Federal judge halts drilling near Pe’ Sla in Black Hills
Temporary restraining order pauses graphite exploration as tribes’ lawsuit moves forward
Exploratory graphite drilling near Pe’ Sla, a sacred site in the Black Hills, must pause following a federal ruling Monday evening, according to reporting by ICT. U.S. District Judge Camela C. Theeler granted a temporary restraining order blocking drilling by Pete Lien & Sons until the court hears full arguments. The decision sided with nine Oceti Sakowin tribes in a case against the U.S. Forest Service, which approved a permit Feb. 27 for 18 boreholes.
The tribes — Oglala, Cheyenne River, Standing Rock, Yankton, Sisseton Wahpeton, Santee, Spirit Lake, Crow Creek and Lower Brule Sioux — joined a lawsuit filed in early April by NDN Collective, Earthworks and the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance. Pe’ Sla, a prairie site tied to Lakota creation stories and long used for prayer, lies within a buffer zone around tribal trust land. An evidentiary hearing is scheduled for May 20-21 at the Andrew W. Bogue Federal Courthouse in Rapid City, South Dakota.
- 1.Amelia Schafer. ICT, .
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