Save the Scenic Santa Ritas

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

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Hudbay again reduces Rosemont spending

January 23, 2017 By Lisa Froelich Leave a Comment

Rosemont Mine Truth
January 23, 2017

Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc. plans to spend $20 million in 2017 on its proposed Rosemont open-pit copper mine, down from $30 million last year and $50 million in 2015.

“Arizona spending of $20 million on the Rosemont project is intended to support ongoing permitting efforts,” Hudbay reported last week.

The roll-back in investment in Rosemont comes at the same time Hudbay states it may challenge the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to require Hudbay’s subsidiary Rosemont Copper Company to obtain a Clean Water Act permit before construction can begin on the $1.5 billion mine. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Rosemont in the News, SSSR News

Media Release: Army Corps Recommends Denial of 404 Permit

August 11, 2016 By santaritas Leave a Comment

Army Corps’ recommendation to deny Rosemont a Clean Water Act permit follows years of warnings that the proposed mine fails to comply with the law

(Tucson, Ariz.) Last month’s recommendation by the US Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles district to deny a required Clean Water Act (CWA) permit for the proposed Rosemont mine is consistent with repeated warnings by state and federal agencies that the project failed to comply with the law.

Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc., the owner of the Rosemont project, has failed to submit a mitigation plan to compensate for the destruction of desert wetlands that meets the CWA’s requirements under Section 404 of the law.

In 2014, the Army Corps notified the previous owners of the Rosemont project that its Sec. 404 mitigation plan was insufficient. No new mitigation plan has been offered since that time.

The Corps’ district recommendation has been forwarded to the San Francisco regional office, which is expected to make a final decision in the near future.

Click here to read full release

Filed Under: News, SSSR News

Release of Fish and Wildlife Service opinion on Endangered Species signals the beginning of the end of the Rosemont Mine



May 4, 2016 By santaritas Leave a Comment

As expected, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service today issued a biological opinion that Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals’ proposed massive Rosemont open-pit copper mine “is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence” of a dozen threatened and endangered species including the only known wild jaguar in the U.S. Release of the opinion clears the way for other federal agencies to make crucial regulatory decisions on the ultimate fate of the Rosemont project.

“For years, the Fish and Wildlife Service has issued biological opinions that have been successfully challenged in Federal Court, and we expect that is what will happen here,” said Gayle Hartmann, President of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas. “The Rosemont project will destroy the habitat of endangered species with its half-mile deep open pit and mine waste piles stacked 600-800 feet high spread over five square miles of the Coronado National Forest.”

Rather than stopping the mine, the biological opinion calls for “reasonable and prudent measures” to minimize mine impacts including some that are left to the discretion of relevant agencies.

The FWS biological opinion is in stark contrast to the views of the other wildlife managers. The Arizona Game and Fish Department concluded: “the [Rosemont Copper] project will render the northern portion of the Santa Rita Mountains virtually worthless as wildlife habitat and as a functioning ecosystem, and thus also worthless for wildlife recreation.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: News, SSSR News

Media Release: Survival of America’s only known wild jaguar seriously threatened by proposed Rosemont Mine

February 8, 2016 By santaritas Leave a Comment

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TUCSON, Ariz., Feb. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — A trail camera video of America’s only known wild jaguar is attracting widespread media and focusing attention on the direct threat to the survival of this endangered predator by the proposed Rosemont Copper Mine.

The video clips taken by the Center for Biological Diversity and Conservation CATalyst show the jaguar prowling through mountain woodlands and desert streams that would be impacted by the proposed mile-wide, half-mile deep copper mine that will dump hundreds of millions of tons of potentially toxic mine waste on the Coronado National Forest.

Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc. is seeking state and federal permits to construct the open-pit mine in the Santa Rita Mountains on the Coronado National Forest southeast of Tucson. The proposed mine would destroy more than 3,000 acres of national forest, obliterate miles of rare desert waterways that support a dozen threatened and endangered species including the jaguar and threatens the water supply for the fragile Las Cienegas National Conservation Area.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is preparing a biological opinion on the mine’s impact on endangered species, including the jaguar.  If FWS determines the mine project may adversely impact an endangered species, but not jeopardize its continued existence, the FWS may allow the “incidental take” of an endangered species that could result in the death of the jaguar known as El Jefe. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, SSSR News

Court Overturns Rosemont Air Pollution Permit – ADEQ decision ruled “not supported by evidence” and “an abuse of discretion”

March 6, 2015 By santaritas Leave a Comment

Court Overturns Rosemont Air Pollution Permit ADEQ decision ruled “not supported by evidence” and “an abuse of discretion”

(Phoenix, Ariz.) A Maricopa County (AZ) Superior Court today overturned a key air pollution permit for Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals’ proposed Rosemont copper mine. Judge Crane McClennen ruled the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) acted “contrary to law” in its January 2013 decision to issue Rosemont the permit.

In completely adopting the evidence and arguments presented by SSSR, the court found the state relied on flawed data provided by Rosemont that was designed to understate the air pollution impact of the proposed $1.5 billion open pit copper mine.

McClennen stated in his ruling that ADEQ’s decision to issue the permit “was arbitrary and capricious,” an “abuse of discretion,” and “not supported by substantial evidence.”

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by Save the Scenic Santa Ritas (SSSR), a southern Arizona coalition opposing the mine. SSSR provided evidence that Rosemont had manipulated its data in an attempt to convince ADEQ that pollution from the mine would not violate applicable air quality and health standards. SSSR showed if appropriate modeling were used, Rosemont’s operations would indeed violate these standards. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, SSSR 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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