Filed Date: Aug. 7, 2025
Case Ongoing
Clearinghouse coding complete
This case challenged the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) 2019 approval of nearly 125,000 acres for potash mining in Utah’s secluded West Desert, known as the Sevier Playa Potash (SPP) Project, along with the agency’s subsequent 2025 approval of a modified version of the SPP Project. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), a non-profit environmental membership organization dedicated to preserving wilderness and wild places in Utah, first filed suit in 2023, challenging the 2019 approval of the SPP Project (S. Utah Wilderness All. v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, Case No. 2:23-cv-00492). The court dismissed that case without prejudice in 2024 after Peak Minerals, the company behind the potash mining plan, submitted an amended proposal to the BLM. In 2025, BLM approved the revised project through a Determination of NEPA Adequacy (DNA), concluding that the 2019 environmental analysis was still sufficient.
On August 7, 2025, SUWA filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah against the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, the BLM and its West Desert District Manager. The plaintiffs alleged violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Administrative Procedure Act. Represented by private counsel, SUWA sought declaratory and injunctive relief to set aside the approvals and halt the project. The case was assigned to Judge David Barlow.
In their complaint, plaintiffs argued that BLM’s 2019 Record of Decision (ROD) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) failed to take the required “hard look” at the SPP Project's impacts on groundwater, dark night skies, migratory birds, air quality, the area’s “wild and remote nature,” and its “scenic vistas, and had not assessed cumulative groundwater impacts from the related Pine Valley Project, which draws from the same aquifer. They also alleged that BLM failed to analyze effects on dark night skies in the Great Basin National Heritage Area and inadequately considered the project’s cumulative impacts on regional air quality. The plaintiffs also contended that BLM improperly relied on a Determination of NEPA Adequacy to approve the modified 2025 mining plan – which extended the project’s lifespan and increased its production capacity – without conducting a new environmental review, as allegedly required. Additionally, plaintiffs asserted that BLM ignored new scientific evidence submitted by SUWA, including a hydrogeologist’s report that identified flaws in the 2019 EIS groundwater analysis. Plaintiffs further argued that BLM’s reliance on the original, legally deficient EIS rendered the agency’s decision-making process arbitrary and capricious, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
On October 6, 2025, the case was stayed pursuant to General Order 25-005. On November 19, 2025, the court issued an order stating that the stay was lifted, effective November 13, due to the full restoration of governmental funding.
This case is ongoing.
Summary Authors
Victoria Tan (8/10/2025)
Dahlia Gottlieb (10/20/2025)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71051491/parties/southern-utah-wilderness-alliance-v-united-states-department-of-the/
Bloch, Stephen H. (Utah)
Larsen, Hanna C. (Utah)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71051491/southern-utah-wilderness-alliance-v-united-states-department-of-the/
Last updated Nov. 19, 2025, 6:45 p.m.
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Trump Administration 2.0: Challenges to the Government
Key Dates
Filing Date: Aug. 7, 2025
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
A non-profit environmental membership organization dedicated to the preservation of wilderness and wild places in Utah
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit NON-religious organization
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
U.S. Department of the Interior (- United States (national) -), Federal
U.S. Bureau of Land Management (- United States (national) -), Federal
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551 et seq.
National Environmental Protection Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321–4370f
Other Dockets:
District of Utah 2:25-cv-00657
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Relief Sought:
Relief Granted:
Source of Relief:
Issues
Environmental Justice and Resources: