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URGENT ACTION: SSSR triumphs in lawsuit but we need to email Governor Hobbs TODAY to secure the win!

We are beyond thrilled to share the news that we won our lawsuit against the State of Arizona for unlawfully granting a right-of-way to Hudbay! Read the press release to learn more. This win opens the door to severely limiting Copper World’s expansion on the west side.


 

WE NEED YOU NOW TO WIN THIS FIGHT!!

 

The Judge ruled the appeals board has 30 days to cure the Open Meetings Law violation by holding another public meeting that includes posting an agenda that accurately reflects the purpose of the right-of-way.

 

Demand that Governor Hobbs immediately direct the Arizona State Land Department to not grant a right-of-way for Hudbay and Copper World to operate across the Santa Rita Experimental Range.


The right-of-way is the lynchpin to Hudbay’s plans to construct a series of open pit copper mines on the west and east flanks of the Santa Rita Mountains about 35 miles south of Tucson. The right-of-way connects Copper World’s processing operations with nonadjacent land where the company intends to dump millions of tons of mine tailings.

 

PLEASE EMAIL THESE ADDRESSES TODAY. 


We've provided you with two text options to choose from. A short text to copy/paste, and a longer sample letter you can download below.


OPTION 1 - SHORT LETTER to COPY/PASTE


  • Dear Governor Hobbs,


    We respectfully request that you take all actions necessary to stop the land department and the appeals board from taking any action to cure the Open Meeting Law violation carried out in granting a right-of-way for the Copper World mine project. For the good of the citizens of Arizona, you must direct the Arizona state land department to REVOKE THE RIGHT-OF-WAY.


    Thank you!


OPTION 2 - LONGER LETTER WITH MORE DETAIL


We've made the sample letters available in two formats, GOOGLE DOC OR WORD DOC 




 

EXCERPT FROM PRESS RELEASE



September 18, 2024

 

Contacts:

 

 

 

State violated the Open Meetings Law when it approved the value of a crucial right-of-way for the Copper World mine

 

Tucson, AZ—A Maricopa County Superior Court has ruled the Arizona State Land Department’s Board of Appeals violated the Open Meetings Law when it approved the value of a right-of-way for Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals’ Copper World mine project.

 

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott A. Blaney ruled the Board of Appeals failed to disclose in its Dec. 8, 2022, public meeting notice that the right-of-way would include two pipelines that would transport mining waste, known as tailings, across a portion of the state-owned Santa Rita Experimental Range.

 

Hudbay was required to obtain the appeals board’s approval of the value of the right-of-way prior to the state Land Department issuing it to Hudbay in January 2023.

 

Save the Scenic Santa Ritas Association and Farmers Investment Co., a Sahuarita pecan farming operation, filed the lawsuit last January. Judge Blaney signed the ruling on Sept. 9 but the decision was not publicly available until Tuesday. The judge stated the plaintiffs are entitled to request an award for their attorney fees.

 

The ruling determined that land department bureaucrats did not disclose to the appeals board prior to its Dec. 8, 2022 meeting that Hudbay intended to construct six pipelines in the right-of-way, including two for mining waste called tailings. Instead, the department submitted a Right-of-Way Recommendation to the board that called for it to approve a valuation for only “two aboveground 24” water transmission pipelines”, among other infrastructure. The board unanimously approved the recommendation on its consent agenda.

 

The  court found that a land department employee subsequently made “material” hand-written changes to the Right-of-Way Recommendation. The department employee changed the number of pipelines approved by the board from two to six and removed the word “water,” thereby clearing the way for tailings pipelines. The changes were subsequently incorporated in the right-of-way issued to Hudbay.




 

COPPER WORLD IN THE NEWS




 

We want to thank this community for your unwavering support over the years. This is a major step in our ongoing campaign to stop Copper World's expansion on the west side of the Santa Ritas.


We want to especially thank our generous donors. Litigation like this is always significantly more costly than we expect and as a small non-profit, we truly couldn’t do any of our work without you.



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