Facts about the proposed Rosemont Copper mine the Arizona Daily Star editorial writers should have considered before writing the January 19, 2014 editorial. From Save the Scenic Santa Ritas
Arizona Daily Star: Rosemont Copper has met extensive government requirements to improve its mine proposal, and so it is time to accept that the mine will be built.
Fact: Rosemont has not “met extensive government requirements to improve its mine proposal.” First, the Forest Service hasn't even issued its final decision. Although the draft decision is to approve the plan, there is currently a formal objection process that requires review by the Regional Forester. Given the many serious shortcomings in the Forest Service's latest analysis - including data and analyses that the agency admits are missing from the document - there's no guarantee that Rosemont will get its Forest Service permit this spring. More importantly, just this past November, the EPA recommended that an essential Rosemont water pollution permit be denied. In a letter sent to the US Army Corps of Engineers, the EPA said that based on its comprehensive review "the proposed Rosemont project does not comply" with Clean Water Act guidelines and "should not be permitted as proposed”.
Arizona Daily Star: Nearly six years have passed since the federal government began studying Rosemont’s plan to dig a pit in the Coronado National Forest nearly 21⁄2 times the size of the University of Arizona’s 391-acre campus. That’s been adequate to assess the considerable environmental dangers and to devise plans to limit them.
Fact: The impacts of the proposed Rosemont mine are permanent and devastating. It will dig a massive open-pit copper mine, 1 mile rim-to-rim and a 1⁄2 mine deep and pile mine waste 600-800 ft in a drainage that provides groundwater recharge to the Tucson basin. It will PERMANENTLY destroy the Santa Rita Mountains, one of the spectacular mountain ranges that make Tucson and southern Arizona a great place to live and work.
Any amount of time it takes for Rosemont to get its regulatory and legal approvals does not compare to the PERMANENT destruction this project will wreak on southern Arizona for generations in perpetuity.
Arizona Daily Star: Rosemont says it will spend an additional $300 million to $400 million to meet those requirements.
Fact: The amount Rosemont “says it will spend” does not compare to the amount of money Rosemont and its foreign investors will make from extracting these minerals from this publicly-owned land. Rosemont will take billions of dollars in gold, silver, copper and other precious metals off our National Forest lands and they won't pay a penny in royalties in return. All we get is the permanent destruction of our mountains, a polluted pit lake, and thousands of acres of potentially toxic mine waste laced with mercury, lead, arsenic and other dangerous poisons.
Arizona Daily Star: Now, negotiations between governments and the company should proceed toward final approval.
Fact: As reported previously in the Arizona Daily Star, the EPA has recommended the denial of the Rosemont Clean Water Act permit. It seems that this statement is presumptuous. Denial of this permit kills the mine.
Arizona Daily Star: We believe that Rosemont will be able to meet its legal and regulatory obligations.
Fact: It is not clear upon what this statement is based. But the facts are:
Rosemont is a company that has never mined an ounce of copper; and
its senior leadership has a track record of bankruptcies, cease trade orders and stock exchange delistings. Their business practices have resulted in a legacy of environmental devastation elsewhere, and, other than a lot slick public relations and self-serving promises, they've shown little to indicate that the Rosemont mine would be any different.
Arizona Daily Star: Rosemont has land near Sahuarita for wells and has a state permit to pump 6,000 acre-feet annually over the mountains to the mine site.
Fact: Rosemont promises that it will only pump 6,000 acre-feet annually. However, as suggested in the editorial, State Law permits them to pump as much water as possible. Promises that are not legally enforceable are meaningless.
Arizona Daily Star: Rosemont is doing more than law requires when it comes to groundwater. It has offered to pay to extend to Green Valley the Central Arizona Project line that already brings Colorado River water to Tucson. The Community Water Co. of Green Valley has an annual allocation of 2,858 acre feet of Colorado River water but cannot reasonably afford to have it delivered. If Community Water can get CAP water, that could be recharged and help offset groundwater use.
Fact: Rosemont's promises to recharge water to offset its groundwater pumping are just that, promises. Even the Forest Service repeatedly warns that any groundwater recharge by Rosemont is entirely voluntary. If they don't recharge that groundwater, no one can do anything about it. When you take into account that Rosemont has yet to secure the necessary permits and a recharge site, its recharge promises are nothing more than cynical PR ploys intended to divert attention away from the real issues – Rosemont’s potentially unlimited groundwater pumping and the environmental devastation that it would cause.Mission accomplished as far as the Arizona Daily Star is concerned.
Arizona Daily Star: If monitoring shows the mine is causing unforeseen damage, government regulators must act quickly to stop or ameliorate it.
Fact: Again, this mine will cause PERMANENT destruction of our mountains and threaten our drinking water. Suggesting that we try to stop it after it occurs is ridiculous. In fact, the groundwater pollution permit proposed by Rosemont and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality would allow Rosemont to "monitor" groundwater pollution for at least two years before taking any action. That's just one of the reasons area residents are challenging it in court.
Bottom Line: The Arizona Daily Star apparently believes that 400 temporary jobs are worth more than the permanent destruction of the Santa Rita Mountains and the billions of dollars they contribute to southeastern Arizona's economy through clean water supplies, recreation, tourism, and dark skies. The Rosemont mine threatens our economy, our water, our wildlife and our quality of life.