Sure, Rosemont Copper plans to dig a huge hole in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, extract copper for 20 years, then fill up the hole* and close up shop, but that’s not what the company is really about. It’s about being a good citizen and giving back to the community. How do I know? Just ask Rosemont Copper.
Like a politician during campaign season touring his district with a smile on his face and a pocket full of walking-around money, Rosemont has been seeding its goodwill campaign by supporting dozens of community programs. The Partnership page on its website lists its largesse which includes, among many other organizations, El Tour de Tucson, Arizona Deaf & Blind Children’s Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Casa De Los Ninos, Tohono Chul Park, Tucson Values Teachers—and my favorite, Biosphere 2 Earth Day, because nothing says “Save the Earth” like a copper mine in the middle of a pristine desert. The web page refers to these gifts as “Lasting Partnerships Within the Community.” How long they’ll last, however, is up to Rosemont.
Rosemont’s good-citizen commitment to Maintaining Arizona’s Dark Skies gives an indication of how seriously we should take what it says.
Rosemont has made a commitment to the community to voluntarily comply with the Pima County Outdoor Lighting Code.
It’s important that Rosemont goes along with the Pima County lighting code voluntarily because it may not be bound by county ordinances, according to an article in today’s Star.
Hudbay [Rosemont’s parent company] director of environment Katherine Ann Arnold told county officials state law does not allow local jurisdictions to “restrict or otherwise regulate the use or occupation of land or improvements for railroad, mining, metallurgical, grazing or general agricultural purposes.”
Arizona law says the state mine inspector regulates mine activity, not county ordinances, Arnold wrote.
The Star article says Rosemont has already backed off on its voluntary compliance with Dark Skies regulations, and as a result, Pima County is suing.
My advice to all those “partners” who Rosemont has given a helping hand. Don’t expect much more than a middle finger once the copper mine has its license to dig. The company has already told Pima County what it thinks of its commitment to preserve southern Arizona’s dark skies.
* UPDATE/CORRECTION: I’ve been informed by a few knowledgeable people that my statement that Rosemont Copper plans to “fill up the hole” when it’s finished is incorrect — that the hole will stay after the mining is finished and permanently alter the landscape. They are correct. I regret the error.
This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2015.
Blame it on BASIS. I can’t take anything you copy from other articles seriously since you refuse to visit a BASIS school and actually interview anyone.
I am sorry to say that a life-time of experience with such commitments never improves after the first breach. I have been a moderate backer of the mine since this is copper country, but good faith being breached right after being committed to, sends a warning sign for future pledges, as listed in the article. So this writer, and the general citizenry, has much to fear from their entrance to our area.
Is Dark Skies important? Sure it is. But it’s violation has a symbolic warning of greater magnitude.
ROSEMONT, GO HOME.
Just for the record, Old Pueblo, in May last year, I went to BASIS Tucson North and talked with Julia Toews, Head of the school, to discuss what I’d written in an earlier post. I offered her the opportunity to write a post on The Range in response. Here’s what she wrote. http://www.tucsonweekly.com/TheRange/archi…
This light situation is no different than BP lighting at illegal checkpoints. Or the soccer fields at Kino.
Rule #1
If you open a business in the Tucson area expect to be harassed by the politicians and their minions.
In reading the Tucson Weekly comments policy I noticed that the administrator will remove any obscene, racist or bigoted comments.
After reading the final paragraph of Dav id Safier’s article, I assume that this policy does not extend to editorial authors.
C’mon Chris, Safier’s remark is pretty bland compared with the exchanges shared on the ADS site before it was gutted. You and I locked horns on plenty of occasions but always respectfully. With Augusta now out of the picture, it seems Kathy Arnold et.al. are still using the same playbook even as the price of copper has plummeted and demand in China dwindling with its economy tanking.
Care to bet the debate rages for another 5 years with the recent court decision against the mine’s ADEQ permits?
Best regards amigo,
Harry Red Dog
I want mining companies to be watched,monitored, and regulated constantly. We are destroying the earth. I have a close relative who is an engineer at a mine. They know exactly what they are doing when they continually circumvent rules for more money. It is game … how many rules they can break without getting caught and who they can pay off to get what they want.
Rule breakers? Ask the Clintons.
Rosemont is one of the very few opportunities for Pima county and Tucson to experience true growth through the responsible exploitation of natural resources. I find it exceedingly ironic when people or groups whine for more tax money to fund projects or maintain public services, but refuse to allow the very type of job creating industry that we so desperately need. The Resolution Copper project is another example.
The eco-fear mongers fill the airways and papers with half-truths, at best – totally unconstrained by reality. While the mining companies are constrained to tell the truth, which I believe they do. I have personally visited the Peruvian project of the owners of Rosemont and found it to be an outstanding example of a well-conceived and developed mine. They would do as good or better here, if we give them the chance.
All of America needs to remember that its greatness as a nation was based on its God-given natural resources, which create good, well paying jobs for many and increase the tax base for the benefit of all.
Sure, a Canadian mining conglomerate should be permitted to mine on US national forest land, ship the ore over an Arizona scenic highway en route to Mexico for smelting and ultimately shipped to China. Problem is the Chinese don’t need it and the price of copper has crashed to a five year low. Add in the AZ court decision denying the ADEQ permit because the original approval was found to be faulty, “arbitrary and capricious” and the original filing with the EPA was dismissed out of hand as one of the most incompetent submissions it had reviewed in over twenty years. What could possibly go wrong?
Great points Bisbee boy. It’s a lot like listening to what the rioters THINK happened in Baltimore. Once they decided the truth can be damned. They aren’t listening. Hillary Clinton peddled more international access to the American economy for contributions than we may ever know.
Has anybody found her emails or did they get mixed up with Lois Lerner’s from the IRS?
So this is open and transparent? huh.
Too bad Rosemont can only afford Bisbee boy. John McCain is your man if you want a mine in AZ.
Mr. Safier: instead of just making a correction to your article, why don’t you also apologize to Rosemont Copper and the citizens of Tucson for the crude remark you made in the final paragraph of the article.
“Since Rosemont does not intend to back fill the pit after mining ceases, a lake will form at the bottom of the massive hole.” -from Save the Scenic Santa Ritas
How sweet would that be? We have needed a recreational lake near Tucson to store the CAP water. That would be perfect.
After reading these comments, and those mentioned in other AZ media, I’m left with the impression that Hudbay Company (Ltd.), Rosemont’s owner, needs to employ a higher quality of shills.
Also, while most of Canada is still a pretty nice place, AZ residents might want to consider Manitoba, the home base for this environmental predator, as off limits until the province’s predators relent and leave Arizona alone. A boycott of Winnipeg, Lake Winnipeg resorts, and the Canadian Museum of Human Rights — what an irony! — would be a more effective rejoinder than trading words online or in The Weekly, which earns Hudbay no penalty for promoting falsehoods. Combine it with a boycott of Alberta and Lake Louise if you feel equally strongly against the Keystone Pipeline outrage.
We should always remember to share our hurt with the many Manitobans and other Canadian snowbirds who come here for the nice environment each winter. It’s their fellow-Canadian gangsters who are threatening to trash all that they so enjoy.
Interesting. I shall surmise the problems we have at Colossal Cave NP are a direct result of the same sort of indiscriminate destruction of the desert just to build homes. The first time I drove out there after living in another part of the state was also the last time. What was once a beautiful road leading to the cave no longer is and never will be again. But whatever hue & cry there might have been during the “hearing process” to build those neighborhoods was obviously for naught. People want to live in Az despite the fact that we will never have more land or more water. The Silverbell mine has been on a strong roller coaster for a few years and anyone who says China doesn’t need copper is sorely misinformed. China’s need for copper to modernize all those rural regions of that vast semi~continent will run at full tilt for many, many years to come. Just as we churn the desert into tract homes with nary an ecological whimper so shall go this mine. David makes his points about the deficiencies but what is the overall intent; clean up their act or eliminate the mine altogether? If it is the latter then I would also suggest giving the rampant development that does even MORE damage and contributes evermore to the light pollution your attention as well.