Travesty continues in Florence, Arizona:

The Big Question is

Can a mining company that does not know the difference between a draft permit and a final permit be trusted to understand and follow regulations??

1) Arizona State is violating Florence's Town Plan that the State mandated.

2) Arizona State and Federal Government have dried up the Gila River in Florence.

3) Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is in the process of permitting the polluting of their only water supply—an underground aquifer—with “diluted” sulfuric acid to dissolve copper and other heavy metals out of the bedrock surrounding the aquifer.

4) Sulfuric Acid spills due to accidents and pipe breakage is a danger. See info below.

5) The Environment Protection Agency is now taking comments on the draft Underground Injection Control (UIC) permit (meaning the permit can, and will, be changed) until 5 pm, January 30, 2015

EPA has scheduled a public hearing on the draft Permit from 7 pm to 10 pm on Thursday,
January 22, 2015 at the Gym of the Florence High School, 1000 South Main Street, Florence,
Arizona. Prior to the public hearing, EPA has also scheduled an open-house information session
to provide information about the proposed project and EPA’s draft Permit and to answer
questions. The open-house is scheduled for 4 pm to 6 pm on January 22, 2015 at the same
location as the public hearing.

See details and live links: www.epa.gov/region09/water/groundwater/uic-permits.html

Information Regarding The Section 106 Process Under The National Historic Preservation Act For The Florence Copper Project: www.epa.gov/region09/water/groundwater/uic-pdfs/az/r9uic-az3-fy11-1-nhpa-information-2014.pdf

5) Florence Copper is making misleading statements about receiving an EPA UIC permit—it was a draft permit !!

Their Dec. 5, 2014 Press Release stated: "Florence Copper Inc. (Florence Copper) today announced the receipt of an underground injection control permit (UIC) from the Environmental Protection Agency." This mis-statement of facts was confirmed by their Vice President and General Counsel, Rita McGuire, "This last, but very critical permit from the EPA, signifies the agency's confidence that the Florence Copper project will operate in a safe and environmentally responsible manner." See entire letter: Florence Copper Press Release, Dec. 5, 2014

They also sent out a letter via email to Florence residents with the same misleading information, and asking them to come to the EPA hearing on Jan. 21, 2015

Fortunately, a Daily Star reporter got it right! It's a "Draft" permit

Business Reporter, Howard Fischer of Capitol Media News, headlines his report: "Florence Copper project obtains draft EPA permit"

Fisher correctly states that "the company is still far from being able to put any acid into the ground, much less extract any copper." And
"The EPA permit is subject to public comment, review and possible amendments."

Details of the basis for issuance and the draft permit, plus the permit application prepared by Florence Copper are found on this EPA webpage:

www.epa.gov/region09/water/groundwater/uic-permits.html

Information Regarding the Section 106 Process under The National Historic Preservation Act for the Florence Copper Project

www.epa.gov/region09/water/groundwater/uic-pdfs/az/r9uic-az3-fy11-1-nhpa-information-2014.pdf

Information on accidents and spill of sulfuric acid for mining:

At a hearing in Florence several years ago, I (Nancy Freeman) testified about the inevitable problems caused by bringing tankers (either by truck or rail) of sulfuric acid into the Florence town limits. I have facts and figures from my previous experience getting clean water in Green Valley from mining pollution, basically from sulfuric acid spills. That's right, and it was not an in-situ operation that actually puts sulfuric acid into the water supply—but pollution to our public water supply due to spills, that can be caused by accidents: vehicle crashes, equipment failure and pipe breakage.

In the 17-year period between 1988 and 2005, spills at the Sierrita mine amounted to around 50,000 gallons of sulfuric acid. How can these spills make a difference? Read more information on toxic waste spills---

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