Federal judge denies halt to $10bn Arizona transmission line construction despite Native American tribes and environmentalists' lawsuit.
A federal judge has denied a request by Native American tribes and environmentalists to halt construction of a $10bn transmission line in Arizona. The project, approved in 2015 after extensive review and touted as the most significant electricity infrastructure initiative since the construction of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s, will carry wind-generated electricity from New Mexico to customers as far as California. Two tribes, along with archaeologists and environmentalists, filed a lawsuit in January, alleging that the US Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management had ignored overwhelming evidence of the cultural significance of the San Pedro Valley to Native American tribes, including the Tohono O'odham, Hopi, Zuni, and San Carlos Apache Tribe, for nearly 15 years.