Tony Davis of the Arizona Daily Star interviewed Director of the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, Roger Featherstone, and President of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, Gayle Hartmann, last week and published parts of the interview on Sunday, August 22, 2010. See a transcript of the article here or go to the full article.
The following editorial written by Roy Chavez and Roger Featherstone ran in the April 20, 2010 edition of the Arizona Republic.
The Sonoran Institute was on target in its critique of
the proposed Rosemont mine south of Tucson (4/3/10 Arizona Republic), however,
the author drew the wrong conclusion about Rio Tinto’s proposal to mine under
Oak Flat Campground east of Superior. In fact it would be impossible to
do the same thorough analysis of the Rio Tinto project as is being done on the
Rosemont mine proposal, since Rio Tinto has yet to even write a mining
plan. Rio Tinto is trying to evade the rules, which every other mining company
wanting to use public lands must follow, and has instead gone straight to the
U.S. Congress for a special sweetheart land exchange deal.
Yesterday Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick introduced the compromise language Senator McCain wrote last year on the Oak Flat land exchange. That language was substituted for the original language in S 409 and was voted out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last December. The new bill, HR 4880 has been referred to the House Natural Resources Committee. Representative Kirkpatrick has renamed the bill the ‘‘Copper Basin Jobs Act’’
Recent Press on the Oak Flat Land Exchange
Devil’s Canyon is located in Pinal County Arizona approximately 6 km east of the town of Superior in the Globe Ranger District of the Tonto National Forest. The area is generally rugged with deep canyons and is defined by its complex rock formations. Portions of Devil’s Canyon have stretches of large and dense riparian growth that support a high diversity of breeding birds and other wildlife.
It’s bad enough for Congresswoman Kirkpatrick (D-1st District, Arizona) to be pushing for the destruction of Oak Flat Campground by two foreign mining companies, but now in an attempt to obfuscate the issue, the Congresswoman is trying to change the name of the project. Instead of identifying the issue as the Oak Flat land Exchange (or it’s “official” title as the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2009) (S 409 and HR 2509), she is now referring to this miscarriage of due process as the Copper Basin Jobs Project. Taking a page out of her predecessor Rick Renzi’s playbook, this is just another underhanded scheme to rip off our public lands. Please be aware of this attempt to fly under the radar. This certainly isn’t a jobs project, it’s a land exchange that will make us all poorer!
The new bill number for Kirkpatrick’s bill is HR 4880 and it is nearly identical to the Senate version (S 409) introduced by Senator McCain. Our fact sheets on the original version of S 409 and the new version that was passed by the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.
Directed and Edited by Bryan O’Neal, Director of Photography: Ruben Ruiz, Produced by Roger Featherstone
If you are having trouble watching the video, try updating your flash player plug-in. No flash – download The Great Oak Flat Land Giveaway in .mov format (beware – 245mb!)
Two foreign mining companies, Rio Tinto and BHP – Billiton, have created a
subsidiary (Resolution Copper) that is proposing to mine a copper
deposit more than 7,000 feet deep east of Superior, Arizona. As
a first step, Rio Tinto is currently shopping around a land exchange
bill S. 409 (in the Senate) and HR 2509 (in the House) that would end an executive order banning mining from Oak
Flat Campground and privatize more than 2,400 acres of public land.
The following story ran in the January 8, 2010 edition of the Nogales International. The report referenced in the story was written for the mining company and points out what opponents have been saying all along: This is the wrong place for a mine. it’s hard to even imagine what the Santa Rita’s would look like with the water table more than 2,000 feet lower than it is now!
Rosemont pit will pump deep, create lake
By Dick Kamp
A study of flow impacts from water drainage at a proposed open-pit mine in the Santa Rita Mountains predicts the formation of an 819-foot “pit lake” 100 years after the mining is completed.
According to the study commissioned by the Augusta Resource Rosemont Mine, groundwater at the bottom of the pit will have dropped 2,020 feet below current modeled groundwater levels at that site.
Open-pit miners and underground mines pump water constantly when operating so that folding does not hinder operations once a pit is below groundwater levels.
2007 and 2009 biological inventories of Devil’s Canyon below State Highway 60. This area will likely be heavily impacted by the proposed Resolution Copper minenearby.
This stretch of Devil’s canyon has perennial water, lush riparian vegetation, and National Park-like scenery. Riparian species flourish along this stretch of canyon including Black and Zone-tailed Hawks and Peregrine Falcons.