Dear Sir or Madam:
As a practicing environmental scientist, I am dismayed and alarmed by the comments made by Mr. Andre Lauzon that "Rosemont is a win" for mine opponents. I have reviewed numerous permit documents and testimony, and find that the subject of radioactive waste (TENORM, Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials) was largely ignored and essentially downplayed. Rosemont will involve excavation of a 2000 foot deep pit (over 1/4 of a mile below the surface), and tailings contaminated with radionuclides and elements including uranium, radium and thorium, among others will be spread throughout the forest area. This will pose a severe risk to our community groundwater and air, and Mr. Lauzon's platitudes regarding all of the benefits they bring to the ecosystem are disingenuous at best. The Santa Rita Mountains are a regional and national treasure, and we should not be destroying them in the name of profits for a foreign mining company, regardless of perceived economic benefits. Sincerely, Charles R. Stack, MPH, BCES (AAEES)
Charles Stack
Green Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
