Ninth Circuit 'buckles' under US pressure for sewer snow on San Francisco Peaks

US government and Snowbowl Ski Resort pressure has resulted in the Ninth Circuit revisiting its decision to halt snowmaking from sewer water on sacred San Francisco Peaks, a place of healing ceremonies and medicine plant gathering for 13 area Indian Nations, near Flagstaff, Arizona

Appeals court to revisit ruling barring snowmaking at AZ resort

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 17, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court says it will reconsider its ruling barring snowmaking at the Arizona Snowbowl ski area north of Flagstaff.
The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came after both the federal government and the Snowbowl’s owners asked it to revisit the case.
A three-judge panel issued a ruling in March blocking the resort’s plan to expand and add snowmaking equipment that would use treated wastewater. The panel was acting on a suit filed by Indian tribes who consider the San Francisco Peaks sacred.The full court’s decision to reconsider the case sets aside the earlier ruling. A date for a full rehearing hasn’t been set.