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.
Read the full story: Lawsuit targets federal permit for development near San Pedro River
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