Army Corps Rescinds Permits for Massive Master Planned Community in Arizona

"The federal government has suspended a permit for a proposal to build thousands of new homes near Arizona’s San Pedro River," reports Ian James.

The project Villages at Vigneto, a plan to add 28,000 homes south of Benson, Arizona, is facing stiff opposition from conservation activists who argue that the development would imperil the river by pumping groundwater to supply the new homes.

"Environmental groups sued in 2019 to challenge the government’s decision to grant a permit under a provision of the Clean Water Act that regulates the discharge of dredged or fill material into streams, washes and wetlands," explains James. "They argued the government should have analyzed the potential harm to the river as part of its analysis."

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reissued a Clean Water Act permit for the project in 2019, leading to the lawsuit—before a decision by the Trump administration to repeal the Waters of the United States Rule seemed to clear the way for the project.

Robin Silver, a co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that sued to stop the permit, is quoted in the article saying the latest development in the controversy is a huge victory for environmentalists. More background on the project, and the ensuing legal controversy, are included in the source article.