According to a U.S. Forest Service press release, the Coronado National Forest today announced that the December 2012 goal of releasing the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the proposed Rosemont Mine would not be met. The release went on to say that, “[e]xact dates for release of the FEIS are difficult to predict” and thus no future release date has been set.
The Forest Service attributes this delay to “additional work that must be completed including the consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; consultation with tribes and the State Historic Preservation Office; Army Corps of Engineers permit coordination; updating of air quality models; additional transportation analysis; integration of updated lighting mitigation plans; evaluation of socioeconomic impacts to the astronomy industry in southern Arizona; and consultation with the Forest Service Southwestern Regional Office.”
Additionally, the Forest Service notes that Augusta Resource Corporation’s, Rosemont’s parent company, recently released plans to modify its mine proposal “will be reviewed.” [The modified plans were included in the updated Feasibility Study released earlier this summer. Click here for further discussion of the Feasibility Study.]
Finally, the press release indicates that the Coronado National Forest has requested Rosemont to “reconsider various aspects of their operations.”
THE PRESS RELEASE WAS NOT IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE FOREST SERVICE . IT APPEARS THAT THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS IS MIRED IN A BUREAUCRATIC MIX OF TECHNICAL VALUES , SOCIAL VALUES , ECONOMIC VALUES , HUMAN VALUES AND POLITICAL INFLUENCE PEDDLING . AUGUSTA SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES , UNLESS SPECIFICALLY ORDERED BY THE FOREST SERVICE , TO MODIFY ITS ORIGINAL SUBMISSION . ON ” WHAT AND WHOSE FACTS ” DOES THE FOREST SERVICE BASE ITS DECISION ? WHAT ARE THE DETAILS THAT THE FOREST SERVICE IS LOOKING FOR WHEN THEY REQUEST THAT AUGUSTA/ROSEMONT ” RECONSIDER VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THEIR OPERATION .” FIRSTLY , AUGUSTA CURRENTLY DOES NOT HAVE AN OPERATION AND SECONDLY , THE WORDING IS VERY VAGUE . AT THIS POINT IN THE EVALUATION PROCESS , THE FOREST SERVICE SHOULD BE ABLE TO EXPRESS SPECIFIC CONCERNS AND ISSUES . WHAT ARE THEY ? THERE APPEARS TO BE NO EVIDENCE THAT AUGUSTA HAS SECURED THE NECESSARY FUNDING TO COVER THE CAPITAL COSTS OF THE PROJECT AND THIS ALONE SHOULD PUT ALL PERMITTING ON INDEFINITE HOLD . AUGUSTA NEEDS FOREST SERVICE APPROVAL IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO ” FLIP ” THE ROSEMONT PROPERTY AS THEY ARE NOT TECHNICALLY NOR FINANCIALLY ABLE TO PUT THE PROPERTY INTO PRODUCTION ON THEIR OWN . AUGUSTA IS SIMPLY WHEELING AND DEALING !