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Welcome to Save the Scenic Santa Ritas!Save the Scenic Santa Ritas is a non-profit organization that is working to protect the Santa Rita and Patagonia Mountains from environmental degradation caused by mining and mineral exploration activities. Our current activities are centered around the proposed Rosemont Copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains. For Immediate Release: January 31, 2013 Statement of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas on Rosemont Air Permit (Tucson, Ariz.) Below is the statement of Gayle Hartmann, President of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas (SSSR) regarding the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality’s (ADEQ’s) decision to issue the air quality permit for the proposed Rosemont Copper mine. Once again, Rosemont's PR spin has gotten ahead of the facts. According to their previous press releases, they should have already been mining and destroying the Santa Ritas years ago. ADEQ's approval of this permit is not surprising. This agency has been decimated by budget cuts, and is beholden to the regulated entities that pay the permitting fees to keep it afloat. We will closely examine this permit and determine our next steps including an appeal. This mine is far from a certainty. The Forest Service has indefinitely postponed completion of the environmental analysis of the Rosemont project and a decision on it. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to include the mine site as critical habit for the endangered jaguar. There is indisputable photographic evidence that only known jaguar remaining in North America spends time near the proposed Rosemont project. In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has seriously questioned the federal Clean Water Act permit that Rosemont needs to obtain from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. EPA has veto power over any Clean Water Act permit issued by the Corps. The bottom line is that this mine threatens our air, our mountains, along with the lives and livelihoods of those who live and work here. Rosemont thinks they can wear us down, but they underestimate our resilience. Download a copy of this press release. Cyanide Beach now available for free public distributionWatch Cyanide Beach, an explosive new documentary from award-winning investigative journalist John Dougherty, that exposes the Canadian mining speculators who are behind a proposal to open the massive Rosemont Copper mine just outside Tucson, Arizona. The revealing 24-minute film chronicles the deceptive business tactics of top executives at Augusta Resource Corporation - owner of Rosemont Copper - when they owned and operated an open-pit gold mine in Sardinia Italy from 2003-07. You’ll see how they left behind a trail of unpaid vendors, a misspent government loan, hidden investors, and a toxic mess known to locals as "Cyanide Beach." Watch the film below and visit Dougherty’s Investigative Media website to learn more. Augusta Resource's Rosemont copper mine facing questions and mounting oppositionTUCSON, Ariz., Nov. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Two Arizona Congressmen and a southern Arizona county executive have raised serious questions about Rosemont Copper Company and its proposed copper mine near Tucson. Read full press release or download the release here. Update on Rosemont's Air Quality Permit applicationThe deadline to submit comments to ADEQ on Rosemont's proposed air quality permit has passed. If you would like to view the comments submitted by SSSR and our broader coalition, they may be downloaded here: SSSR Comments to ADEQ on the proposed Rosemont Air Quality Permit What would happen if a haboob were to sweep across Rosemont's proposed massive "dry stack" waste dump? It would spread poisonous dust and debris across nearby communities, including Tucson. Check out the below video! PRESS RELEASE - 11/2/12 Air permit for Rosemont Mine threatens public health and air qualityLetter from 130 Southern Arizona residents and organizations asks State to withdraw draft permit (Tucson, Ariz.) A broad-based citizen’s coalition, citing threats to public health and air quality in southern Arizona, is calling on the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to withdraw a draft air quality permit for the proposed massive open-pit mine in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson. Read the full press release... PRESS RELEASE - 5/14/2012 Local Coalition Files Appeal to Protect Tucson and Southern Arizona Water SuppliesA diverse coalition of southern Arizonans charged today that a key water quality permit will allow Rosemont Copper Company to pollute area groundwater supplies with mercury, arsenic, lead and other dangerous contaminants —without oversight or consequence—for at least two years after mining operations begin. Read the full press release... PRESS RELEASE - 4/2/12 Rosemont Copper CEO Admits Company Didn’t File Disclosures in ArizonaRead the full press release...
Rosemont Copper Conceals Prior Bankruptcy in Arizona Filings
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