Oregon Department of Environmental Quality issued 17 penalties for environmental violations in the month of October, with four of those penalties to parties in Douglas County.
Agriculture
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February 15, 2021
On Thursday, Bartell Ranch LLC and its owner Edward Bartell filed a complaint in the District of Nevada against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and its Winnemucca District Manager over the decision to approve the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine Project. The complaint reported that the “disturbance area” for the large open pit mine would be over 5,000 acres and the project area would cover 17,000 acres of BLM land.
The plaintiff is a Nevada company with private land in the area. According to the complaint, Bartell Ranch has a federal grazing permit and water rights that “are imminently threatened with irreparable harm” through the construction and operation of the mine. The plaintiff also purported that the mine causes a threat to fish, wildlife, and habitats in the area, specifically the habitat of the endangered Lahontan Cutthroat Trout and Greater Sage Grouse.