The Hualapai Tribe is suing the Bureau of Land Management over its approval of a lithium exploration project near a sacred site they argue the project will damage.
Ha’Kamwe’ is an important hot spring in Mohave County that holds deep cultural and spiritual significance for the Hualapai people.; it has served cultural and traditional purposes for generations and through modern day.
The BLM-approved Sandy Valley Exploration Project would involve drilling 131 wells near the site.
In court documents, the tribe argues this would affect the spring’s flow and temperature, which are essential to its sacred and medicinal qualities. Disturbances like noise and light are also expected, which they say would degrade the site and further interfere with cultural practices.
The Tribe contends that BLM violated federal law by failing to consider alternatives to reduce the project’s effects and by allegedly ignoring more recent studies that demonstrated potential harm to Ha’Kamwe’.
The latest filing asks a District Court judge to overturn BLM’s decision to approve the project, and to put it on hold until a permanent decision can be made.
