US environmentalists fight against Canadian copper mine approval

To preserve the scenic landscape of Santa Rytas, the Center for Biological Development and other environmental organizations have filed a lawsuit in federal court in the hope that it will overturn the US Forest Service-approved Rosemont Project in southern Arizona.

The $ 1.5 billion Rosemont Project is an open pit in the Santa Rita Mountains. It is expected to be the third largest copper mine in the United States, accounting for about 10% of the country's total copper production, and received its final report on the Forest Service's decision back in June 2017.

In a recent lawsuit, four organizations said the mine would violate nearly a dozen state and federal laws, threaten water resources, and destroy the Coronado National Forests.

In a press release, activists explain their claims are based on the fact that the company will "dump potentially toxic mine waste hundreds of feet high into the Cienega Creek watershed, which replenishes Tucson's groundwater basin."

In their statement, the plaintiffs accuse the Forest Service of neglecting local communities and the environment in order to protect the interests of a foreign company that focuses on its short-term profits.

The mine is also facing yet another lawsuit filed in September by the Center for Biological Diversity, which calls into question a biological opinion prepared by the US Fisheries and Wildlife Service, which led to the Forest Service's approval of the Rosemont project.