Appeals court hears case challenging planned use of treated wastewater at Arizona ski resort

A federal appeals court in San Francisco on Monday heard arguments in a case challenging the planned use of treated wastewater for snowmaking at a northern Arizona ski resort. Attorney Howard Shanker, representing the Save the Peaks Coalition and a group of citizens, argued before the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the U.S. Forest Service needs to do a more thorough environmental analysis on the health and safety risks of using the wastewater for artificial snow. No studies have considered the impacts that could come from ingesting such snow that is sprayed on the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, Ariz., that at least a dozen American Indian tribes consider sacred, Shanker told the three-judge panel. "There's got to be a reasonably thorough discussion," Shanker said. "There's been no full discussion on this." Lane McFadden, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, told the judges that the plaintiffs are "engaging in a delay tactic," while arguing a need for more information without providing specifics. The owners of the Arizona Snowbowl plan to begin making snow for skiing and snowboarding for the 2012-13 season after years of legal wrangling with tribes and critics...more