Submitted by Western Shoshone Defense Project, Great Basin Resource Watch
The Western Shoshone and Great Basin Resource Watch will argue in federal court this week for the protection of the sacred waters of Mt. Tenabo.
WHERE: Thompson Federal Building and Courthouse (at Liberty and South Virginia Street in Reno).
WHEN: 8 a.m. - 9 a.m., Oct. 6 - Water Honoring Ceremony, Native Drumming, Prayer and Song;
10 a.m. hearing in the courthouse, Reno.
The plaintiffs (Te-Moak Tribe of Western Shoshone, the Timbisha Tribe of Western Shoshone, the Western Shoshone Defense Project and Great Basin Resource Watch) will again challenge the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Record of Decision that authorizes Barrick Gold Corp. to mine at the base of Mt. Tenabo. Now, it is the sacred water under Mt. Tenabo that is at stake. Barrack, in its quest to mine at Mt. Tenabo, is conducting a massive groundwater pumping process, which will permanently upset the spiritual balance of Mt. Tenabo.
"Under our religious beliefs, the water in Mt. Tenabo is unique and is connected to specific spirits that reside in the Mountain and in the water. These spirits will suffer greatly, and indeed will likely be eliminated altogether, when this water is lost through the project's dewatering operations," said Joseph Kennedy, chairman of the Timbisha Shoshone Tribe.
The plaintiffs have been successful in demonstrating to the courts in 2009-10 (at the Ninth Circuit level)
that the EIS was deficient and illegal, so the courts applied a partial injunction, which stopped new
groundwater pumping until the deficient portions of the EIS were corrected in a supplementary EIS.
The plaintiffs submitted extensive comments on the supplementary EIS, arguing that the plan proposed by BLM
on behalf of Barrick to address impacts to the groundwater is a replacement scheme, which does not protect
the cultural aspects of the water; the "water spirits" would disappear, further eroding the power and
significance of Mt. Tenabo for Shoshone people. Even after these extensive comments and many others,
the BLM has still not addressed the core of the plaintiffs concern around the groundwater pumping: that the
culturally significant sources of springs and seeps need to be protected. Therefore, on May 27, 2011, the plaintiffs filed in protest of the Record of Decision issued by the BLM finalizing the mine plan in the Supplementary EIS.
"BLM needs to wake up, for the sake of the future of the state of Nevada, land, air, water and the spirit of all living things. Water is very important to the state of Nevada, the future of the next generation is not good if the U.S. government continues to work with multinational corporations overriding the needs of the people of Nevada, enough is enough," said Larson Bill of the Western Shoshone Defense Project.
[[In-content Ad]]
