Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight
A company that’s being sued for exploratory drilling near a culturally significant site in South Dakota’s Black Hills is withdrawing from the project, according to a letter shared with project opponents.
The opponents include the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, which posted a copy of the letter and a statement Friday on social media.
“This is a testament to the people, organizations, and tribal governments who showed unified action, determination, and courage in the face of what seemed to be overwhelming odds,” the alliance said.
The letter from Pete Lien & Sons to the U.S. Forest Service references the Rapid City-based company’s project near Pe’ Sla, also known as Reynolds Prairie, which is a high mountain meadow in the central Black Hills.
Pe’ Sla is one of several Black Hills sites that corresponds with celestial features in traditional Lakota spirituality. Lakota people use the area, some of which is tribally owned, for prayer, ceremonies and cultural activities.
After receiving approval from the Forest Service, Pete Lien & Sons has been drilling holes near Pe’ Sla in search of graphite, which is used in electric vehicle batteries, lubricants, pencils and other products.
Two lawsuits against the project filed by a coalition of nonprofits and nine Native American tribes led to a hearing Monday in Rapid City, where a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order against the drilling. Meanwhile, opponents had formed a protest encampment at the project site.
In recently filed court documents, lawyers for the Forest Service said the project was already “halfway complete.” But the restraining order put the future of the project in doubt. The judge presiding over the lawsuits is scheduled to consider a longer-lasting injunction against the project later this month.
The company’s Thursday letter to the Forest Service asks for the project’s plan of operations and decision memo to be withdrawn. The letter says the company will conduct reclamation — restoration of the project area to a natural state — when it’s legally permitted by the judge who granted the restraining order. The company “does not intend” to file another plan of operations for exploratory drilling at the site, the letter says.
NDN Collective, a Rapid City-based nonprofit that advocates for Indigenous rights, is among the lawsuit plaintiffs.
“From the land defenders who occupied two active drill pads for a week, to fighting in the courts through multiple lawsuits and a temporary restraining order, today’s win is multi-faceted and offers a blueprint for future land defense fights,” NDN said Friday in a press release.
Future fights include one scheduled for the week of May 18. The state Board of Minerals and Environment is scheduled to conduct a hearing in Hot Springs on a proposal to conduct exploratory drilling for uranium in the southern Black Hills.
That project would be near Craven Canyon, where the rock walls are carved with Native American petroglyphs believed to be thousands of years old.