Background on Hudbay's Truck Traffic

Hudbay states in a 2023 technical report that access to the mine is via I-19, E. Sahuarita Rd and the Santa Rita Road. This means Copper World's heavy trucks would bisect Sahuarita's main commercial corridor hindering access to Sahuarita’s elementary, middle and high schools, recreational facilities, churches and government offices. 

The trucks will carry copper concentrate to be refined overseas, as well as diesel fuel and other hazardous chemicals and explosives. Hudbay also plans to modify its production process in the fifth year that could result in trucks hauling sulfuric acid. 

The heavy truck traffic will likely result in more frequent traffic accidents, injuries, and deaths, according to a 2011 Rosemont environmental report. The heavy trucks are in addition to daily commuter traffic for more than 1,200 workers during two years of construction and about 500 during operation. Although the exact number of trucks is unknown, a 2013 Environmental Impact Statement for the Rosemont Mine, now part of the Copper World project, estimated 110 one-way heavy truck trips per day. Even the relatively few trucks now travelling to the mine site along unpaved Santa Rita Road are causing a huge dust problem. 

Background on Hudbay's improper Class II air permit

In January 2025, Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Farmers Investment Co. have appealed the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s (ADEQ) decision to grant an air pollution permit to the Copper World mine. The state permit, issued Jan. 2, would allow Hudbay Minerals to blast a series of open pit copper mines that will destroy the northern half of the Santa Rita mountain range. The open pits will release thousands of tons of harmful air pollution including dangerous particulate matter, heavy metals and other hazardous air pollutants.

The appeal maintains that ADEQ  improperly calculated the amount of particulate matter the mine will release, and used this miscalculation to give the mine a Class II air permit instead of the required Class I that would better protect people’s health. 

The Class II permit fails to include advanced controls for particulate matter pollution, such as enclosing mining stockpiles and using state-of-the-art engineering to contain and control pollution from mining waste dumps, including a toxic slurry of tailings.

The permit will allow Hudbay to pile massive tailings dumps containing toxic chemicals like lead, cadmium and arsenic near homes and schools in the Corona de Tucson community. Our frequent strong winds will blow this dust into the community. This is already an ongoing problem in Green Valley and Sahuarita, where tailings dust from the Sierrita and Mission mines have repeatedly blanketed the area. 

We know that everyone comes to this issue with their own concerns. Whether you are a nearby resident with specific fears about air quality, truck traffic, and property values, or a lover of the Santa Ritas who doesn't want to see this area of rich bioversity destroyed and our aquifers depleted, you are welcome in this fight!

We created this sample letter as a general template to contact elected officials and urge them to voice opposition to the Copper World mining project. Please use your own language and adapt to your area of interest.