October 8, 2024
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Rob Peters, Executive Director
robpeters@scenicsantaritas.org
Phoenix—The Arizona State Land Department’s Board of Appeals voted 3-1 today to rectify an Open Meetings Law violation related to the issuance of a right of way that would allow Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals, Inc., to construct mining waste pipelines across the Santa Rita Experimental Range for its Copper World mining complex.
“We believe the Board of Appeals did not legally ratify the Open Meetings Law violation during today’s meeting,” Save the Scenic Santa Ritas Executive Director Rob Peters said. “We believe the Board’s agenda did not meet the legal requirements to cure an Open Meetings Law violation. We will consider all of our legal options to ensure the Board complies with state law.”
SSSR and Farmers Investment Company (FICO) sued the board last January alleging it violated the Open Meetings Law when it approved the valuation of right of way without disclosing to the public it would be used for mine tailings pipelines.
On Sept. 9, Maricopa County Superior Court Scott A. Blaney ruled the Board violated the Open Meetings Law and determined the right of way’s valuation was “null and void.” If the underlying valuation of the right of way is not legally approved by state officials, the right of way could be revoked.
The board had 30 days to rectify the Open Meeting Law violation by holding another public meeting and publishing a “detailed written description of the action to be ratified.”
In written comments submitted before today’s meeting, SSSR and FICO requested the board to uphold the court decision that the valuation of right of way for is null and void.
Copper World’s current design hinges on keeping the right of way to transport millions of tons of toxic mine tailings to waste dumps on land the company owns that abuts the eastern border of the state-owned, 52,000-acre Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER). The SRER is one of the largest open-space environmental research centers in the world.
The tailings pipeline right of way crosses 11 acres of the SRER and connects Copper World’s mine processing operations with the waste dumps that are separated by federal Bureau of Land Management property. Copper World intended to seek a right of way across BLM land, but that would have required compliance with federal environmental laws. Instead, Copper World applied for a right of way across state land on the SRER that requires no environmental review.
SSSR discovered that state Land Department staff purposely withheld information from the Board of Appeals that the right of way would include mine tailings pipelines, leading the Board to post an incorrect agenda for its Dec. 8, 2022 meeting when the right of way was approved.
SSSR also discovered that land department staff subsequently changed a board-approved document that stated the purpose of the right of way was for two water pipelines. A department staffer made handwritten edits to the official state document changing the number of pipelines to six, and deleting the word “water”, clearing the way for the tailings pipelines.
The changes were then incorporated into the final right of way issued to Copper World on Jan. 30, 2023.
The Copper World project includes series of open pit mines on the east and west of the Santa Rita Mountains. The project includes the massive Rosemont pit on the east side of the mountain.
Copper World will destroy the northern half of the Santa Rita Mountains, deplete tens of billions of gallons of groundwater from the Santa Cruz River Valley, reduce the value of nearby state Trust Land and private property, and seriously damage the region’s tourism economy.
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