Computer rendering of the pit and tailings pile at Rosemont Mine in the Santa Rita Mountains. The proposed Rosemont Mine has won a big legal victory, with a new agency decision that the mine no longer needs a federal Clean Water Act permit. (Hudbay Mining)
By Tony Davis | Arizona Daily Star
The proposed Rosemont Mine has won a big legal victory, with a new agency decision it no longer needs a federal Clean Water Act permit.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided Wednesday that the mine no longer is covered by the Clean Water Act because of Trump administration changes to what’s been known as the federal “Waters of the U.S.” rule.
Those changes, approved in June 2020, meant development of ephemeral washes that only run after storms is no longer regulated under the act.
The Corps says the streams that would be affected by mine construction are mostly ephemeral, and that those that do sometimes carry water have no connection in normal years to rivers such as the Santa Cruz. So now, no permit is needed.
