The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer. Peters works for Defenders of Wildlife:
On March 31, President Joe Biden used the Defense Production Act to order the federal government to step up production of strategic minerals “to meet the requirements of the clean energy economy,” notably to produce next-generation batteries that can store electricity from wind and solar generators.
We indeed need these technologies but must carefully assess environmental risks.
The president states that mines must “comply with all Federal and State permitting requirements and environmental health and safety laws.” However, intention is only as good as implementation. Because government agencies tend to defer to mining companies, it is usually left to local citizens to ensure that mining conglomerates follow environmental laws. This is a David and Goliath story where, for example, a local citizens group, the Patagonia Area Resource Alliance (PARA), with help from Defenders of Wildlife, is taking on South 32, a deep-pocketed multinational company that plans to build a huge mine in Arizona’s Patagonia Mountains.
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Why are we fighting to protect the Patagonias against mega-mines? These mountains are a place so beautiful and special that in a well-regulated world they would be off-limits to mining. They are critical habitat for jaguars and home to roving ocelots and nesting endangered Mexican spotted owls and yellow-billed cuckoos. Water flows down the mountains into streams and underground aquifers, filling wells for towns and ranches. This unmatched biodiversity hotspot draws ecotourists from around the world, pumping money into Santa Cruz County’s economy.
Foreign companies have stampeded to stake mining claims on our public lands: the Australian company South 32 holds nearly 35,000 acres in the Patagonia Mountains of the Coronado National Forest, while Canada’s Barksdale Resources has nearly 40,000. Moreover, the regulatory climate in Arizona makes our state a target – the mining industry ranks Arizona as the world’s number two most attractive jurisdiction for mining.
The history of Arizona’s mountains is mining gone wrong: roads and facilities built in endangered species habitat, canyons buried under millions of tons of waste and endless flows of toxic metals into waterways — the EPA estimates mining waste pollutes 40% of headwaters of all Southwest watersheds.
The massive Hermosa mine proposed by South 32 threatens both endangered species and surface and groundwater. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) recently permitted South 32’s plans for a massive facility that would pump more than 2 billion gallons of treated water into Harshaw Creek each year, harming wildlife habitat by dramatically overpowering natural flows. Even more frightening, a temporary breakdown in treatment facilities or collapse of a containment structure could permanently contaminate water wells downstream.
Even though mandatory by law, ADEQ has not required the company to build even a single monitoring station to continuously watch for contaminated water flowing to towns and homesites. Without such monitoring, permanent contamination might not be noticed until it is too late. PARA and Defenders of Wildlife appealed this decision, and we are watchdogging every plan and permit.
In case after case, state agencies have failed to restrict mining activities even when their own laws and regulations demand it, and we fear the president’s memorandum could lead agencies to further bend regulations.
In the nation’s rush to electrify, we must be sure not to destroy treasured wildlife hotspots like the Patagonias or harm the economies and water supplies of our rural communities.
Robert Peters has a Ph.D. in biology and works as the senior Southwest representative in the Southwest Regional Office of Defenders of Wildlife. He lives in Tucson.
