Ninth Circuit Delivers Blow To Tribes

In a significant setback for tribal communities, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed a final legal attempt to halt the construction of what is anticipated to become the largest lithium mine in North America, located on federal land in Nevada.

The court’s decision held that the U.S. government did not infract federal environmental laws when it sanctioned the Thacker Pass mine project by Lithium Nevada, during the final period of the Trump administration.

Lithium is an essential component for electric vehicle batteries. Despite opposition from the Paiute tribes of the west coast and environmental advocates, the Biden administration upheld the previous decision and continued to support the mine. The mine is planned to be situated in a remote federal area near the border between Nevada and Oregon.

“We have always been confident that the permitting process for Thacker Pass was conducted thoroughly and appropriately,” says Jonathan Evans, CEO of Lithium Americas in a statement provided to NPR. “Construction activities continue at the project as we look forward to playing an important role in strengthening America’s domestic battery supply chains.”

For more than two years, local tribes and environmental organizations have attempted to obstruct or postpone the Thacker Pass mine. They claimed, among other things, that federal land managers accelerated the process without properly consulting Indian Country.

“They rushed this project through during COVID and essentially selected three tribes to talk to instead of the long list of tribes that they had talked to in the past,” Rick Eichstaedt, an attorney for the Burns Paiute Tribe, said in an interview late last month.

The area is revered by certain Native communities because it is thought to be the location of a minimum of two historical massacres. Tribal elders continue to visit the site to perform rituals and collect indigenous plants.

However, in their verdict, the judges from the Ninth Circuit indicated that it was only after federal land managers sanctioned the mine that it came to light that some tribes regard the land as holy.

It is projected that the comprehensive construction of the mine will commence in full swing this summer.