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Tribe Seeks Injunction To Stop Desert Wind Energy Project
The tribe says the U.S. Department of the Interior violated various federal laws when it recently approved construction of the wind turbines. The 315-megawatt project is planned for nearly 20 square miles of public land, some of which the Quechan and several other tribes claim is sacred.
“How the federal government feels comfortable with putting a project in and around this completely culturally rich area is beyond me,” said John Bathke, Historic Preservation Officer for the Quechan Indian Nation. Bathke said the Obama administration has ignored tribal concerns that the project could have severe impacts on hundreds of archeological sites in the area.
...
Last week, the tribes hired a team of forensic dog handlers to sniff for ancient cremation sites there. They found seven that could have human remains, said Bob Sheid, a spokesman for the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, which also opposes the project. That brings the total likely number of ancient burial sites in the area to more than a dozen, Sheid said.
The spokesman said there were "lots of gaps" in the archeological surveying that was done leading up to the approval of the project. The tribes are calling for the Imperial County coroner to investigate and confirm the cremation sites found last week, Sheid said, in order to seek protection for them under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
http://www.kjzz.org/fronterasarchive?story=/news/2012/may/16/tribe-seeks-injunction-stop-desert-wind-project/&framing=kjzz
“How the federal government feels comfortable with putting a project in and around this completely culturally rich area is beyond me,” said John Bathke, Historic Preservation Officer for the Quechan Indian Nation. Bathke said the Obama administration has ignored tribal concerns that the project could have severe impacts on hundreds of archeological sites in the area.
...
Last week, the tribes hired a team of forensic dog handlers to sniff for ancient cremation sites there. They found seven that could have human remains, said Bob Sheid, a spokesman for the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, which also opposes the project. That brings the total likely number of ancient burial sites in the area to more than a dozen, Sheid said.
The spokesman said there were "lots of gaps" in the archeological surveying that was done leading up to the approval of the project. The tribes are calling for the Imperial County coroner to investigate and confirm the cremation sites found last week, Sheid said, in order to seek protection for them under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
http://www.kjzz.org/fronterasarchive?story=/news/2012/may/16/tribe-seeks-injunction-stop-desert-wind-project/&framing=kjzz
