PD mine seeking aquifer protection permit
Public hearings expected next year on water quality

GREEN VALLEY--State regulators are currently examining the impact the Phelps Dodge Sierrita Mine has on the local water supply, and public hearings on the issue are expected to be held here in February 2005.

It's all part of the process the mine must negotiate to acquire an Aquifer Protection Permit, which is required of any facility in Arizona that discharges materials into an aquifer or onto a land surface, according Cortland Coleman, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

"The permit is put in place to be protective of groundwater resources,"Coleman said.

"It's done to insure that any discharges are fully detailed, and there are specific methods and amounts for discharges that are allowed under the permit."

At least one group of concerned citizens is forming to potentially speak out any hearings that may occur, and Community Water of Green Valley Manager Art Gabald—n said his company plans to make comments as well.

Currently, the Sierrita Mine does not have an APP. The permit came about in the mid-1980s, but it wasn't until the mid-1990s that the ADEQ gained full jurisdiction over the process.

The department has recently made the drafting of APPs for the state's many mines a priority, Coleman said.

The permit is drafted with a good deal of "back and forth" between ADEQ and mine officials, Coleman said.

Once that is done, the permit remains in its draft form throughout a public comment period. Generally, Coleman said, written public comments are collected, but in an area where there is "significant public interest" in what a facility is doing to a particular aquifer, the department holds public hearings as part of the process.

"We do anticipate significant public interest in this particular permit, and we anticipate there being a public hearing," Coleman said.

If all goes according to plan, the public comment phase will begin in February 2005, with any public hearings likely occurring then as well, Coleman said.

The Sierrita Mine's impact on the local aquifer has become an issue of late because of the sulfate plume the mine's tailings have created beneath the ground in west Green Valley.

The plume has caused at least two Community Water wells to register sulfate and Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) levels at more than twice those recommended by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

While high levels of sulfates and TDS in the water supply make local tap water hard, bad-tasting, colored, and corrosive, the contaminants are not considered overly dangerous by the EPA.

Instead, the EPA lists sulfates and TDS in its secondary drinking water standards, meaning the suggested safe levels are simply that and are not regulated.

But local activist Nancy Freeman believes that the sulfate plume and the high levels of TDS and sulfates in the water supply are a threat to local health, and that they may be indicative of other water quality problems related to the mine.

"Even if it's not a health issue, why should the citizens of Green Valley have to pay the extra expense of buying water softeners and other treatment materials because of the mine's mess," Freeman said.

Freeman is currently forming a group with plans to speak out at the APP hearings about these concerns, She has put together a Web site offering information about local water issues (save the santacruzaquifer.info).

But her concerns may not make much of an impact, as there are no limitations in the APP for sulfates or TDS, Coleman said.

Phelps Dodge spokesman Ken Vaughn said that while there are no enforceable drinking water standards for sulfate and TDS, the mine is working with Community Water to mitigate sulfate and TDS in the local water supply.

"We are addressing the sulfate issue," Vaughn said, adding that Phelps Dodge would be pleased to be involved in any public hearings on the mine's impact on the aquifer.

thull@gvnews.com | 625-5511 x 22