Lawsuit draws line in sand over mining ban

Mineral exploration company Quaterra Resources and the governing body of Mohave County in Arizona have filed a joint lawsuit against the US government in an attempt to overturn the withdrawal of federal lands from mining. The suit filed on behalf of Quaterra and the Board of Supervisors of Mohave County against the US Department of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and its director Robert Addey, claims that the US government did not adhere to mandated statutory procedures when it issued a decision to close the land in northern Arizona to all mining in January. It alleges that the withdrawal, regardless of evidence that mining would not harm the Grand Canyon was "arbitrary and capricious". Amongst other considerations, the suit also alleges that Salazar did not comply with requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act in making the decision. Similar contentions were made in a lawsuit against the withdrawal filed in February by the National Mining Association (NMA) and the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). The suit seeks to have the withdrawal order declared unlawful and set aside permanently...more