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Giffords, Grijalva move to stymie Rosemont Mine
Published on Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The U.S. Forest Service says it cannot stop development of the proposed Rosemont Copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains, but Southern Arizona’s two representatives in Congress have asked the Secretary of Agriculture to overrule the agency’s interpretation of the law.
U.S. Reps. Gabrielle Giffords and Raul Grijalva, both Democrats, have sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asking him to “direct the Forest Service to remain open to the possibility that their analysis will result in a ‘no action’ recommendation.”
Under federal environmental law, a “no action” finding would block development of the mine.
On June 5, the Coronado National Forest posted a document on its website saying the agency could not legally prevent the Rosemont Mine from using forest land for copper mining operations.
Three days earlier, the Pima County Board approved an agreement with the Forest Service to participate in the deliberations on the proposed mine about 40 miles southeast of Tucson. In that agreement, the county said it disagrees with the Forest Service’s assertion that it can’t block the development of the mine.
Augusta Resource has proposed building a copper mine largely on private land it owns but with processing operations and waste storage on Forest Service land.
The Forest Service plans to make a final ruling by July 2010, and spokesman John Able said the process is intended to “ensure such plans minimize adverse environmental impact.”
Copyright © 2009 Inside Tucson Business
Once again, our elected officials have sided with the special interests, rather than what would be best for Southern AZ. No, we don't need new jobs, not in this economy... Of course we could always spend our free time picking up the trash left by the illegal entrants as they come in and undercut us in the labor pool. Yeah... this goes in the books as one to remember come election day!
BY THE WAY, if you have not heard, we now have a CD 7 candidate!!!!! WOOHOO!!!
Hopefully soon we will have more to tell you, but she is on Facebook, her name is Ruth McClung. She can also be found on twitter.com/ruth4az. You can also visit her website soon at ruth4az.com! Welcome Ruth!
Last, but not least, with the Tucson Citizen failing, I do want to mention that Inside Tucson Business is filling in the gap nicely!
Posts
CORRECTION: Grijalva chooses WATER CONSERVATION over FREE TOXIC DUMP USAGE!
ReplyDeleteOk, so we're going to save some water instead of creating jobs in Southern Arizona - and we wonder why the economy is so bad here in the Tucson area.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, modern mining is a far cry from the mines of even 50 years ago. "Ugly piles of rock", I'll concede, but "toxic waste dump"? Nope. It's like saying a new focus hybrid has the same emissions as a 1950's Ford.
Don't get me wrong, I am all for preserving the environment to the best of my ability, however, it all must be done in balance. We need materials - if you can't grow it, you must mine it. It is in the ground right outside our back door. Would you rather we buy it from China, where they do NOT have the environmental controls and oversight that we have here? Use un-unionized labor? Have yet more of our money go overseas, making us a 2nd world country? Shipping wealth and jobs overseas is what has put us in this economic mess we are in right now. Shipping more wealth and jobs overseas will not get us out of it.
Sorry, but like I said, sometimes we must balance the trade-off, and go with what is better for the area as a whole, and do the less popular - but economically viable - thing.
These libs are all the same. You can't talk any sense into them!
ReplyDeleteThe Price We Pay Here in Tucson Actually Went Up Too Since Everyone Living Here is Doing Such a Great Job Conserving The Water.
ReplyDelete