RENO, Nev. (AP) — Lawyers for environmentalists and tribes urged a U.S. appeals court on Tuesday to overturn a judge’s decision to allow construction to begin on a huge lithium mine in Nevada earlier this year before the plans were in full compliance with federal law.
A lawyer representing four conservation groups seeking to halt the project said a U.S. district judge in Reno illegally exceeded her authority when she refused to revoke the mine’s operation plan in March despite her conclusion that federal land managers had violated the law in approving parts of it.