Save the Scenic Santa Ritas

Fighting to protect the Santa Rita and Patagonia Mountains from the devastating impacts of mining.

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Two Southern Arizona Plants Proposed for Endangered Species Act Protection

December 5, 2019 By Lisa Froelich Leave a Comment

Dec. 5th, 2019

TUCSON, Ariz.— In response to a petition and lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity, two southern Arizona plants were proposed for Endangered Species Act protection today.

Bartram’s stonecrop and beardless chinchweed are two of a dozen imperiled animals and plants threatened by the proposed Rosemont Copper Mine near Tucson, which would impact more than 145,000 acres of wildlife habitat.

Bartram’s stonecrop – image courtesy of Center for Biological Diversity

Beardless chinchweed, a type of sunflower, would be protected as endangered with 10,604 acres of critical habitat. Bartram’s stonecrop would be protected as threatened.

Read full press release from the Center For Biological Diversity…

Filed Under: Featured, News

Media Release: Conservation Groups Applaud Clean Water Act Decision State Suspends Effort to Assume Key Provision of Federal Law

December 4, 2019 By santaritas Leave a Comment

PHOENIX — Conservation groups applauded the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) decision to not pursue authority over a key provision of the federal Clean Water Act. The groups had submitted comments in November and throughout the stakeholder process, raising concerns about the ADEQ effectively enforcing this important provision in the law, which protects U.S. waterways from pollution, degradation, and disturbance by industrial and development projects. (Click here to read full release)

Las Cienegas

Filed Under: Featured, News, Water

Rosemont suspends well-repair program east of Sahuarita

December 3, 2019 By Lisa Froelich Leave a Comment

Well owners east of Sahuarita who have had their maintenance and repair bills picked up by Rosemont copper mine for the past decade will have to go it alone, at least for now.

Mine owner HudBay Minerals said in a letter dated Nov. 26 it is suspending its agreement as of Dec. 31, because “we no longer have the Forest Service approvals required to begin mining activities on the federal lands.”

The Rosemont Residential Water Well Protection Plan went into effect Dec. 1, 2009, between Rosemont Copper Co. and 313 families on 144 residential wells in Sahuarita Heights. The agreement remained intact when HudBay bought the mine site in 2014.

Read full article in the Green Valley News…

Filed Under: News

Hudbay’s Motion for Reconsideration Denied

November 1, 2019 By Lisa Froelich 2 Comments

On Friday, 25 October, Judge James Soto’s issued his response to Hudbay’s motion for reconsideration. He only took 1 ½ pages to deny it. He briefly summarized the law on the subject and made several statements including:

  • “motions for reconsideration should be granted only in rare circumstances,” 
  • “nor may a motion for reconsideration repeat any argument previously made in support of or in opposition to a motion,” and
  • “mere disagreement with a previous order is an insufficient basis for reconsideration.”

His conclusion: “The Court has reviewed the record in this case. The Court finds no basis to reconsider its decision. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that Rosemont’s motion for reconsideration is …denied.”
 
He also denied Rosemont/Hudbay’s request for oral argument by saying, “Because the briefing (that is, what was presented in writing and verbally in court) is adequate and oral argument will not help in resolving this matter, oral argument is denied.”

Judge Soto’s decision was not really a surprise, but we are pleased to see it. It seemed as if Rosemont/Hudbay was just using the request for reconsideration as a stalling tactic. But, now the 60-day clock  starts ticking; i.e., Rosemont/Hudbay have 60 days to file an appeal with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals of Judge Soto’s 31 July decision. They will very likely do that. It is our understanding that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is very backlogged and, thus, this case will not be heard for at least 18 months. Our legal beagle guys and gals are keeping a close eye on everything.  

For more info, see the latest news article in the Arizona Daily Star:

https://tucson.com/news/local/judge-won-t-reconsider-his-ruling-stopping-the-rosemont-mine/article_f57a0ac1-58a2-50a6-b3b8-d3ee6cff978b.html
 

Filed Under: Litigation, News

Hudbay continues to scale back at Rosemont site

October 14, 2019 By Lisa Froelich 1 Comment

Things continue to be quiet at the Rosemont site, and it would appear that Hudbay continues to scale back operations. Compare the below images…the first taken late August, and the second taken in October. As you can see, the large stacks of water pipes that were on site in August have since been removed.

Storage yard at Rosemont, August 2019
Storage yard at Rosemont, Oct. 2019

Filed Under: Featured, News

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Recent Posts

  • Litigation Schedule February 17, 2021
  • Links to recent news and letters – 2021 February 15, 2021
  • Links to recent news and letters – 2020 December 31, 2020
  • Long Mountain – a film by Leslie Epperson July 8, 2020
  • A major win for endangered species in the Santa Ritas February 13, 2020

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RSS Latest from Rosemont Mine Truth

  • Pima County reaffirms resolution opposing Rosemont Mine April 19, 2019
  • Hudbay approves $122 million spending plan for “early works” at Rosemont March 29, 2019
  • Hudbay seeking Rosemont Mine joint venture partner after receiving key federal Clean Water Act permit March 15, 2019
  • Hudbay has failed to provide legal justification for Clean Water Act permit, Natural Resources Committee chairman says March 5, 2019

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Litigation Update

Speaking of which (the appeal originally filed in Nov. 2017 challenging the Forest Service’s approval of the mine), we now have a schedule for that case in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals – not definitive, but at least a general time frame:

 

After a lot of negotiating, the lawyers have come to an agreement on the final schedule of our cases before the 9th Circuit Appeals Court. Here is the updated schedule:

  • Feds opening brief due by 1 June 2020
  • Hudbay opening brief due by 15 June 2020
  • Then, our response by 3 September 2020
  • Feds optional reply brief by 2 November 2020
  • Hudbay optional reply brief by 9 November 2020

Click here for more updates

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