Copper World Granted Aquifer Protection Permit by ADEQ

On August 29, 2024, Copper World was granted an Aquifer Protection Permit by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Our team is reviewing the permit closely and comparing the permit terms against the comments we provided in April 2024, after thorough expert analysis. We will advise of our next steps once we have had a chance to strategize on our response.

You can view the final permit here >> https://azdeq.gov/wqd/CopperWorld

VIEW THE PERMIT

Read our comments

In early 2024, SSSR hired three experts in hydrology and mining to produce our organizational comments that we filed, alongside 13 other organizations, with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) concerning the Copper World draft Aquifer Protection Permit (APP).

Our comments reflect in-depth review and analysis of the APP by four PhD scientists and engineers: Ann Maest (hydrogeochemistry), Laurel Lacher (hydrogeology and groundwater modeling), David Chambers (mining engineering and geophysics), and Stan Hart (geochemist).

For reference >> read our comments here

The document is organized as:

Bios of the four experts
Executive summary
Experts’ four reports
Pima County’s previously-submitted comments

The Executive Summary presents key findings, which are subsequently detailed in the following four reports provided by the four experts. Note that each paragraph in the Executive Summary refers to a particular expert’s report for substantiation and additional detail.

You will see that we also included the excellent comments previously submitted to ADEQ by Pima County because they covered some points in ways that we did not.

READ OUR COMMENTS

We want to thank each and every one of you who submitted your own comments, showed up to meetings, and rallied your neighbors. We know how discouraging this will likely feel for many, but rest assured this is not over.

We will share more soon.

In the meantime, please make sure that you are submitting comments for the Air Quality Permit (due Sept 15) and planning to attend the Sept 10 Public Hearing.

All details here >> bit.ly/cw-airpermit