RENO, Nev. (CN) — A federal judge halted the start of construction on a geothermal energy project in the wetlands of central Nevada on Tuesday.
The ruling by senior U.S. District Judge Robert Clive Jones was a victory for environmental groups and indigenous communities who opposed the project as a threat to both the ecosystem and a tribe’s way of life.
On Dec. 15, the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe and the Center for Biological Diversity sued the U.S. Department of Interior and Bureau of Land Management for approving the project. According to their complaint, the project proposes building two geothermal powerplants and installing 48 miles of transmission lines on “approximately 2,000 acres of public land in Dixie Valley in north-central Nevada.”
“This project presents unacceptable risks to the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe and the Dixie Meadows ecosystem, and we’re thrilled the judge agrees,” said Patrick Donnelly, Nevada state director at the Center for Biological Diversity in a statement.
Donnelly said BLM and renewable energy company Ormat were “playing fast and loose with the law to try to ram this project through.”
Ormat voiced disappointment with the ruling in a statement to Courthouse News, calling it "a tremendous setback for renewable energy development and the achievement of critical climate-change timelines."
According to the complaint, the Dixie Meadows Hot Springs — which are heated by the same geothermal fluid the powerplants would utilize — are adjacent to the proposed project site and are sacred to the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe. The Tribe argued in the complaint that its members’ “ability to exercise their religion at the Hot Springs would be substantially impaired if not wholly eliminated if the project is constructed,” adding that alteration of the sacred site would infringe their “religious, cultural and spiritual values.”
The Center for Biological Diversity’s arguments against the project hinged on the harm posed to the Dixie Valley toad, an extremely rare amphibian. The Center noted in its complaint that the toad as a cold-blooded species is “especially sensitive to changes in water temperature.” Pointing to other geothermal projects associated with drying up or changing the surface waters — including another Ormat project in nearby Battle Mountain, Nevada — the Center claimed the risks to the species are great.
It said changes in the water temperature and level could eliminate the refuge the toads rely on for shelter during the winter, shorten the species’ breeding season and influence the development of their eggs and tadpoles.
In its statement, Ormat said the geothermal project would be crucial to helping Nevada reach its target of 50% renewable energy by 2030, which voters added to the state constitution.
Ormat also argued the project would have significant economic benefits to the region, adding 300 jobs and producing $4 million annually for the state. They defended the thoroughness of BLM's six-year review of the project and the measures they said are already in place to address the concerns of the Center and the Tribe.
The Center and Tribe both maintained that the benefits of a renewable energy project were not worth the risks to the wetland ecosystem and the indigenous people’s customs that have persisted for thousands of years.
“We strongly support renewable energy when it’s in the right place, but a project like this that threatens sacred sites and endangered species is definitely in the wrong place,” said Donnelly in a statement.
“The United States has repeatedly promised to honor and protect indigenous sacred sites, but then the BLM approved a major construction project nearly on top of our most sacred hot springs. It just feels like more empty words,” said Cathi Tuni, Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribal chairwoman. “There are geothermal plants elsewhere in Dixie Valley and the Great Basin that we have not opposed but construction of this plant would build industrial power plants right next to a sacred place of healing and reflection and risks damaging the water in the springs forever.”
The arguments of the Center and Tribe were convincing enough for Jones, a George W. Bush appointee, to issue a 90-day preliminary injunction — enough time for the Ninth Circuit to hear any appeals.
Ormat left open the possibility of an appeal, noting the 90-day pause has a "detrimental impact on the financial feasibility of the project" because contract requirements have the project on a tight construction timeline.
“This injunction means the bulldozers set to start demolishing Dixie Meadows this week have been quieted,” said Donnelly. “Tribal members, the Dixie Valley toad and everyone who loves Nevada’s biodiversity can breathe easier.”
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