From: Nancy Freeman, Executive Director
Groundwater Awareness League, Inc.
P. O. Box 934
Green Valley, AZ 85622
520/207-6506
July 7, 2008

Subject: Senate Bill SB 3157 to be heard on July 9, 2008 by Public Lands and Forests subcommittee of the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee

How to make billions on U.S. Public Lands—without paying a penny to the owners

Sound too good to be true? How about adding to the formula that you can dump millions of tons of waste rock and slurry on 3,500 acres and pump the region dry to accommodate a 7,000 foot deep underground hole where there is copper at 1.5%. A partnership of an Australian and a British mining company is planning to do just that. But there is one hitch. After all, these two companies, which have the worse environmental records on the planet, including in the U.S. [ Bingham Canyon, Utah and Pinto Creek, Arizona], wouldn’t want to mine on “public land,” they want to make it private.

No problem, since the relished site is in Arizona, it is a simple matter of getting Senator Kyl and Senator McCain [S 1862; July 24, 2007] and House Reps Pastor [HR 3301; August 1, 2007] and Renzi on the team [although he lost his job because of it]. They would just have to slip in a little bill to exchange the public land—which happens to have a lot of history and whole lot of natural beauty--for a few over-grazed ranches—which abound in arid Arizona. Unfortunately, the plot thickens because the Nature Conservancy and National Audubon Society joined in as there were a couple of plots of private lands that they wanted, but didn’t deem worthy of paying for (reasons remain unexplained).The Bill never made it to committee last year.

However, this Wednesday (July 9, 2:30 pm EST), the bill will be heard by the Public Lands and Forests subcommittee of Natural Resources. The purpose alleges that it is for the benefit of the public—however, these benefits are never mentioned in the text. Nor does Resolution Copper claim any. Their website reads: “To ensure the safest possible mine development and operation process, and to justify more than $300 million in needed feasibility studies and mine-planning activities, Resolution needs to manage the surface lands above the mine and in the immediate surrounding area.” Is this the best Kyl and McCain can do for Arizona? Give away its copper?

The Resolution Copper Company already has land that they purchased from a small Arizona mining company. They could also dig on public land—taxpayers are paying billions for clean-up on previous mining on public land. Are they trying to avoid a regulation that you cannot have public land to dump your waste—it will reach 20 stories (200 ft) high on 2,389 acres—unless you dig on public land too? So the question remains why is the foreign company so anxious to turn the public land to private? Even Prince Andrew, serving as UK's special representative for international trade and investment, took a tour of the proposed operations in March.

As history buffs will remember, the Apaches were the most adamant in remaining free from control of the new foreign overlords. As is usual with peoples outside the pale of Christian capitalism, the Apaches had their own code of ethics and customs. Therefore, in 1865, when they were pursued by the U.S. Calvary, seventy-five Apache warriors jumped off a cliff to a sure death, rather than be captured and tortured. The place of their death, Apache Leap, has been revered by Apaches through the ensuing one hundred and forty years. By the way, white man has managed to make some tourist bucks off the site with an annual Apache Leap festival and the sale of “Apache tears,” a smooth black pebble found at the base of the cliff.

The natural beauty of the region has to be seen to be believed: “This is Arizona?” Nearby is a huge oak grove—so special that in 1955 President Eisenhower set aside “Oak Flat” as a preserve. Public Land Order 1229 has never been rescinded. There’s also a favorite rock climbing place for Phoenix residents—only an hour drive from the city. And the beauty of Queen Creek, which provides the valley for a highway from Superior to Globe, is a perennial ribbon of green trees snaking through the rugged cliffs. One hot summer day, I drove up to Oak Flat campground from Phoenix, fleeing the 100 degree temps. I spent a comfortable night sleeping in a cool 72 degrees and awoke in the morning to the chirping of a myriad of birds, including several I had never seen before.

Many beautiful landscapes and places sacred to the Native Americans have been destroyed by hardrock mining. Isn’t it time to change our ways? The thing that bothers me most is that not one of the groups supporting the mine (and the JOBS it will create) has consulted with the Native Americans to find out how they feel. Surely, the whole region of Apache Leap and Oak Flat needs to be made a national monument in honor of seventy-five courageous warriors who knew the meaning of freedom. They are a page of American history that should be preserved.

For full details, including a report to Congress, see: www.mining-law-reform.info/IndexSup.htm

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