A developer who was grading the desert for one of the
largest developments in Arizona history now faces a lawsuit
alleging major violations of state environmental laws.
In
February, the state attorney general’s office accused
developer George Johnson and the five companies he owns of
illegally destroying 40,203 native desert plants, bulldozing seven
archaeological sites, obstructing arroyos, and allowing sediment
and other pollutants to enter the Santa Cruz River without a
permit. According to the suit, Johnson also allowed thousands of
domestic goats to leave his private property and wander onto nearby
Ironwood National Monument, where they infected wild bighorn sheep
with pinkeye and mouth sores. At least 21 desert bighorns died, and
at least 49 others suffered permanent injuries.
The
alleged violations occurred during 2003 on 270 acres of state land
and 2,000 acres of private land, as Johnson was awaiting a permit
from Pinal County to build the 67,000-home La Osa Ranch
development. Johnson dropped the project more than a year ago,
after news of the environmental damage surfaced.
Johnson’s attorney, Lee Stein, says, “We’re confident
that Mr. Johnson and his companies will be vindicated.” Stein says
the blading on the state land was done by a third-party contractor,
who ignored the instructions of company officials. The private-land
blading was not done for development, he adds, but for farming and
ranching.
The case will probably go to trial in a year,
unless it is settled before then, says Andrea Esquer, a spokeswoman
for Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Developer under fire for destroying desert.
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