In a Major Win for Hualapai Tribe, Judge Extends Drilling Freeze

A federal judge yesterday decided to extend a temporary pause on harmful drilling for the duration of the Hualapai Tribe’s legal case challenging federal approval of the Sandy Valley Lithium Exploration Project. The Tribe won a temporary restraining order when it sued the Interior Department and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for wrongfully approving a plan that could permanently damage its lands and waters, including the sacred hot spring of Ha’Kamwe’.

“I feel a huge sense of relief today, but we know this is not the end of the story,” said Chairman Duane Clarke of the Hualapai Tribe. “Our people have used Ha’Kamwe’ for centuries for healing, prayer, and rites of passage. We are absolutely determined to protect our sacred waters and our way of life from those who would destroy it to enrich themselves.”

The Hualapai Tribe has voiced its concerns to environmental agencies since 2019, when an Australian company Hawkstone Mining began exploration activities in the area. The company’s local subsidiary, Arizona Lithium, now proposes to drill more than 100 holes reaching depths of 360 feet into the aquifer that feeds Ha’Kamwe’.

“We’re glad the court rejected BLM’s 19th century mindset, that the company gets whatever they want at the expense of Indigenous communities,” said Laura Berglan, Senior Attorney for Earthjustice. “BLM should have considered alternatives with less impact on Ha’Kamwe’, like drilling fewer wells or moving them farther from the spring.”

During a court hearing in September, the Hualapai Tribe represented by Earthjustice and Western Mining Action Project asked the judge to extend the court-ordered temporary pause by granting a preliminary injunction. The court’s ruling means that drilling cannot resume while the lawsuit moves forward.

“The Court correctly realized the threat to groundwater and sacred Ha’Kamwe’. Water is too precious in Arizona for the agency to ignore,” noted Roger Flynn of the Western Mining Action Project.

Hualapai community members have been camping in Cholla Canyon Ranch, near Ha’Kamwe’, to raise awareness and to protest the mining company’s activities.