Environmental groups are preparing to sue the federal government for approving a mining exploration project near the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, a desert wetland that supports a trove of endangered and threatened species found nowhere else in the world. … Conservation groups say the mining exploration project could potentially harm several federally listed endangered and threatened plants that rely on groundwater-fed springs in the area. … Federal hydrologists acknowledged that groundwater at the site of the proposed project was relatively shallow, making it likely that boreholes drilled beyond 100 feet would hit groundwater in the area.

Related article:

• Center for Biological Diversity: News release: Lawsuit launched to stop new mining exploration near Nevada’s Ash Meadows