On November 7, 2019 the Arizona Mining Reform Coaliiton and 17 additional organizations filed 6,436 pages of comments (including attachments) in repsonse to a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) written by the Tonto National Forest on Resolution Copper’s proposed mine that would destroy Oak Flat and thousands of additional public lands.
The comments found that the proposed mine could use more water than is available in the San Tan Valley, where massive water pumping would occur; create a several hundred foot deep toxic lake in the middle of a huge crater created by underground mining that would completely inundate Oak Flat; create a toxic tailings waste site that would bury 5,000 acres of land and forever threaten downstream communities; and destroy tribal sacred areas and curtail the religious freedom of Native American Tribes.
Roger Featherstone, Director of the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, who led the group effort, said, “We are dismayed by how much is missing in the DEIS and how the impacts have been either underestimated or completely ignored. Without more technical information, the public cannot understand the full extent of the dangers to our communities and the environment. Even using the available information, our comments paint a compelling picture of how this project would devastate Superior, Oak Flat, and the surrounding land and water resources. The process has strengthened our resolve to stop this project and protect Oak Flat. If the Forest Service won’t stop the project, we must.”
The groups that signed the comment letter include:
Arizona Mining Reform Coalition ⧫ Arizona Inter-Faith Power and Light ⧫ Center for Biological Diversity ⧫ Community Water Coalition of Southern Arizona ⧫ Concerned Citizens and Retired Miners Coalition ⧫ Concerned Climbers of Arizona ⧫ Earthworks ⧫ Maricopa Audubon Society ⧫ Oklahoma Indigenous Theatre Company ⧫ Natural Allies ⧫ Patagonia Area Resource Alliance ⧫ Save the Scenic Santa Ritas ⧫ Save Tonto National Forest ⧫ Sierra Club—Grand Canyon Chapter ⧫ Sky Island Alliance ⧫ Tucson Audubon Society ⧫ Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation—Green Sanctuary ⧫ WildEarth Guardians
These are our comments without the attachments.
To download the total comment package (a very large document) go here.
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