[Source: Ken Alltucker, Arizona Republic] -- A federal judge has ordered a temporary halt to construction or other land-disturbing activity on acreage near Yuma that could become home to the nation's first oil refinery in three decades. A tribal lawsuit and the judge's order are the latest obstacles for plans for the new refinery in Arizona. The nation's critical shortage of refining capacity is one factor that has led to higher prices at the pump as fuel companies increasingly are forced to import finished gasoline to meet the nation's thirst for fuel. For the Quechan Tribe, which filed the suit, the problem isn't the refinery but the cultural artifacts that may be disturbed.Its lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, claims the federal government did an inadequate environmental review of artifacts and cultural resources before transferring the land. The 3,500-member tribe wants to "prevent further destruction of Quechan cultural sites and resources" and force the federal government to follow environmental- and historic-preservation laws that govern such land transfers, tribal attorney Frank Jozwiak said. "Once the tribe is satisfied that its historical and cultural interests are identified and appropriate steps are in place to protect and preserve those interests . . . the tribe will not oppose the land transfer or the refinery," Jozwiak said. Arizona Clean Fuels Yuma has been attempting to build the refinery for more than a decade. Backers say the late March purchase of the 1,460-acre chunk of land near Tacna, about 40 miles east of Yuma, shows that the long-planned refinery project has made progress. Arizona Clean Fuels has secured a federal air-quality permit needed to build a 150,000-barrel-per-day refinery, the first new U.S. refinery project to obtain such a permit in 30 years. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]
