Tribal Coalition Forces Pete Lien to Withdraw 18-Hole Pe’ Sla Drilling Plan

1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 25

Days after a federal judge halted work, Pete Lien & Sons withdrew its plan to drill 18 exploratory boreholes near the sacred Black Hills site of Pe’ Sla and said it would not refile.
The retreat followed a fast, multifront campaign after the US Forest Service approved the project on 27 February under a categorical exclusion that skipped environmental review, even though at least 10 holes lay inside a two-mile protected buffer.
On 30 April, about 40 organizers blocked the only access road and occupied two drill pads for seven days, while tribes, NDN Collective, Earthworks and the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance pressed parallel lawsuits.
A judge on 4 May found plaintiffs were likely to show the agency unlawfully treated a permit requiring three years of work as a project exempted as lasting under one year.
Organizers cast the Pe’ Sla victory as a rare model for Native land defense, combining court action, direct action and tribal sovereignty against mining tied to critical-mineral demand.