The San Carlos Apache Tribe and environmental groups have filed two related lawsuits against the U.S. Forest Service and Tonto National Forest supervisor Neil Bosworth, objecting to approval of a mining company’s plans to start preliminary activities on its proposed mine waste site.
Resolution Copper Mining, a subsidiary of mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton Ltd., wants to build a massive copper mine on Tonto National Forest land near Superior that Native Americans say is sacred.
The Forest Service gave approval last month for Resolution to begin exploratory work — including drilling, trenching, road construction and installation of groundwater monitoring wells — on a 28-square-mile tailings site.
The agency has not yet evaluated Resolution’s full mining plan of operations. The approval says the activities are necessary to determine potential impacts from the mining plan of operations.
But opponents say those activities are destructive to public lands and the Arizona National Scenic Trail, which will be bisected by constructed roads. Five drill sites and trenches will be within a half-mile of the Arizona Trail, according to a press release.
The plaintiffs argue Forest Service violated environmental laws by only considering the impact of activity on the tailings site, not the cumulative effects of the entire mine plan.
Those impacts include “destruction of cultural sites, loss of recreational opportunities, impaired water quality and more,” according to a press release.
“Clearly the Forest Service would prefer not to take a hard look at the cumulative impacts of this proposal,” Bill Snape, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in the release. “Fortunately the law requires them to do so, and the people have the power to compel them to follow the law.”
Bill Tanner, Resolution spokesman, said in a statement that the lawsuits are without merit and that the mine will bring jobs and revenue to Arizona.
“The U.S. Forest Service conducted extensive analysis prior to making a determination that the collection of baseline scientific data would not have a significant impact on the environment,” Tanner said. “The plaintiff’s lawsuit is tantamount to telling the Forest Service that the agency can’t gather data for an environmental review unless it first completes that environmental review. The purpose of the data collection effort is to advance the development of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Resolution Copper Mine. The EIS will be subject to public review and input, and it must be completed before a final mine plan is approved.”
While the complaints filed Sept. 15 only focus on the mine waste site, opponents will use “all means necessary” to stop the entire mine, tribal Chairman Terry Rambler said.
“The Resolution Copper Mining operation will destroy dozens of cultural sites sacred to Arizona tribes, all while threatening the region’s water resources,” Rambler said. “Federal authorities seem more focused on the interests of a foreign mining company.”
