AP – Conservationists and a Native American tribe are suing the United States (US) to try to block a Nevada lithium mine they say will drive an endangered desert wildflower to extinction, disrupt groundwater flows and threaten cultural resources.
The Centre for Biological Diversity promised the court battle a week ago when the US Interior Department approved Ioneer Ltd’s Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron mine at the only place Tiehm’s buckwheat is known to exist in the world, near the California line halfway between Reno and Las Vegas.
It is the latest in a series of legal fights over projects President Joe Biden’s administration is pushing under his clean energy agenda intended to cut reliance on fossil fuels, in part by increasing the production of lithium to make electric vehicle batteries and solar panels.
The new lawsuit says the Interior Department’s approval of the mine marks a dramatic about-face by US wildlife experts who warned nearly two years ago that Tiehm’s buckwheat was “in danger of extinction now” when they listed it as an endangered species in December 2022.
“One cannot save the planet from climate change while simultaneously destroying biodiversity,” said director of the Western Shoshone Defense Project Fermina Stevens, which joined the centre in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Reno.
“The use of minerals, whether for EVs or solar panels, does not justify this disregard for Indigenous cultural areas and keystone environmental laws,” said director of the Great Basin Resource Watch John Hadder, another co-plaintiff.
Spokeswoman for Interior’s Bureau of Land Management in Reno Rita Henderson said on Friday the agency had no immediate comment.
Ioneer Vice President Chad Yeftich said the Australia-based mining company intends to intervene on behalf of the US and “vigorously defend” approval of the project, “which was based on its careful and thorough permitting process”.
“We are confident that the BLM will prevail,” Yeftich said. He added that he doesn’t expect the lawsuit will postpone plans to begin construction next year.
The lawsuit said the mine will harm sites sacred to the Western Shoshone people. That includes Cave Spring, a natural spring less than 1.6 kilometres away described as “a site of intergenerational transmission of cultural and spiritual knowledge”.
