Tribe’s Lawsuit Could Delay Major Solar Power Project

On November 3, 2010, the Daily Journal reported that the Quechan Tribe filed suit in U.S. District Court in San Diego to question the impacts of a 6,360-acre Imperial Valley Solar Project. The tribe questioned whether the project will have an impact on cultural artifacts and protected species. The Quechan suit “isn’t a brand-new type claim for renewable energy,” said Anne Mudge, a renewable energy and land use attorney with Cox Castle & Nicholson in San Francisco. “But it’s the first time I’ve heard of a solar project drawing fire from a tribe.”