- News Releases -
Interior Department Rules BLM Can Reject Mines to Protect Cultural Resources and the Environment
Groundbreaking Ruling Could Block Controversial Gold Mine Proposed in CA Desert
January 14, 2000
San Diego, California, and Washington, D.C., January 14, 2000 -
The U.S. Interior Department (DOI) today announced today a significant legal and policy ruling describing the Bureau of Land Management‚s (BLM) authority to protect the environment and cultural resources from mining on federal public lands. The decision was prepared by DOI Solicitor John Leshy and approved on January 3, by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. The legal opinion specifically addressed both environmental and cultural threats raised by a controversial large-scale open-pit cyanide process gold mine proposed on public land in the protected California Desert, in southeastern California, known as the Imperial Project.
The ruling states that the BLM has the authority, under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, to deny proposed mines, based upon a project's environmental and cultural impacts. The mine in question is a massive, open-pit mine proposed in an area that is environmentally sensitive and contains sites of cultural and religious significance to the Quechan Indian Tribe. In the fall of 1999, the Federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation requested that Secretary Babbitt protect these cultural resources and block the proposed mine project. Today's ruling specifically notes the importance of Native American religious rights and holds that mining operations can be denied in order to protect such rights.
Sierra Club volunteer and project critic, Edie Harmon, said:"We congratulate the Interior Department on this decision. Some public lands, like this site in the California Desert, are much too important to sacrifice forever to short-term mining. Future generations should have the opportunity to be inspired by the majestic and tranquil beauty and to learn lessons of the past from the Indian Pass area, where the area can be experienced without the destructive open-pit mine. These lands have long deserved permanent protection. That's what this ruling means."
"The legal basis for the Secretary's and Solicitor's ruling is solid," stated Roger Flynn, attorney with the Western Mining Action Project located in Boulder, Colorado, who has represented a coalition of conservation organizations opposed to the mine. "More importantly, the ruling represents a firm rejection of the philosophy that open-pit mining is the preferred use of public land in the West. We certainly urge the BLM to follow-up this ruling and formally deny the mining plan."
"There is no longer any question. Mines that threaten the environment and clean water, jeopardize cultural resources, and put our public lands at risk can be denied. Now it is time to put some muscle behind this ruling and reject this ill-conceived mine project," said Stephen D'Esposito of Mineral Policy Center. "For too long now the BLM has been under the spell of the mining industry and our public lands have suffered. This ruling breaks the spell."
Ms. Harmon added: "We also thank California Senator Barbara Boxer who inspired us and met with Tribal elders and representatives of the Quechan Nation's Cultural Committee early on and then shared her strong concerns about both impacts and procedures with BLM and Interior Department. We thank the Secretary and Solicitor for the courage and wisdom of their decision, and the Senator for her consistent leadership."
See attachment for more facts and information.
contacts:
Stephen D‚Esposito, Mineral Policy Center, 202.422.8991
Roger Flynn, Western Mining Action Project, 303.473.9618
Edie Harmon, Sierra Club-San Diego Chapter, 619.299.1746
Mineral Policy Center (MPC) works to protect communities and the environment from the impacts of irresponsible mining in the U.S. and worldwide.
FACTS ABOUT THE PROPOSED MINE: The proposed Glamis Imperial Project is a massive open-pit cyanide heap leach process mine on lands sacred to the Quechan Indian Nation in southeastern California near the Colorado River. Mining operations were first proposed in 1994, with Environmental Impact Statements released for public comment in 1996 and 1997. Glamis Imperial, a subsidiary of a company incorporated in Vancouver, BC Canada, with offices in Reno NV, proposes a mine with three large open-pits, the largest at a depth of 880 feet. The proposal also includes two huge waste rock piles up to 300 feet in height, and a large cyanide heap leach pile, also 300 feet high. The open-pit mine and process area would cover 1,571 acres of public land. Additional land would be disturbed by drilling water wells and putting in a pipeline from the water wells to the proposed mine operation almost four miles away, and the construction of an electrical transmission line.
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTS: Glamis Imperial proposes to extract up to 150 million tons of ore and 300 million tons of waste rock. The mining would continue 24 hours per day, seven days a week for 20 years. The mine proposal is in an area never previously mined. It is at the gateway to the Indian Pass Area of Critical Environmental Concern (1 mi), Picacho Peak Wilderness Area(1/4 mi), Indian Pass wilderness (1.5 mi) and 2 miles south of Critical Habitat for the state and federally listed threatened desert tortoise.
CULTURAL FACTS: In addition to severe environmental degradation, the proposed mine would destroy critical religious, cultural, and historical resources of the Quechan people.
===Mineral Policy Center Protecting Communities and the Environment===
Mineral Policy Center
1612 K Street NW, Suite 808
Washington, D.C. 20006
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