February 8, 2023<br></div>
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<table class="gmail-moz-reader-wide-table"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYWeLfymhqhy_VIMVN3yhLOe9Y01hwFoBPo97AfGxjCnyXxf6VgV-RH2vUm9dHz8AHnksc9DSN_7_qVB3wusRCa0mgvCj8Wlc8S1Hylc1dVCBmxl6G2vdzvVlZDij1XEc0ne92K_wLkze5giKWZhSYv-V6HEzIf6CJl8l0xnY4Pf6qvDi8JAI5yVVAA/s660/407345620%20(1).jpg"><span><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtYWeLfymhqhy_VIMVN3yhLOe9Y01hwFoBPo97AfGxjCnyXxf6VgV-RH2vUm9dHz8AHnksc9DSN_7_qVB3wusRCa0mgvCj8Wlc8S1Hylc1dVCBmxl6G2vdzvVlZDij1XEc0ne92K_wLkze5giKWZhSYv-V6HEzIf6CJl8l0xnY4Pf6qvDi8JAI5yVVAA/w640-h334/407345620%20(1).jpg" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="397" height="208"></span></a></td></tr><tr><td><span> Photo credit Lithium Americas at Thacker Pass. The company is based in Vancouver, Canada<p>Attorney
Max Wilbert said, "Monday's news from the Thacker Pass court case was
bad. There is no sugarcoating that. Some statements are circulating that
interpret the court decision as favorable. That is wrong; at this very
moment, Lithium Nevada is mobilizing trucks and heavy equipment to
Thacker Pass to begin destroying the land. The judge's decision
essentially clears the legal path for Lithium Nevada to begin full-scale
construction over the next few months."</p></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span></span></p><table class="gmail-moz-reader-wide-table"><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTH3-t9npvTzY6rM7eEmGWWdCHI4kUOb1dOQ1DcNibMl58DqM2NoQUHYFzq0i7rmAWT04n6B31dpM0gJyyLeHu-P2dyf403qaIS609s02yW0gmlLWXYk3uCNUvjE7v-L3oOt8RCA-O1mlXmg3RqINRZZ3lYF6x41Swf2qck8j5KKjTi9_skMYx-6wPpA/s760/Screenshot%202023-02-08%208.58.14%20AM.png"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTH3-t9npvTzY6rM7eEmGWWdCHI4kUOb1dOQ1DcNibMl58DqM2NoQUHYFzq0i7rmAWT04n6B31dpM0gJyyLeHu-P2dyf403qaIS609s02yW0gmlLWXYk3uCNUvjE7v-L3oOt8RCA-O1mlXmg3RqINRZZ3lYF6x41Swf2qck8j5KKjTi9_skMYx-6wPpA/w640-h400/Screenshot%202023-02-08%208.58.14%20AM.png" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="397" height="248"></a></td></tr><tr><td><span>Protest of Lithium Americas planned mine outside federal court in Reno in January.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br><p></p><p><span><b>Federal Court Rules for Lithium Mining on Paiute Massacre Site at Thacker Pass</b></span></p><p><span><i>“We
have expected this decision for some time,” said Arlan Melendez,
Chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. “This does not mean
consultation was done correctly and it does not mean this fight is over.
We will be continuing to advocate for this sacred site.”</i></span><br></p><div><p><b>By Reno-Sparks Indian Colony<br>Contacts: Bethany Sam, Will Falk, Max Wilbert<br>Censored News</b><span face="Open Sans, Arial, sans-serif"><span><i><br></i></span></span></p><div><p><span face="Open Sans, Arial, sans-serif"><span><i><br></i></span></span><span>RENO,
Nevada — On Monday, Judge Miranda Du issued her decision in the
consolidated Thacker Pass court cases including Case No.
3:21-cv-00080-MMD-CLB, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and Burns Paiute
Tribe lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management.</span></p><p><span>Judge
Du ruled against the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and all the other
plaintiffs except on one, limited argument. She found that the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) did not determine whether or not Lithium Nevada
possesses valid mineral rights for 1,300 of the 18,000 acres that the
mine would cover. The judge is allowing the rest of the mine to proceed
while BLM determines whether Lithium Nevada possesses those rights.</span></p><p><span>“We
have expected this decision for some time,” said Arlan Melendez,
Chairman of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony. “This does not mean
consultation was done correctly and it does not mean this fight is over.
We will be continuing to advocate for this sacred site.”</span></p><p><span>The
Reno-Sparks Indian Colony attorney Will Falk said in a statement, “Law
is a limited tactic – especially in public lands mining cases where the
law presumes corporations have a right to mine. If we’re going to truly
protect Thacker Pass, we’re going to have to do more than file lawsuits
and litigate in court. We cannot rely on the government or a judge to
protect Thacker Pass. We’ll have to do it ourselves.”</span></p><p><span>Falk is the co-founder of Protect Thacker Pass, which led a protest camp on the site for much of 2021.</span></p><p><span>Thacker
Pass, known as Peehee Mu’huh in Paiute, is a sacred site to regional
tribes whose ancestors lived in the area for thousands of years, and
were massacred there on at least </span><a href="https://www.protectthackerpass.org/former-national-park-superintendent-striking-similarities-between-thacker-pass-and-sand-creek-massacre-sites/">two occasions</a><span>.
It’s also critical habitat for wildlife including pronghorn, Greater
sage-grouse, golden eagles, mule deer, and an endangered snail species,
the King’s River Pyrg.</span></p><p><span>Lithium Nevada claims that its
lithium mine will be essential to producing batteries for combating
global warming, and the Biden administration has previously indicated
some support for Thacker Pass. Opponents of the project have called this
“</span><a href="https://www.sierranevadaally.org/2021/01/25/green-lithium-mining-is-a-bright-green-lie-dispatches-from-thacker-pass/">greenwashing</a><span>,”
arguing that the project would harm important wildlife habitat and
create significant pollution. They say that electric cars are still
harmful to the planet.</span></p></div><div><p><span><b><i>We’re twice
as committed now as we were when this fight began. Lithium Nevada,
General Motors, and the rest of their partners have long since lost any
pretense of moral high ground on sustainability and human rights issues</i></b></span></p><div><p><span><br><b>By Protect Thacker Pass</b></span></p><p><span><span></span></span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSIkCzo6wf_AjgSM3trUOthw5ovTu21IkzbpZz5Q_ny3m-xm-G233OaJfmkVma1z_8B77xVGQ15inmA9OOQ8kofr4hr8nujaIJ6lTup7dHmY1EYlmAuR8NPJeTWEqHDvMgUSfy4E0uldjTM23k1estG87VnxW88NkFqTBvL6VC4jr66ayDlIV6Utnng/s748/Screenshot%202023-02-08%208.57.23%20AM.png"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSIkCzo6wf_AjgSM3trUOthw5ovTu21IkzbpZz5Q_ny3m-xm-G233OaJfmkVma1z_8B77xVGQ15inmA9OOQ8kofr4hr8nujaIJ6lTup7dHmY1EYlmAuR8NPJeTWEqHDvMgUSfy4E0uldjTM23k1estG87VnxW88NkFqTBvL6VC4jr66ayDlIV6Utnng/w640-h452/Screenshot%202023-02-08%208.57.23%20AM.png" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="397" height="281"></a></p><p><span>This
court decision doesn’t mean the Thacker Pass mine is sustainable, just,
or righteous. Those issues were not heard in court. This decision means
only one thing: that federal law is stacked in favor of corporations,
against the planet, and against tribes and communities.</span></p><p><span><br>This
is nothing new. We live in an unsustainable nation with a foundation of
corporate power, land theft, and the destruction of nature. The legal
system makes it essentially impossible for the Federal Government to say
no to mining companies — even when local communities, tribes, and
regulatory agencies have major concerns.<br><br>This is
only a temporary defeat. We’re twice as committed now as we were when
this fight began. Lithium Nevada, General Motors, and the rest of their
partners have long since lost any pretense of moral high ground on
sustainability and human rights issues. Only when this is over will they
realize how big of a mistake they have made.</span></p></div><p><span><b>Full court decision<br><a href="https://www.protectthackerpass.org/judge-du-publishes-decision-in-thacker-pass-court-case/">https://www.protectthackerpass.org/judge-du-publishes-decision-in-thacker-pass-court-case/</a></b></span></p></div></div><p><span><b>Read more:</b></span></p><p><span>Yahoo Finance reports:</span></p><p><span><i>The
Federal Court rejected arguments that the Project will cause
unnecessary and undue degradation to the local sage grouse population
and habitat, groundwater aquifers and air quality; that the BLM failed
to adequately assess the Project’s impacts on air quality, wildlife and
groundwater; that the BLM failed to adequately consider the Project’s
impacts to culturally or religiously significant areas; and that BLM
acted unreasonably or in bad faith in identifying tribes for
consultation before approving the Project.</i></span></p><p><i>The
remand issued by Federal Court to the BLM is to determine whether the
Company possesses adequate mining-claim rights to the lands over the
area in which the waste storage and tailings are expected to be located,
based on an appellate decision that was issued after the BLM issued its
ROD for Thacker Pass.</i></p><p><i><a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lithium-americas-receives-favorable-ruling-113000989.html">https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lithium-americas-receives-favorable-ruling-113000989.html</a></i></p><p></p><p><span><i>Electrek reports:</i></span></p><div><p><span><i><br>A US district court judge <a href="https://www.lithiumamericas.com/news/lithium-americas-receives-favorable-ruling-on-record-of-decision-for-thacker-pass">has upheld</a>
the federal government’s decision to approve the Thacker Pass lithium
mine – North America’s largest known lithium source – after a permit
issued in 2020 faced legal challenges.</i></span></p><p><i>Lithium is a
key component in lithium-ion batteries, which are commonly used to power
EVs and renewables. Thacker Pass’s developer, <a href="https://www.lithiumamericas.com/usa/thacker-pass/">Lithium Americas</a>, will likely start heavy construction this summer. It’s expected to last for around three years.</i></p><p><i>Conservationists,
Indigenous communities, and a local rancher challenged the federal
approval of Thacker Pass, arguing that the government failed to analyze
the mine’s environmental impacts and did not thoroughly consult
Indigenous groups. </i></p><p></p></div>
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</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://electrek.co/2023/02/07/north-america-largest-lithium-mine/">https://electrek.co/2023/02/07/north-america-largest-lithium-mine/</a></div>
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