CRIT pushes back on 'fast-tracked' solar projects - Today's News-Herald
The tribes filed suit against Riverside County last month – their second suit aimed at slowing down a solar project since the tribes filed suit against the Bureau of Land Management in federal court in December. Arguing the projects are sited across land essential to their cultural and religious heritage, the tribes have asked governments – and now the courts – for greater involvement in evaluating projects and mitigating the impacts they would have on... “We are always behind the eight ball, we aren’t listened to, our concerns aren’t taken into consideration,” said CRIT Tribal Councilwoman Amanda Barrera, of Parker, during a Wednesday interview. She said she has seen the impact of solar projects first hand, joining a delegation that visited a San Diego warehouse housing around 3,500 tribal artifacts turned up during work on a solar development in 2012. “What hurts the most is when you go... In the BLM lawsuit, a federal judge earlier this summer rejected the tribes’ request to grant an injunction against the solar project from moving forward and will hear oral arguments on the merits of the case later this month, said Sara Clark , an... The most recent complaint focuses on Riverside County’s zoning approval of a separate solar project, arguing an environmental review relied on an “inadequate… analysis” of the project’s impact on cultural resources such as the presence of... Source: www.havasunews.com
