Lawsuit Challenges Massive Copper Mine On Sacred Apache Oak Flat

PHOENIX, AZ — Tribal and conservation groups sued the U.S. Forest Service Friday to stop a land trade that would hand over thousands of acres in the Tonto National Forest in central Arizona to a London-based mining company.

The Oak Flat area, considered sacred by Apache and other Native American people, would be used by the multinational mining company Rio Tinto for a massive copper mine.

“Without a doubt, the proposed mine presents a huge threat to water quality and water supplies for our region, since the mine would create a crater more than a mile wide and 1,000 feet deep, deplete billions of gallons of water and destroy the environment and ancestral lands that are sacred to tribes in Arizona,” said Shan Lewis, vice chairman of the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe and president of the Inter Tribal Association of Arizona. “For our 21 member tribes, the COVID-19 pandemic has put a magnifying glass on the fundamental need to protect and preserve healthy water supplies in Arizona.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) along with a draft Record of Decision (DROD) for the Resolution Copper Mine and Land Exchange Project on Jan. 15.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix, claims the Trump administration violated federal law by failing to properly analyze and mitigate the proposed mine’s potential damage to waters, national forest land and wildlife. The lawsuit said the administration also failed to apply the correct laws and regulations, including ignoring public input regarding infrastructure needed for the mine.

“Given the overwhelming pressure applied to the Forest Service from the highest levels of the Trump administration, it is no wonder that the agency’s analysis is fatally flawed,” said Roger Featherstone, director of the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition. “We are asking the court to throw out the final environmental analysis and restore the process that should have been followed to protect Oak Flat and thousands of additional acres of precious land from Resolution Copper’s failed experiment.”

“The most corrupt president in U.S. history sold out Oak Flat, along with the people who hold it sacred, on his way out the door,” said Randy Serraglio, a conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity, a national nonprofit group with an office in Arizona. “We’re hopeful that a judge will agree this shoddy, fast-tracked review is illegal. We’ll use every means at our disposal to protect Oak Flat for all who cherish it.”

The Trump administration fast-tracked the Jan. 15 publication of the FEIS, which triggers the land exchange with Rio Tinto so it can build the Resolution Copper mine at Oak Flat. Patch has contacted Resolution Copper media spokesman Dan Blondeau for a comment and is awaiting a response.

“Trying to force this decision before leaving office, the Trump administration put the interests of multinational mining corporations above those of indigenous and local communities in Arizona,” said Pete Dronkers, southwest circuit rider with Arizona Earthworks. “The former administration’s rushed and flawed review unlawfully ignores the concerns expressed by the area’s tribes and communities. We join these mining-impacted communities to ask the court to put a stop to this injustice.”

Oak Flat has been used for centuries by Apache and other Native people for ceremony, sustenance and habitation. Several tribes consider it sacred, including the nearby San Carlos Apache Tribe, which filed suit Jan. 15 to challenge the land exchange. Oak Flat is also a popular campground and recreation area, world-renowned rock climbing.

It and the surrounding lands are important habitat for a diverse array of wildlife, including migratory and endangered birds as well as endangered plants and fish, said the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon Chapter.

“Trading away Oak Flat to an international mining company is simply wrong,” said Sandy Bahr, director of the chapter. “Wrong because Oak Flat is sacred land to the western Apaches and many other Native people. And wrong because the proposed mine would make a huge crater out of Oak Flat and dump more than a billion tons of toxic mining waste into a huge tailings dump. We object to the trade, the proposed mine and the environmental analysis that fails to consider the public interest and the serious damage of this proposed mine.”

The conservation groups say the mine would dump 1.4 billion tons of toxic waste on thousands of acres of nearby wild lands, turning a vibrant landscape into an industrial wasteland and threatening to contaminate groundwater and surface water in the area.

They say the mine would use a vast amount of groundwater annually, equal to the amount used by the entire city of Tempe.

“Oak Flat is a sacred place to our friends in the Native American community, and climbers have enjoyed this beautiful landscape for generations,” said Chris Winter, executive director of Access Fund. “We could lose it all if Oak Flat is traded away to a foreign mining company. For everyone who cares about this special place, we have to stand up to keep public land in public hands.”

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, the Inter Tribal Association of Arizona, Earthworks, the Center for Biological Diversity, Access Fund and the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club. They are represented by the Western Mining Action Project, a public-interest law firm specializing in mining issues in the West.