“One of Ormat’s mitigation plans for example is to pipe in replacement water. “There is no analysis on whether these mitigation measures would be effective,” said Wyatt Golding, attorney for the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe. The court will consider the broader question of whether the BLM erred when it approved the project, as the tribe claims, at a later date.Ĭoncerns expressed by the court mirrored arguments made by council for the tribe during oral arguments, who argued that there is no plan by Ormat and BLM to mitigate possible effects to surface water in the hot springs. The agency instead reached an agreement with the developer and other agencies to develop a later plan to “lessen, minimize or mitigate the adverse effect to the site” once construction starts. The Bureau of Land Management previously determined that the planned geothermal energy project by Ormat would not have a significant effect on the environment, a finding that does not require an environmental impact study. The proposed project would include two geothermal power plants, 18 or more geothermal wells, access roads, and 48 miles of transmission line on about 2,000 acres of public land in Dixie Valley in north-central Nevada, adjacent to the Dixie Meadows Hot Springs. It says they will be determined after the fact, after the first stage of the plan is built and after the damage to the surrounding areas has occurred.” “A mitigation plan would say ‘here are the concerns and this is why there will be no significant impact,’” Jones said. Possible impacts on the tribe’s ability to practice cultural and religious ceremonies on the sacred site as a result of construction without a mitigation plan also concerned the judge. “There’s nothing that will tell us whether or not it will have an impact on the spring itself, let alone the tribes,” Jones said. Jones expressed concern over what he said was a lack of a typical environmental impact study and proposed mitigation measures to address possible impacts to Dixie Meadows as a result of the geothermal energy project, including its potential to dry up the spring. The tribe is seeking to permanently prevent the construction of the power plant near the springs, arguing that its approval violates federal law. 6 while the tribe’s lawsuit works its way through Nevada courts. The Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe requested a halt on construction that was scheduled to start Jan.

U.S District Judge Robert Clive Jones granted a 90-day pause that will temporarily prevent construction of the Dixie Meadows geothermal energy project, proposed by developer Ormat Technologies. A Nevada tribe succeeded Tuesday in getting a district judge to temporarily pause construction of a planned geothermal energy project near the Dixie Meadows Hot Springs, a site considered sacred to the tribe.

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