The comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact statement (DEIS) for the proposed Rosemont mine ended in January of 2012. The Arizona Mining Reform Coalition and its member groups were part of a larger effort that helped generate not only a massive (800 page plus) set of comments opposing the mine, but more than 100,000 comments from the public in opposition (although the Forest Service whittled that number down to 25,000 by discounting most comments that were submitted online). The DEIS was not only panned by the public, but the US EPA weighed in and called the DEIS one of the worse they’d ever seen.
On November 30, Rio Tinto announced that unless the US Congress passes the Oak Flat land exchange immediately, they will lay off 80% of their workforce at Oak Flat between now and March. In an orchestrated fashion, Senator McCain and Congressman Gosar both urged the Congress to pass the land exchange this year and an AZ Republic Op-ed decried Senate inaction.
Since Rio Tinto has made similar statement during every Congressional season since the land exchange has been introduced, organizations opposing the land exchange have blasted the announcement.
We are at the tail end of the 112th Congress and have been able to keep the Oak Flat land exchange from moving in the US Senate. However, Senators Kyl and McCain are intent on pushing through the Oak Flat land exchange (HR 1904) this year to give more government handouts to two of the world’s largest mining companies.
Congress is back after the elections in a lame duck session that should wrap up by the end of the year. Kyl and McCain will most likely attempt to attach HR 1904 to important legislation instead of letting the Senate decide on the merits of the bill. Because of the controversial nature of the Oak Flat land exchange, this would amount to adding a poison pill to any necessary legislation.
Do not let Senators McCain and Kyl divert the Congress from important business by inserting their destructive special interest bill.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is in the middle of a public comment period for a draft Aquifer Protection Permit (APP) they propose to give Augusta Resources for its proposed Rosemont Mine.
There are many things wrong with the draft permit. Some are institutional with all APP’s and some are unique to this draft proposal.
While we are still reviewing the draft permit and factsheet, we have identified a number of problems with the proposal.
Please see comments we have written on other Draft Aquifer Protection Permits to get a better idea of the institutional limitations of these permits in general.
On September 29, the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality denied Augusta Resource Corporation an air quality permit for the proposed Rosemont mine. Pima County cited a number of deficiencies in the permit application. (Read Pima County’s letter to Augusta here.) Augusta now has several options. They can appeal the decision, give up and go home, or they can submit a new, correct permit and try again.
This is good news and shows that Augusta does not have the wherewithal to handle the intricacies of building a mine. While this does not mean that the fight to protect the Santa Ritas is over, it does show that despite Augusta’s multi-million dollar PR campaign to bully Tucson and the surrounding communities into accepting their mine proposal, has fallen short.
Curis Resources, a Canadian Junior mining company is proposing an in-situ copper mine on the banks of the Gila River within the town boundaries of Florence, Arizona.
Don Steuter, the Conservation Chair of the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club (and one of our steering committee members), wrote an editorial about the proposed project which appeared in the Arizona Republic today.
Concerned Climbers of Arizona — an organization advocating continued recreational access to climbing areas that are threatened by development or other forms of encroachment.
One would think that in Arizona, which has the worst mining
laws and regulations of any state in the union, the mining industry would
realize how good they’ve got it. However,
in their quest to mine fettered only by the limits of their own greed, min
ing
companies carp as loudly as ever about being over-burdened and over-regulated
to death.
Mining companies trot out a list as long as your arm about
how many reports and permits they are required to obtain. However, given the track record of the mining
industry in Arizona, there is a good reason for regulation – for nearly 150
years, mining in Arizona has proven to be a social and environmental nightmare.
