Save the Scenic Santa Ritas

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

Close×
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact
    • Board of Directors and Staff
    • Endorsements
    • Opposition and Resolutions
    • Volunteers and Friends
  • Background
    • Rosemont Mine
      • History
      • Impacts
        • Air Quality
        • Land Use
        • Wildlife and Habitat
        • Scenic Views
        • Heritage
        • Recreation
        • Economy
        • Water and Hydrology
    • Legislation
    • Copper
    • Patagonia Area Mines
  • In the News
  • Action
    • What Can I Do?
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
    • Join Mailing List
    • Endorse Us
    • SSSR Presentation
    • Show Your Support
    • Letter Writing
  • Events
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
    • Visual Media
    • Links
    • Documents and Reports
    • 1872 Mining Law
    • Inspiration
  • Projects
    • Lens on the Land
      • Biodiversity
      • Culture
      • Economy: Industry, Tourism & Recreation
      • The Land
      • Night Sky and Astronomy
      • Water Resources
    • Rosemont Mine Truth
  • Newsletter

News articles August 2011

August 7, 2011 By Administrator Leave a Comment


Rosemont OK isn’t a given

Corps of Engineers says it can deny mine permit

By Tony Davis, Arizona Daily Star
Sunday, August 7, 2011

While the U.S. Forest Service says it can’t legally say “no” to the proposed Rosemont Mine, another federal agency says it can.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which must act to grant or deny a permit for the mine under the federal Clean Water Act, says a permit denial could stop the project proposed on private and public land in the Santa Ritas southeast of Tucson.

Rosemont Copper hasn’t yet filed a formal permit application with the corps. Agency officials have no position on how they’ll act on that application.

But the corps says it can say “no” if it determines that the project isn’t in the public interest and isn’t the least damaging, “practicable” alternative. That’s a legal term essentially meaning a project that can be feasibly done at a reasonable cost.

Under the Clean Water Act, Rosemont Copper must obtain a permit from the corps to build diversion structures to reroute water now running in washes around various proposed mine facilities, including its open pit. Such permits are typically required for placement or discharge of fill material into rivers, streams, washes and adjacent wetlands that fall under the corps’ legal jurisdiction.

Five law professors around the country, including three with experience on Clean Water Act issues, and an attorney for the property-rights-oriented Pacific Legal Foundation agreed that the Corps of Engineers can legally deny a permit for a mine on federal land.

Read more: http://azstarnet.com/business/local/article_bc66bf97-1e8f-566e-8364-d48d83409cff.html

Proposed copper mine near Tucson remains in limbo

By Tony Davis, Arizona Daily Star

Sunday, August 7, 2011

A proposed southern Arizona mine that would dig up 234 million pounds of copper annually remains in limbo awaiting permit applications and federal approval.

The U.S. Forest Service says it can’t legally say “no” to the proposed Rosemont Copper Co. mine on public and private land in the Santa Rita Mountains, some 30 miles southeast of Tucson.

However, Rosemont Copper has yet to file a formal permit application with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The agency must act to grant or deny a permit for the mine under the federal Clean Water Act, and a permit denial could stop the project.

Under the Clean Water Act, Rosemont Copper must obtain a permit from the corps to build diversion structures to reroute water now running in washes around various proposed mine facilities, including its open pit.

Such permits are typically required for placement or discharge of fill material into rivers, streams, washes and adjacent wetlands that fall under the corps’ legal jurisdiction.

Five law professors around the country, including three with experience on Clean Water Act issues, and an attorney for the property-rights-oriented Pacific Legal Foundation agreed that the Corps of Engineers can legally deny a permit for a mine on federal land.

Read more: http://azstarnet.com/news/state-and-regional/article_9375810e-5818-5434-b688-851d837de0fb.html


County faults Rosemont on roads

Saturday, August 6, 2011
By Philip Franchine, Green Valley News

Pima County fired another shot at the proposed Rosemont Mine on Monday, telling the Forest Service that the mine would require $27 million in public spending on roads, but has only committed $211,743 to public agencies for road work.

The county says the mine will cause $14.6 million in damage to 44 miles of primary access roads and would require $13 million to add lanes to Highway 83, the route for mining trucks hauling ore.

That criticism was among several that Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry submitted Monday in the county’s second round of comments on the Coronado National Forest’s working Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).

The proposed open pit mine would be about a mile wide and would be on private and public land just east of the ridge line in the northern Santa Rita Mountains.

The Forest Service has said in the DEIS that it cannot block the mine as long as it complies with environmental laws. Pima County argues that if the Forest Service cannot stop the mine, it should require the mine to pay for mitigation measures, but that such requirements are lacking in the DEIS.

Huckelberry said the ADEIS said heavy mining trucks will increase maintenance costs on Highway 83 but the document did not provide cost figures.

“Incredibly, it is assumed impacts are limited to Highway 83 when other sections of the ADEIS state that trucks will be transporting heavy material and equipment between the mine and the Port of Tucson, which is located at Kolb and Valencia, and would include city and county roads, as well as Interstate 10,” he wrote.

One measure the county advocates is backfilling the mine’s entire planned open pit, not just part of it. The new comments say that would have “tremendous positive impacts for reducing what would otherwise be irretrievable losses of habitat, scenic views and water resources,” and would also have economic benefits.

The working DEIS gives a cost estimate of $90 million for backfilling part of the mine pit, and Huckelberry asked whether that figure was “purposely inflated” to make it sound impractical.

Rosemont officials could not be reached Friday but have said that filling the pit is not a reasonable option.

Forest Service officials have declined comment while the EIS process is under way.

Aug. 1 was the deadline for public agencies to submit comments. The Forest Service will incorporate those comments in a formal DEIS, which will be published for public comments this fall. The current Forest Service Schedule of Proposed Actions lists Jan. 20, 2012, as the date a decision is expected on the mine proposal.


Rosemont Mine face-off in Tucson

Monday, August 1, 2011
By David Rookhuyzen, Green Valley News

Representatives of the proposed Rosemont mine and its chief opposition sparred over matters of economy and ecology during a meeting Wednesday of the Southern Arizona Green Chamber of Commerce.

Jeff Cornoyer, senior geologist for Rosemont Copper, and Morris Farr, vice president for Save Our Scenic Santa Ritas, gave presentations and answered questions about the effects of the controversial mine slated to be built in the Santa Rita Mountains about 30 miles southeast of Tucson.

Cornoyer continued the company’s promotion of the economic benefits of the mine, highlighting the 400 direct and 1,700 indirect jobs in the area that Rosemont says the mine will create. Cornoyer compared the potential annual revenue to other big events the state has hosted.

“That’s one Super Bowl and two Gem and Mineral Shows for every year the mine is in operation,” Cornoyer said.

He also touched on the environmentally conscious aspects of the mine, such as LEED-compliant buildings, using electric shovels instead of hydraulic, and filtering tailings to recycle water and not leave any lakes or ponds behind.

Cornoyer repeated the mine’s goal of having a zero-impact on the local aquifer and said it had already banked nine years of water to be put back into the ground.

Farr argued the local economy would grow better without the mine, as companies and individuals continue to move to the unmarred, scenic area.

If the mine does not move in, Farr said, his town of Sonoita alone could add more than 400 permanent, wage-earning residents, instead of the 400 direct mining jobs that would leave after the mine’s expected 20-year lifespan.

Farr  derided Rosemont’s claims of ecological sustainability, pointing out the mine has a projected lifetime of 20 years and a vast, open pit, several times deeper than the height of the Tucson skyline, will be left behind.

He also expressed skepticism of the mine’s reclamation plans for the tailings, saying the method has never been tested on this scale.

“I don’t know if we in Arizona want to be Rosemont’s experiment,” he said.

Filed Under: Rosemont

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

  • LENS ON THE LAND May 16, 2023
  • 1872 MINING LAW May 16, 2023
  • SENATE BILL FAVORS HUDBAY May 16, 2023
  • HUDBAY LEGACY May 16, 2023
  • “DIRTY MINING TRUMPS ALL OTHER USES” ACT May 8, 2023
  • See Our detailed letter to the Arizona State Land Department April 18, 2023
  • HUDBAY’S NEGATIVE IMPACTS TO ALL OUR BACKYARDS  April 18, 2023
  • Guardians of The Santa Ritas April 18, 2023
  • Pima County Urges Arizona State Land Department To Deny Hudbay’s Request To Purchase 200 Acres For Tailings And Rubble  April 11, 2023
  • Federal Memo May Bolster Hudbay’s Position on Rosemont Mine Site March 16, 2023

Newsletter Sign-Up

You will receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription by clicking on a link. If you don’t see the email right away in your inbox, please check the junk folder.

You will NOT be added UNLESS you confirm your subscription. Thank you!

COPPER MINE TOXINS

In this video Dr. Hart describes how copper mines fail to prevent toxins concentrated in tailing piles and ponds from polluting our air and water. WATCH NOW video by John Grahame

Copper Mines and Aquifers

Dr. Stanley Hart describes the impact of copper mining on underground aquifers, both how much groundwater is used and where it ends up. WATCH NOW video by John Grahame

Why Mine the Santa Ritas? – Dr. Stanley Hart

Dr. Stanley R. Hart, Scientist Emeritus at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, talks with a group from Save the Scenic Santa Ritas about the factors that are causing HudBay Corporation to pursue development of a large open pit mine (“Copper World”) in the Santa Rita Mountains near Sahuarita in southern Arizona. WATCH NOW video by John Grahame

Geology of the Santa Ritas — Dr. Stanley Hart

Dr. Stanley R. Hart talks with a group from Save the Scenic Santa Ritas about the geology of this Sky Island mountain range near Sahuarita in southern Arizona. Dr. Hart is Scientist Emeritus at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. WATCH NOW video by John Grahame

Rosemont/ Copper World Mine Complex News

LENS ON THE LAND

1872 MINING LAW

SENATE BILL FAVORS HUDBAY

HUDBAY LEGACY

“DIRTY MINING TRUMPS ALL OTHER USES” ACT

See Our detailed letter to the Arizona State Land Department

More Posts from this Category

Update on Lake Mead and Lake Powell water levels

Watch the April video update about Lake Mead, new water restrictions in Las Vegas, and news from Lake Powell.
WATCH NOW

Copper World Flyover January 6, 2023 by David Steele

Another shocking sight of the incredible destruction happening on our beautiful Santa Ritas.WATCH VIDEO NOW

Russ McSpadden’s recent fly-over showing mine activity

In Nov 2022 Russ captured recent bulldozing in the Santa Rita Mountains. His video starts over the Rosemont mine project on the east side and then swings over the Copper World project on the west side. WATCH VIDEO NOW

Explore the proposed Rosemont and Copper World projects virtually

Check out Pima County’s updated map of the proposed mine site. Click on any spot on the map for ownership/status information. Mapping details are based on Hudbay’s PEA dated May 1.

Proposed Rosemont/ Copper World Mine Complex

Image compilation of the area

LENS ON THE LAND

Sign the Petition

Please ask Commissioner Arizona State Land Department Ms. Robyn Sahid to deny request by Rosemont Copper Company for the department to sell at auction two noncontiguous parcels of State Trust land totaling 200 acres.

SIGN HERE

Recommended Reading List

Browse HERE over 30 titles of carefully selected books in various categories including: copper, water, mining, wilderness, exploration, and more. Your purchase supports the efforts of the SSSR

January 2023 Powerpoint Presentation

Click here to download (PDF)

Litigation Update

There have been two recent judicial rulings on the Rosemont Copper Company projects — one favorable and one unfavorable.

Click here to learn more

The latest on Hudbay’s Copper World project in the Santa Rita Mountains

Click here to download (PDF)

Where is the Rosemont/Copper World Mine Complex?

Click here for directions

HELP US PROTECT THE SANTA RITAS

Close×

Copyright © 2023 · Save the Scenic Santa Ritas