The environmental review for a master-planned community outside of Benson is the subject of a lawsuit by a coalition of environmental groups.
"Environmental groups are challenging the federal government’s decision to grant a permit for a new development that would bring 28,000 homes and four golf courses to the Arizona desert near Benson," reports Ian James.
The Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, the Tucson and Maricopa Audubon Society, and the Cascabel Conservation Association are challenging the environmental review performed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the development, called the Villages at Vigneto.
"The conservation groups say groundwater pumping by the planned development threatens the San Pedro River and the wildlife that depends on it, and that the Corps violated federal law by refusing to analyze the effects of drawing down the water table," according to James.
FULL STORY: Lawsuit targets federal permit for development near San Pedro River
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A plan to conjure 28,000 new homes from the landscape fed by the San Pedro River in Southern Arizona is once again on the wrong side of regulators.
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Evidence of a 2017 quid pro quo for development permits connected to a massive master planned community proposed in the Arizona desert led the House Natural Resources Committee to take unprecedented action in 2022.
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A recent decision by the Trump administration regarding the Waters of the United States Rule is changing the legal calculus of a plan to add 28,000 homes in the city of Benson, located southwest of Tucson.
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Delivering for America Plan Will Downgrade Mail Service in at Least 49.5 Percent of Zip Codes
Republican and Democrat lawmakers criticize the plan for its disproportionate negative impact on rural communities.
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Balancing Bombs and Butterflies: How the National Guard Protects a Rare Species
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