Mediator withdraws from Rosemont mine process

An independent mediator has pulled out of the effort to increase public participation in the decision-making process on whether to locate a new copper mine northeast of Green Valley in the Santa Rita Mountains.

Mediator Carie Fox, a federal contractor, said the problem was that the dozens of stakeholders she met with were too focused on the outcome to stay focused on the process. Most were opponents of the proposed mine, as even the state Department of Game and Fish said a new copper mine would ruin animal habitat there and environmentalists said it would consume too much water.

Fox hoped to meet with the stakeholders regularly to oversee the decision-making process of the Coronado National Forest. An overlapping group, called a working group, would have reviewed thousands of comments received by the Forest Service and critiqued the scientific methods used by the Forest Service.

No common ground

Fox said that because there was no common ground among pro-mine and anti-mine stakeholders, trying to keep them focused on the process was like trying to build a tiny dollhouse next to a football field where a game was under way, with an armed conflict next to the football field. She said it was impossible to maintain any continuity in the process with many stakeholders, who were constantly looking ahead and so she pulled out of the process. She said some opponents viewed a thorough decision-making process as undermining their future efforts to challenge the process on legal grounds.

“What it means is less public participation in and confidence in any decision reached by the Forest Service,” said Fox, of Portland, Ore., who was hired by the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, a program of the Morris K. Udall Foundation, at the request of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ).

Giffords’ press spokesman C. J. Karamargin said “Congresswoman Giffords is deeply disappointed that the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution will not be convening the work group.”

Karamargin said Giffords “believes the public must have a seat at the table during any discussion involving public land and a public agency.”

‘Indeed unfortunate’

Green Valley Community Coordinating Council President Stan Riddle said, “It is indeed unfortunate that a committee couldn’t be formed that would listen to both side of the debate as the public would have provided input to the Forest Service in their deliberations over the environmental issues surrounding the development.

Riddle said “when we met with mediator Carie Fox, our basic concern was ‘water’ and its use by the Rosemont Copper mine. The proposal to bring in CAP (Central Arizona Project) water to offset the water used by Rosemont is commendable, but it doesn’t entirely solve the problem as the extension will serve only the northerly portion of the greater Green Valley area. Furthermore, there is no assurance that CAP water will be available for the life of the mine.”

Sandy Whitehouse of Corona de Tucson, an opponent of the mine, said she was disappointed because she hoped the working group process would serve to give her neighbors some continuity, a way to focus their energies during the lengthy Forest Service decision-making process, which could take years.

Rosemont Copper Co. Vice President Jamie Sturgess said Monday the company was disappointed to hear of the mediator’s withdrawal, but added, “There will be many more opportunities for public involvement” in the coming months.

pfranchine@sahuaritasun.com | 547-9738