By Brian Wright | Casa Grande Dispatch
Steve Miller, chairman of the Pinal County Board of Supervisors, has accepted an invitation to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives on a land exchange bill.
An oversight hearing on “America’s Mineral Resources: Creating Mines and Manufacturing Jobs and Securing America” is scheduled for Thursday before the House Energy and Minerals subcommittee. Miller is to testify at that hearing.
Miller and Pinal County have a vested interest in the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013 because the bill would allow the government to exchange federal land with private land, which would give Resolution Copper the green light to begin opening a mine in Oak Flat, just east of Superior.
“I am deeply honored to be asked to testify,” Miller stated in a release. “This issue of the land exchange is far too important for this county and its residents. I intend to tell the subcommittee the benefits of the Resolution Copper project and explain the dire need for jobs in this area.”
The land swap, which has been in legislative limbo since 2005, would put 5,300 acres of land into conservation status in exchange for allowing the 2,400 acres of U.S. National Forest land at Oak Flat to be used for mining.
Last week, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a resolution urging Congress to support Resolution Copper in its efforts to establish the copper mine and spur economic growth in Pinal County. The company, according to The Associated Press, would spend more than $6 billion to develop what would become the largest copper mine in North America.
