Local Opinion: Copper mine would contaminate water

Like many people in our community, I read with great concern the news this fall that the mining company Hudbay Minerals has acquired thousands of acres of land on the western slope of the Santa Rita Mountains and intends to develop its so-called Copper World, consisting of three open-pit mines, even as its pursuit for the Rosemont Copper Mine on the eastern side of the mountain range remains stalled in the courts.

The company’s plan for Copper World on private, rather than federally owned lands, allows it to circumvent many of the regulatory processes that provide environmental protection. As Tony Davis reported in October, on private land “Hudbay most likely won’t need approvals under the National Environmental Policy Act or the federal Endangered Species Act. Those laws come into play for projects either built on federal land or requiring federal permits.”

Unfortunately, even when constructed on exclusively private land, the impacts of copper mining aren’t easily confined. Groundwater pumping and contamination, disruption of critical habitat for many species of animals including the endangered jaguar, as well as devastation of pristine land that is both sacred to members of the Tohono O’odham Nation and crucial to our region’s tourism industry are just a few of the myriad consequences of these mines that will be felt far and wide. Then there is the issue of impacts on nearby residences, including, very likely, a decrease in home values.

If Hudbay prevails in the case currently before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, it will be more difficult to prevent the company from having essentially free rein to create a giant mining complex in the heart of one of the most pristine habitats in southern Arizona. On its own, Rosemont would be the third largest copper mine in the country. Combined with Copper World, this massive mining operation would require substantial quantities of our most precious natural resource – water. With the first shortage declared on the Colorado River this August, and more almost certain to come as climate change and over allocation already imperil the river’s future, now is not the time to surrender our water resources to a foreign mining company for a project that is so widely opposed. Also, the water they use could become contaminated and pose a threat to our groundwater resources.

I ran for the Pima County Board of Supervisors because I believed my work as a medical doctor granted me a valuable perspective that could help direct the county’s public health response to the coronavirus pandemic. While the global pandemic continues to plague our community, I regard Hudbay’s plans for mines in the Santa Ritas as another urgent threat to public health. Copper mining in Arizona has a long legacy of contaminating water and releasing toxic chemicals into the air. We know better now than to sell out our public health and environmental resources for short-term financial gain (most of which won’t even stay in our community and will instead fatten the foreign mining company’s bottom line).

If you haven’t driven along the historic State Route 83 – which, if Rosemont is built, will be choked with semis carting away copper concentrate – I urge you to do so. Pull off to the side of the road at mile marker 44. Take a deep breath of fresh air, and look west, at the pristine, lush landscape. It is a sight to behold. And I hope it will remain so, for the people and animals that come after us.

I am proud that my predecessors on the Pima County Board of Supervisors have been steadfast in their opposition to the Rosemont Copper Mine. I stand with them, and with the tribes, activists and environmental groups that have been fighting for years to protect the Santa Ritas, our region’s cultural resources, and our precious groundwater. We are in this fight for the long term.