Statement of Roger Featherstone at Rio Tinto AGM 4-16-15
Here is the statement of the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition at this morning’s Rio Tinto Annual General Meeting in London: Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I have come to London again to speak to you and continued to be troubled by the activities of a Rio...
Comment on Rio Tinto’s Proposed Toxic Tailings Site Drilling Plan
The US Forest Service is accepting comments on a preliminary Environmental Assessment of a plan of operations to conduct baseline hydrological and geophysical testing on their proposed toxic tailings location for Rio Tinto’s proposed mine at Oak Flat.
The deadline for comments in April 12, 2015.
Rio Tinto wishes to dump toxic tailings on public land managed by the US Forest Service north of Highway 60 between Superior and Queen Valley (roughly across the street for Boyce Thompson Arboretum). Rio Tinto wants to drill 16 groundwater testing and monitoring wells, 41 geotechnical drill holes, and 32 deep geotechnical test trenches. They want to “improve” more than 12 miles of Forest Service roads, use either illegal or user constructed roads, and go off road to disturb another 11 acres.
Apaches Meet Forest Service at Oak Flat
Press Release
February 17, 2015
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Wendsler Nosie, Sr., Vernelda Grant
(928) 475-2930 (928) 961-3380
Stills and video are available from the event.
An historic meeting took place today between Apache spiritual organization and the US Forest Service at Chich’il Bildagoteel (Oak Flat).
Gather at Oak Flat, Saturday, February 7
Saturday, February 7 will be a day of speakers, music, inspiration, and sharing to protect Oak Flat.
Please attend the gathering and to bring your friends, family, and colleagues.
Saturday will be a beautiful day in a beautiful place. It will be a great way to learn more about Oak Flat, why we are protecting it, and what you can do to help.
Oak Flat Campground is located south of US Highway 60, 4 miles east of Superior, AZ. You will see a Highway sign for the campground coming from either direction on Highway 60. Follow signs into the campground.
Background
In December, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law. It included the Oak Flat land exchange, which allows for multi-national mining company, Rio Tinto, to move forward on a proposal for an enormous copper mine. The mine would decimate a piece of the Tonto National Forest of Arizona, including the popular recreation area, Oak Flat. While the environmental impacts of this project would reach generations into the future, the absolute disregard for indigenous rights to the area has made the call to action on Oak Flat a moral imperative.
In December, President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law. It included the Oak Flat land exchange, which allows for multi-national mining company, Rio Tinto, to move forward on a proposal for an enormous copper mine. The mine would decimate a piece of the Tonto National Forest of Arizona, including the popular recreation area, Oak Flat. While the environmental impacts of this project would reach generations into the future, the absolute disregard for indigenous rights to the area has made the call to action on Oak Flat a moral imperative.
The land near the Oak Flat Campground is a sacred site to the indigenous tribes in the area, including the Apache bands. The new law allows Rio Tinto a run-around to avoid complying with indigenous rights to the land. Activists have been working for many years on the issue and actions are being planned this winter throughout the region to raise awareness and stop the destruction of this wild and sacred space.
President Obama signs land exchange into law signaling new phase in the protection of Oak Flat
On December 19, 2014, President Obama signed the National defense Authorization Act into law. The bill contained the Oak Flat land exchange. This particular version of the land exchange was the 13th since the bill was first introduced in Congress by convicted former Congressman, Rick Renzi in 2005. Senator Flake, who previously worked for Rio Tinto at their uranium mine (co-owned by the Iranian government) in Namibia, acknowledged what we all knew, the bill could not pass the US Congress on its own merits.
Dig Deep and Donate to the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition
Please take a moment as 2014 draws to a close to make a charitable contribution to the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition.
2014 has been mixed bag for us, but 2015 looks to be a doozy! We need your financial support. Please make a donation to the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition so we can continue our work to protect Oak Flat, the Santa Rita Mountains, and Arizona’s many lands and waters threatened by inappropriate mining projects.
Ask the President to Veto the National Defense Authorization Act
Yesterday, December 12, the US Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The Defense bill contains the Oak Flat land exchange.
Please contact President Obama and ask him to veto the NDAA. This is our only step left to stop the land exchange from becoming law.
You’ve taken action many time to help protect Oak Flat and I’m asking you now to take action one more time to protect Oak Flat.
There are so many reasons that attaching the land exchange to the NDAA is a terrible idea. But let’s face it, RIo Tinto’s supporters knew that this was there last best chance to give Oak Flat to a giant foreign mining company.
Every day we were learning more about how critical Oak Flat is for religious freedom and environmental protection and Rio Tinto knew they needed to act fast. So, they buried the land exchange deep in a anrelated bill.
Let our President know that the NDAA must be vetoed until the Oak Flat land exchange is removed.
After you have sent your letter to President Obama, also sign a petition asking the President to stop this Apache land grab.
New Oak Flat land exchange language is a non-starter
Rio Tinto’s supporters changed the language of the Oak Flat land exchange in an attempt to make it more palatable fortheir colleagues and to curry additional support when they attached it as a rider to the National Defense Authorization Act. The Oak Flat land exchange is buried the defense bill (Page 1103 of the 1,600 page bill) as section 3003. The bill has passed the House of Represenatives, but has not yet come up for a vote in the Senate.
One of Rio Tinto’s supporters even went to far to imply that the Director of the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition is OK with the changes in the bill. He knows better, and of course, nothing could be further from the truth. The langauge changes are mostly greenwashing and are still a far cry from what is needed to protect Oak Flat.
We have prepared a fact sheet explaining why the changes in the bill fall far short of the mark.
Take a look at the fact sheet.
There is still time to contact your Senators and ask them to strip the Oak Flat land exchange from the National Defense Authorization Act. For more information about how you can take action, go here.
Contact the Senate to remove Oak Flat land exchange from the National Defense Authorization Act
Contact your Senators today to remove the Oak Flat land exchange from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
In a highly controversial move last week, the US House of Representatives buried the Oak Flat land exchange deep in the House version of the NDAA. For 10 years, the land exchange has failed to be become law for very good reasons:
- It is the only bill before the US Congress that would give a Native American Sacred site on public land to a foreign mining company;
- It would mean the largest loss of recreational rock climbing opportunities on public land
- And it bypasses the normal process of permitting mines on public land.
President Eisenhower placed Oak Flat off limits to mining 60 year ago and it remains an ecological, spiritual and recreational haven.
In spite of the will of Congress not to pass the Oak Flat land exchange, its supporters snuck the bill into the defense bill (Section 3003 on page 1103 of a 1,600 page bill). The language of the bill was changed, but is still completely unacceptable.
Please contact your Senator immediately and ask him/her to remove Section 3003, (the new number for the Oak Flat land exchange) and to pass a clean Defense bill.