| A public hearing on Molycorp's application to extend its permitting deadline under the New Mexico Mining Act. was held on November 4, 1999, at the St. Anthony's Parish Center, in Questa, to determine whether Molycorp should get the two-year extension it is requesting and the conditions to be attached to any extension.
The largest mine in the Río Grande watershed, the Molycorp molybdenum mine has made a huge mess of the lower Red River watershed, caused severe groundwater and surface water pollution, devastated a legendary trout fishery, and buried thousands of acres under hundreds of millions of tons of heavy-metal-laced, acid-generating mine wastes. The two year extension will allow time for community activists, Amigos Bravos, and our technical consultants to challenge Molycorp's untenable assertions. and to counter the mine's plan with our alternative reclamation proposal. It will insure a more careful and complete calculation of financial assurance bonds for reclamation. Molycorp is required by state law to put aside these bonds as insurance against an unexpected shutdown or bankruptcy. Though we support the general concept of a two-year extension to secure stronger environmental protections and a comprehensive reclamation plan, the extension is not intended to give Molycorp an excuse to continue dragging it's feet. But Molycorp's extension application does just that. Without substantial changes, we believe that the Mining & Minerals Division cannot approve Molycorp's current application.
Amigos Bravos is particularly concerned about the following issues:
1) That Molycorp's cumbersome five-year "site characterization" study will make it impossible to completepermitting in two years. Other mines in the West have done it in 6-12 months ––why can't Molycorp? We propose that Molycorp accelerate the process with more intensive, focused studies to answer more quickly at least the fundamental questions (such as acid-generating potential of the waste rock and hydrologic connection between the waste rock and the river).
2) That Molycorp include analyses of reclamation alternatives, rather than proposing only the quickest and cheapest (and least effective) method.
3) That Molycorp include interim financial assurance for DP-1055 (the groundwater discharge permit for Molycorp's 328 million tons of waste rock) as a top priority goal.
4) Given an additional two years of extensive studies and reports, that the extension include greater and more meaningful public participation, review, and comment in every phase of permitting.
To express your support for Amigos Bravos' positions, or to send your own comments, contact: Doug Bland, Director, Mining and Minerals Division; Energy, Minerals & Natural Resources Department, 2040 S. Pacheco, Santa Fe, NM 87505; fax (505) 827-7195.
Besides Molycorp, the two-year extension will probably be granted to four other large mines in the state, providing a renewed focus for mining activism in the state. In mid September, Amigos Bravos, the Washington, DC-based Mineral Policy Center, and others co-sponsored a three-day meeting of New Mexico mining activists and technical and legal experts to discuss extension issues. As a result of those meetings, we have formed a loose-knit New Mexico Environmental Mining Working Group to collectively address a unified, statewide mining campaign and broad policy issues. Permitting these mines will set important precedents under New Mexico's fledgling Mining Act, making our collective participation all the more critical. |
