Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) staff held a public hearing at Patagonia Union High School on Jan. 11 to receive community comments on their proposed renewal of South32’s Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (AZPDES) permit for its Hermosa project.
An AZPDES permit places strict limits on all pollutants discharged into protected Arizona surface waters. A renewal of South32’s permit would allow it to dump approximately 6.4 million gallons of water per day into Harshaw Creek.
Close to 100 people were present in the PUHS cafeteria in Patagonia to participate in the hearing, which followed an ADEQ hearing earlier on the same day regarding the Hermosa project’s ADEQ air quality permit application. Pat Risner, President of the Hermosa project, was in the audience “to listen and, if necessary, provide additional information to ADEQ in response to the issues raised at tonight’s hearing.”
The majority of the speakers at the hearing were residents of Patagonia, Patagonia Lake, Tubac or Rio Rico. All 29 people who spoke opposed the renewal as written. Speakers addressed three major areas of concern, with most referencing material prepared by the Patagonia Area Resource Alliance (PARA) in their comments.
First, speakers rejected ADEQ’s claim that the Hermosa Mine is an addition to an existing source of pollution (the historical January Mine). They argued that Hermosa is instead a new source of pollution, and is thus subject to the current, more stringent requirements of the federal Clean Water Act.
Secondly, speakers noted that there are no recent studies of the current composition of polluting minerals in the waters of Harshaw Creek, Alum Gulch and Sonoita Creek. Those studies, called Total Daily Maximum Load analyses, provide baseline data which would be necessary to determine the additional impacts of the Hermosa Mine’s discharges on already impaired waters like Alum Gulch and Harshaw Creek.
Finally, speakers registered objections over what they called the lack of robust monitoring—or in some cases, any monitoring at all—of potentially harmful pollutants that may enter our water. Joni Stellar, co-chair of the PARA Board of Directors, argued that the Permit must include who monitors, what they monitor, where they monitor, and how often they monitor discharges. Further, the monitoring must be done by an independent agency.
Rita Bradley, a Patagonia Lake resident and a member of Friends of Sonoita Creek, recounted the disaster near Cananea where, she said, a mining discharge pond overflowed into the Rio Sonora, polluting the water supply to over 20,000 farms and residences. The responsible copper mine “compensated” residents of the area with roof mounted water tanks and nothing else. Bradley implied ADEQ’s reissuing of the Permit to South32 “may risk similar impacts to habitat, people, the economy, tourism, and all the species living here.”
Andrea Wood, Mayor of Patagonia and a 48-year resident, said the Town objected to the permit’s renewal, citing concerns that pollutants discharged from the mine would affect Patagonia’s water supply. Michael Stabile, Vice Mayor of Patagonia, also spoke, commenting, “So much water, 6.4 million gallons per day, through our highly mineralized rock will mean an accumulation of dangerous pollutants in our drinking water source.”
ADEQ has 45 days to respond to comments. Whatever they do, legal challenges are likely to follow.