Public Hearings To Start For Copper Mine Near Superior

By Bret Jaspers
Published: Saturday, September 7, 2019 - 5:05am
Updated: Tuesday, November 5, 2019 - 12:34pm

Coverage of tribal natural resources is supported in part by Catena Foundation

The public will get to weigh in on the proposed copper mine near Superior at five upcoming hearings.

Resolution Copper wants to build an underground mine on land it would get from a land swap with the Tonto National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service, which runs Tonto, issued a draft environmental impact statement for the project in August. It detailed risks to underground water and sacred Native American sites.

The government has also said the mine would bring 1,500 jobs.

There will be five public hearings on the environmental review:

Sept. 10

Superior Junior/Senior High School

1500 Panther Drive, Superior

Sept. 12

Central Arizona College, San Tan Campus A100 and A101

3736 E. Bella Vista Rd, San Tan Valley

Sept. 17

Ray Elementary School Cafeteria

701 AZ 177, Kearny

Sept. 19

High Desert Middle School Auditorium

4000 High Desert Drive, Globe

Oct. 8

Queen Valley Recreation Hall

1478 East Queen Valley Drive, Queen Valley

Sign-in for the meetings starts at 5 p.m. The public comment period closes Nov. 7.

Opponents of the mine, including some members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and environmentalists, have been fighting the proposed project for years. They recently received new hope of stopping it. That’s because a federal judge overruled approval of another mine on Forest Service land south of Tucson.

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