An aerial view of the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California. Photo by Craig Butz
The U.S. Supreme Court won't be hearing a dispute over a solar energy plant that's located on sacred land in California. Without comment, the justices on Monday issued an order denying the petition in La Cuna De Aztlan Sacred Sites Protection Circle Advisory Committee v. Department of the Interior. That means a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision in favor of the Interior Department will stand. In May 2015, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit dismissed a challenge to the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in southern California. The court said the plaintiffs failed to make a case under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. "We conclude that the record, which includes declarations submitted by the Plaintiffs that provide little more than conclusory statements and which have not shown where the alleged sacred sites are located at the Ivanpah Project site, is insufficient to support Plaintiffs’ claim that the loss of access to the limited area taken by the Ivanpah Project imposes a substantial burden," the court wrote in the unpublished decision.
Solar panels at the Genesis Solar Energy Project in Riverside County in California. Photo by Thecyrgroup / Wikipedia
The plaintiffs include Ron Van Fleet, an elder from the Fort Mojave Tribe who serves as a cultural monitor. He is also part of a different 9th Circuit case that challenges the Genesis Solar Power Project, another solar facility in southern California. In March of this year, a three-judge panel of the court held that Van Fleet could not a assert a right of consultation on behalf of his tribe. The court also determined that the plaintiffs lack standing and failed to state a claim under various federal laws. The Fort Mojave Tribe, the Colorado River Indian Tribes and other tribes opposed the Genesis Solar Power Project, which was fast-tracked by the Obama administration and is already operational, but they aren't plaintiffs in the case. Some 3,000 artifacts were removed from the site after it was approved by the Interior Department. Turtle Talk has posted documents from the Ivanpah case. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Decisions:
La Cuna de Aztlan Sacred Sites Protection Circle Advisory Committee v. US Department of the Interior [Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System] (May 19, 2015)
La Cuna de Aztlan Sacred Sites Protection Circle Advisory Committee v. US Department of the Interior [Genesis Solar Power Project] (March 4, 2016)
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court rejects challenge to solar plant on sacred tribal land (03/08) Dennis Patch: Tribal sacred sites ignored in push for solar energy (10/27)
Tribe questions fast-tracking of solar energy projects by Obama administration (09/04)
Fort Mojave Tribe still waiting for cleanup plan at sacred site (05/04)
