Water Warriors Gearing up for New Battle CPASA Seeks Informal Hearing on Ashby Mining Permit Application by John A
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C M Y K January 2-8, 2020 • Tishomingo, OK • 50 Cents Volume 119, Number 27 • 12 Pages Water warriors gearing up for new battle CPASA seeks informal hearing on Ashby mining permit application By John A. Small sensitive sole source groundwater ba- Managing Editor sin or sub-basin” - such as the Arbuck- le-Simpson Aquifer - until two condi- Just over a week after their latest tions are met. victory, area water warriors are gear- First, the state is required to com- ing up for yet another battle. plete a study on how groundwater The group Citizens for the Protec- withdrawals from the Arbuckle-Simp- tion of the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer son could impact the aquifer’s unique (CPASA) has filed a request for an spring and stream systems. Second, informal hearing regarding a mining agencies tasked with regulating water application filed by Ashby Invest- use and mining in the Arbuckle-Simp- ments LLC. According to a legal no- son area are required to work in coor- tice recently published in the Johnston dination to ensure data is being proper- County Sentinel, the company plans to ly reported. launch a mining operation just north of Under the law, the DEQ will be re- Ravia off Highway 1 and due south of quired to draw up final rules and the the Hansen Aggregates mining opera- coordination with the Oklahoma Wa- tion. ter Resources Board (OWRB) and the In a statement released late last Oklahoma Department of Mines. The week, CPASA President Amy Ford in- Arbuckle-Simpson feeds Pennington dicated that news of the Ashby permit Creek, the surface flow of which is application caught the group by sur- the sole source of water for the city of prise. Tishomingo. “We’re a little befuzzled as to why “Protecting southern and south- this application is moving forward eastern Oklahoma’s most precious through an agency that was directed resource continues to be one of my by statute this past legislative session top priorities at the Capitol,” McCall to not process new mining applications said at the time HB 2471 passed in the as of Nov., 1, 2019.” Ford said. House. “It is vital that we continue to The legislation Ford referred to, protect our water and ensure our com- C M House Bill 2471, was signed into law munities have stable and predictable by Gov. Kevin Stitt last May. The bill water use policies for recruiting and Y K was authored by State Speaker of the economic growth opportunities.” House Charles McCall (R-Atoka) - McCall also stated at the time that whose District 20 includes Johnston he had worked closely with all the var- County - and state Sen. Greg McCort- ious stakeholders in the development ney (R-Ada). of this bill, in an effort to ensure that The measure creates an indefinite the needs of those various interests are moratorium on the issuance of any F The above map, obtained from the Citizens for Protection of the new permits for mines that “overlies a See PERMIT Page 2 Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer website (www.cpasa.net), shows in red the approximate location of the proposed Ashby mining site north of Ravia. City home damaged in blaze No injuries were re- Sentinel that dispatchers show the building fully Chickasaw Nation says ‘no’ to ported in an early morn- received the 911 call at engulfed, Martin said ing fire that left a Tisho- 1 a.m., and that his fire- damage was mostly lim- mingo residence less fighters arrived at the ited to the structure’s ex- damaged than initially scene at 1:05 a.m. terior. state audit of tribal gaming feared. The Ravia Fire De- He noted that the bulk By John A. Small Instead, Colbert wrote, the state is The blaze occurred partment and Johnston of the damage was con- Managing Editor entitled to a copy of the report of the on the morning of Thurs- County EMS were also fined to the second floor financial audit which is prepared for day, Dec. 26, at 502 N. dispatched to the scene balcony area - where the For members of the Chickasaw the tribe and to meet with the auditors. Fisher. Tishomingo Fire to assist, Martin said. fire was reported to have Nation, the words “unconquered and Colbert said the Chickasaw Nation Chief Michael Martin While pictures taken started - adding that unconquerable” are more than simply hires an accounting firm - BKD CPAs told the Johnston County at the scene appear to some charring did occur a tribal motto. They are a source of & Advisors, headquartered in Spring- above a bedroom win- pride - a personification of the spirit of field. Mo. - to prepare a detailed inde- dow frame. resilience and determination that have pendent financial audit each year. “I thought both de- carried the Chickasaw people from Colbert said the firm has already partments did a heck of the forced removal from their ancient provided the report for the fiscal year a job working to save the homeland to the thriving, powerful na- ending Sept. 30, 2018. He added that structure and preventing tion they are in the 21st Century. the report for the fiscal year ending from becoming worse Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is learn- Sept. 30, 2019, should be delivered to than it could have been,” ing the hard way just how much Chick- the state in January. Martin said. asaw leaders take those words, and ev- “We believe these reports (and any “They managed erything they mean, to heart. follow-up discussions you may request to keep the fire from Administration officials confirmed with BKD) will provide you the infor- spreading inside the last Friday, Dec. 27, that Stitt recent- mation you believe you need,” Colbert house, and were able ly tried to up the ante in his ongoing wrote. to so with a minimal dispute with tribal leaders over gaming The Chickasaw Nation operates amount of either smoke compacts by sending a letter to all gam- many of the state’s best-known gaming or water damage.” ing tribes, informing them that the state facilities - including Remington Park in He added that every- intends to resume auditing their gaming Oklahoma City and the WinStar World one inside the building operations today (Thursday), Jan. 2. Casino and Resort along Interstate 35 was able to safely es- But the governor may have over- just north of the Oklahoma-Texas state cape. The fire is believed played his hand. According to news line - as well as a number of smaller to have been electrical reports released Monday, Chickasaw venues such as the casino located west nature. Gaming Commissioner Scott Colbert of Tishomingo Chevrolet. “We’re still not 100 responded to Stitt’s announcement by In the letter to the tribe dated Dec. F See FIRE Page 12 informing the state late last week that 18, the Stitt administration announced it cannot conduct its own audit of the that a compliance officer would be ar- tribe’s gaming operations. riving on Dec. 2 to conduct “an inves- “We believe you misapprehend the tigation of revenue of the Chickasaw Despite appearances, Tishomingo Fire State’s role in these matters,” Colbert Nation’s Class III gaming activity” in Chief Michael Martin told the Sentinel that said. He stated that the the language of 2018. the damage suffered in a Dec. 26 house fire the compact “does not authorize State Brandy Manek, state director of at 502 N. Fisher was minimal and mostly financial audits.” F See GAMING Page 3 confined to the upstairs exterior. Index Of Regular Features: Weekend Weather: Subscription Rates: Small Talk.........................Page 2 Milestones........................Page 6 FRIDAY: High of 63 F with considerable cloudiness In-County - $30 per year; Community News............Page 3 Chamber News.................Page 8 during the day. Stray evening shower is possible. SAT- Out-Of-County - $35 per year; Community Calendar......Page 4 Crime News......................Page 9 URDAY: Cooler, 54F, with clouds yielding to sun. Partly Out-Of State - $45 per year; cloudy overnight. SUNDAY: Sunny with high around 51F. School/Senior Menus......Page 5 Classifieds......................Page 11 Foreign - $35 Plus Postage. Overnight clear with low of 36F C M Contact us at (580) 371-0275; or [email protected] • Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Y K C M Y K Page 2 G JOHNSTON COUNTY SENTINEL G Thursday, January 2, 2020 Will you make those 31,536,000 seconds count...? All right, before anybody asks: I almost hate to admit it – seems But how often do we view that fi- No, I’m not making any New Year's like there’s always someone around nite block of time as what it truly is: a resolutions and, no, I’m not eating to tease me mercilessly whenever I do gift which we have done little if any- any black-eyed peas. (usually someone who doesn’t much Small Talk thing to deserve? The only New Year’s resolution appreciate my opinion on the whole John A. Small If I’ve learned nothing else in my I ever made is one I made years ago black-eyed peas thing) – but there’s a 56.5 years – and I’ll be the first to ad- when I was a teenager. That resolution line from a Star Trek movie that al- We can makes plans, we can write mit there’s a great deal I don’t know was a simple one: to not make a New ways comes to mind around this time out “to do” lists, we can promise our – I have learned this much; Time is Year’s resolution.