A federal judge is being asked to issue a stop-work order on a $10 billion electricity transmission line slated to run through a remote southeastern Arizona valley. A filing in U.S. District Court in Arizona aims to block Pattern Energy’s SunZia transmission project through the San Pedro Valley east of Tucson. The project would carry electricity from a huge wind power project planned in central New Mexico to markets as far away as California. Native American tribes and environmental groups accuse the U.S. Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management of failing to recognize the cultural significance of the area to the Tohono O’odham, Hopi, Zuni and San Carlos Apache Tribe. The agencies are expected to respond in court.
