PHOENIX — A state board has blocked construction of a controversial copper leaching operation beneath Florence, at least in the form it was proposed.
On Friday the Arizona Water Quality Appeals Board accepted the findings of an administrative law judge who concluded that the permit issued to Curis Resources by the state Department of Environmental Quality to pump acid into the ground would not adequately protect water quality. That report by Diane Mihalsky found a series of shortcomings.
But board members did not kill the project outright. They rejected Mihalsky’s recommendation that the permit for Florence Copper Inc. be entirely voided, concluding that would place an “unnecessary burden” on both the company and DEQ. Instead, they agreed to give the state and Curis a chance to make changes to the operating plan — and the conditions DEQ is imposing on the company — to put the proposed mining operation in compliance with state laws and regulations. The revised permit would require a new round of public hearings.
DEQ spokesman Mark Shafer defended the agency’s original decision. “We issued an environmentally protective permit,” he said, but acknowledged that since the judged disagreed, the agency thinks it is a good decision to take another look.
Rita Maguire, Curis’ general counsel for its Florence operation, said she is convinced Curis can meet any new permit requirements and that the mining operation eventually will be approved.
“This is not an insurmountable hurdle,” she said.
But Larry Crown, an attorney who represents critics who challenged the permit, said he believes Curis never will be able to deal with all of the environmental problems the review board wants resolved.
Curis plans to pump a sulfuric acid solution into the ground to dissolve the underground copper compounds. When the solution is pumped back to the surface, the copper is extracted and the acid is reused.
Two years ago DEQ denied the company’s request for a permit to conduct full-scale commercial operations. But the agency did agree to a smaller-scale test operation on a temporary basis. Foes, including the town of Florence, nearby property owners and the operator of a water company, appealed.
Mihalsky found that the monitoring wells that DEQ wants installed are too far to provide “meaningful monitoring of pollutants” that may escape from the site. And she said DEQ would create a “pollution management area” — a zone where the pollutants could spread — nearly 100 times the size of the area where the chemicals actually will be injected. She said that doesn’t meet requirements in the law.
