Arizona Mining Reform Coalition

The Arizona Mining Reform Coalition is comprised of Arizona groups and individuals that work to ensure that responsible mining contributes to healthy communities, a healthy environment, and, when all costs are factored in, is a net benefit to Arizona. The Arizona Mining Reform Coalition expects the mining industry to clean up after itself, comply fully with the spirit of safeguards in place to protect Arizona, and to interact in a transparent and open manner with Arizona citizens.

Forest Service Extends Comment Deadline for Rosemont DEIS

Rosemont Valley in 2010The Forest Service has extended its deadline for comments on its Draft Environmental Impact Statement on Augusta Resource's proposal to build an open pit mine in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson, AZ.

This proposal would devastate a recreational and ecological haven.

Please take action and send the Forest Service, who manages the public land that Augusta wants to destroy to build the mine, a letter asking them to say no to the Rosemont mine proposal. This is the wrong mine, in the wrong place, proposed by the wrong company. The Santa Rita Mountains have much higher value left alone then ripped up for 20 years of short term profits for a foreign investment company.

The new deadline is January 31.

Please follow the instructions below and take action. Then send this alert along to your friends and colleagues.

Thanks,
Roger Featherstone, Director

INSTRUCTIONS:

Go to the action page.
Send/amend the sample letter at action page bottom.
Personalized emails & email subject headers make a much greater impact.
For more information, go to the action page.
That's it! Thanks for taking action.

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Johnson Camp mine public meeting December 1

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) will be holding a public meeting on Thursday, December 1st to take public comment on the draft amendment to the APP for the Johnson Camp Mine. The meeting will begin at 5:30 and will be held in Benson at the Benson City Council Chamber, 120 W. 6th St., Benson AZ 85602, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 PM. Nord Resources Cooperation, the current owner of the mine, will be giving a presentation before the meeting at the same location (the Benson City Council Chamber) starting at 5:00.

Please attend the meeting and make oral comments on the permit.

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Stand up for the Santa Ritas. Say no to Augusta Resources proposed mine.

At the first public hearing for its proposed open-pit copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains, we were outgunned.Rosemont Valley Augusta again bussed in supporters for the hearing after feeding them lunch and opponents of the proposed mine were few and far between.

It was a disappointment, but not a shock: The Coronado National Forest let Rosemont Copper's PR firm handle the arrangements for the public meetings.

We need you to turn out for this Saturday's hearing and tell the Forest Service what you think of this incredibly damaging proposal, which would pollute our air and water and drive several species in our beloved Sky Islands closer to extinction.

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Oak Flat land exchange passes House

Today the US House of Representatives passed HR 1904, the Oak Flat Land Exchange with a 235 – 186 vote. The House also voted several amendments to the bill that wOak Flat Campgroundere offered by Representatives, Grijalva, (D-AZ), Markey (D-MA), and Lujan (D-NM). This is the first time the land exchange bill has made it through the House in the 6 years it has been introduced. The bill has never made it through the Senate and the House version of the bill is so bad, it will have tough going in the Senate. The bill continues to face opposition from both the Forest Service and the Department of Interior.

While the vote is disappointing, it was hardly unexpected given the anti-environmental make up of the House. Still, it was rewarding to see a great deal of pressure put on the House from all walks of life opposing the Oak Flat land exchange.

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Pima County Denies Augusta Air Quality Permit

On September 29, the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality denied Augusta Resource Corporation an air quality permit for the proposed Rosemont mine. Pima County cited a number of deficiencies in the permit application. (Read Pima County’s letter to Augusta here.) Augusta now has several options. They can appeal the decision, give up and go home, or they can submit a new, correct permit and try again.

This is good news and shows that Augusta does not have the wherewithal to handle the intricacies of building a mine. While this does not mean that the fight to protect the Santa Ritas is over, it does show that despite Augusta’s multi-million dollar PR campaign to bully Tucson and the surrounding communities into accepting their mine proposal, has fallen short.

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Proposed Florence In-Situ copper Mine a Bad Idea

Curis Resources, a Canadian Junior mining company is proposing an in-situ copper mine on the banks of the Gila River within the town boundaries of Florence, Arizona.

Don Steuter, the Conservation Chair of the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club (and one of our steering committee members), wrote an editorial about the proposed project which appeared in the Arizona Republic today.

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Letters opposing H.R 1904, the Oak Flat land Exchange

Several organizations have sent letters to the House Natural Resources Committee opposing the Oak Flat land exchange.

Of note are:

The Access Fund -- A national climbers advocacy group dedicated to climbing access and conservation.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation -- an organization dedicated to saving historic places and revitalizing America's communities.

Concerned Climbers of Arizona -- an organization advocating continued recreational access to climbing areas that are threatened by development or other forms of encroachment.

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Call today to stop the Oak Flat land exchange bill

We Love Oak Flat

The House Natural Resource Committee will be voting tomorrow, Wednesday, July 13th, on H.R, 1904, the Oak Flat land exchange bill.

Please call Members of the House Natural Resources Commitee today!

This bill is not only an unnecessary piece of special interest legislation that would severely impact precious water, natural resources, and religious freedom, but also would abrogate our nation’s environmental laws and short-circuit the normal process for approving mines on public land.

For more information about the bill see our fact sheet and for additional information see our written testimony submitted to the Natural Resources Committee about the bill.

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Gosar Introduces Oak Flat land Exchange Bill

On Friday afternoon, May 13th (yes on Friday the 13th), Representative Gosar (R-1st District) of Arizona, introduced H.R. 1904, his new version of the Oak Flat land exchange. Although he and his staff took the time to meet with Native American Tribes and with opposition groups, his new bill is actually worse than the final version of S. 409 in the last Congress. As a result, we must stop this bill from becoming law.

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