Print
Category: Front Page News Front Page News
Published: 06 August 2019 06 August 2019

img 1145Courtesy photo of those gathered at the Mine Closure Closeout hearing

[Editor's Note: This is part 3 and the final one of a multi-part series of articles on the mine closure closeout plan hearing held at the Grant County Administration Center on July 24, 2019.This part concludes public comment.]

By Mary Alice Murphy

After a short break, the public hearing officer Felicia Orth swore in the next four speakers, Gavin Clarkson, Rachel Valencia, Mary Huekel and Harry Browne, to give comment on the Mine Closure Closeout Plan on July 24, 2019. The hearing had been requested by Gila Resources Information Project (GRIP). Those in attendance included representatives of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, of which the Mining and Minerals Division is a part, and the New Mexico Environment Department, as well as presenters from Freeport and GRIP, who had spoken at the beginning of the hearing.

The presentations can be read at http://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/52465-names-corrected-mining-closure-closeout-plan-hearing-held-on-july-24-2019-part-1 and the first public comments can be read at http://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/52489-mining-closure-closeout-plan-hearing-072419-continued-part-2

Clarkson spoke first. He said he is from Las Cruces and formerly worked as a supervisor in policy for the Trump administration. He is also a member of a tribe. "I administered a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of oil, gas, coal and minerals companies. We inherited the war on coal. Native American tribes are suffering from not being able to manage our national resources on our sovereign land. It's the biggest issue I hear."

He said he teaches financial entrepreneurship. "Ninety-five percent of my students have to leave the state to get a job. The mining industry is one of the few industries in New Mexico that offers jobs from skilled trades all the way to executive position and be able to live in New Mexico. If you have children, they leave for jobs. Most of us will not be able to watch our grandchildren rodeo or play in Little League here in New Mexico. Mining allows us to have our families in our communities. I'm a firm believer in having a family culture passed down. I benefited from growing up with grandma. Mining gives opportunities for more kids to grow up with grandmas, and that's a good thing."

"Mining jobs are good jobs," Clarkson said. "We need to make sure we protect the jobs here in New Mexico. I'm a finance guy and it strikes me as disingenuous that the evil company is on one side and then the other side can't have their guarantee. It's a simple contracting exercise. Even if Freeport sells, the contract is still with the evil billion-dollar company. You should not be trying to hamstring the company. Kids go away to college, but then can come back to live with families and grandmas are watching rodeo and Little League on the weekends. That is a vision we can all share."

Browne said he is a Grant County commissioner, and said he is also a GRIP board member. "I want to make three points. 1) A strong and secure financial assurance is important to the county. Third-party guarantees provided by a parent company are not a secure form of guarantee. The history of this country is littered with corporation guarantees that were not good because companies declared bankruptcy. In 2005, ASARCO left $1 billion in environmental liabilities, about $1 million of which were covered by the successor corporation. It may appear easy on paper, but in reality, it is not. For the sake of Grant County, I count on the Mining and Minerals Division not to allow a parent company third-party guarantee. 2) I'm reminded that we've been through this before you, Ms. Orth, 19 years ago. You may recall hundreds of people showing up to protest the company would close, if required to follow the Water Quality Act, the Mining Act, when we were requesting to put good reclamation plans in place and actual financial assurance, at the time, about $90 million. Kuipers at that time found it inadequate and recommended for Chino and Tyrone that there be a combined $1 billion in financial assurance. They came up with $500 million, which is a lot more than the $100 million proposed. The mine has not shut down. Nineteen years later, the company managed to absorb the reclamation costs as a cost of doing business, just as all other businesses have to do. Once the plans were required of them, they have done an excellent job of reclaiming the lands. I have every confidence they will continue to do that great job. 3) I wanted to clarify, wearing my GRIP hat. It was mentioned that GRIP sent a letter in May apparently asserting that 500-year and 1000-year floods occur twice a year. It sounds ludicrous to me. The full context is important as the main point GRIP was making is that there is no data in the reclamation plan about how often these events are occurring, and I see the lack of information citing the Daily Press as saying that they were occurring twice very year. I have every confidence that report was misguided. The point of the letter was that we need the data. The sentence left out was that it was to ask for data."

Valencia said she is a retired teacher, now doing substitute teaching. "My grandmother and my grandfather lived under the Kneeling Nun. My grandfather passed away when he was 96, and my grandmother lived to 104. My oldest sister is 96. That's how bad the water is," she said to chuckles from the audience. "We've lived there our whole lives. If people have died from cancer, it could be because they smoked too much or drank too much. That happens everywhere. So many kids depend on their parents working at the mine. My father worked at Kennecott. He put us kids through college. My sister taught in Douglas. I don't believe it's the environment causing deaths. We've done really well, until some of you moved here. Janet said she has been here for 33 years. My sister has been here 96 years. If the mine has had anything happen from accidents, it's been cleaned up. Don't come from back East or California and tell us what we're suffering from. I'm not suffering from anything. My son hopefully will work with Freeport. We are a fan of miners. Quit creating controversy. Please don't be so helpful. Get a 'grip.'"

Huekel said that was a hard act to follow. She proceeded to give statistics from the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) 14 Atlas. "It shows the temporal distribution of precipitation and the potential effects of climate change. The results showed little consistent impact of climate change on the annual maximum precipitation during the period of record. There has been considerable research on climate change and precipitation. NOAA did an analysis on shifts due to climate change." She said charts show Grant County has a variance of 0.09 to 0.10 in 100 years. In 60-minute increments, the change was from 0.04 to 0.05. The percentage change on 24-hours were equally tiny numbers."

The next ones sworn in were Michael Brown, Carl Hardin and Eduardo Arguello.

Hardin said he is a lifelong resident of Grant County, having grown up in Santa Rita when the homes were there. "My dad worked for the mine for 30 years. I worked at Kennecott, Phelps Dodge and Freeport 37 years and a few months. I've watched as these companies developed in the 1970s. I worked with the environmental push, where PD did some and Freeport more. I worked reclamation for a while, and at the mine I've seen a lot of changes in mining companies. I might agree that there might be a better way to secure funds, but I don't know if it needs to say you have to do it this way. I've heard $100 million, $500 million, $1 billion in proposals. You don't know if you'll be alive tomorrow. Trying to predict the future is futile. Trying to say in five to10 years how things will be, you don't know what tomorrow will bring or if the mine is alive in 100 years. I think this agreement is good as is."

Michael Brown said he is a chiropractor. "I've had leukemia for 12 years as a result of working in Flagstaff and in northern New Mexico after the uranium melt down, when 94 million gallons of liquid waste escaped. I used to measure radioactivity. It took six years for the contaminated water to contaminate the water at an elementary school. The recent spill from the Gold King Mine in Colorado has contaminated the Animas River. I'm not opposed to mining, but I would like to see them take care of the future. Still in Pinos Altos today, a lot of the water cannot be drank because of mercury contamination. Below Boston Hill, there is arsenic in the water. Think of future generations. Talk about storm water, which will wash heavy metals into Whitewater Creek. I just want to think of future water. I think Silver City has a high rate of cancer, lupus, auto-immune diseases, and lung cancer, as well as too high a level of domestic violence. Make sure Freeport takes care of reclamation of what they leave behind. It's good for the environment and good for water quality in the future."

Arguello said he is a miner, retired from Chino after 32 years. "I spent the first 18 years in the open pit repairing electrical equipment. In 1997, I volunteered for the SX/EW (solvent extraction/electro-winning) facility to repair all electrical items. I am a strong support of mining, as long as it's done responsibly. Millions, likely billions of gallons of water and sulfuric acid are required to run mining operations. It is imperative that mining operators ensure the water quality and environment quality is maintained in the surrounding counties and Grant County. Future generations require us to get together to preserve good water quality forever. I decided to join the board of directors of the Gila Resources Information Project. This organization is a blessing to Grant County and all our communities. Its only purpose is to maintain the well-being of communities by working with mining companies to assure environmental and water quality for all to enjoy. I'm proud to be part of this hard-working group of people. The truth is that no one is trying to shut the mines down. We all share the same groundwater resources far beyond the mining operations. Can we have clean water and clean jobs? Yes, we can. We can support our mining neighbors and ask them to share a little of their profits for the present and future needs to keep the groundwater clean. They work hard for profits, but they have the responsibility to invest some of their profits to assure that groundwater integrity is maintained. We cannot let the well-being of our children and grandchildren become a political issue. We can all work together."

Several names on the list were no longer in attendance. Kim Clark and Jamie Mitchell were the next to be sworn in.

Clark said her family arrived in the Cliff Valley in 1880. "I commend Freeport, the Mining and Minerals Division and GRIP for agreeing on a closure closeout plan. GRIP considers itself a watchdog. However, their values do not represent a large majority of Grant County citizens or the more than 1000 people who attended the February County Commission meeting. $130 million in a trust is sufficient."

Mitchell said she was born and raised in Grant County. She teared up, and said: "Sorry, I get emotional. I was sitting in the back of the room looking at the county seal, showing ranching, mining, agriculture and the wilderness. I was impressed with Jim Kuipers, but was disappointed at the GRIP members, who had supposedly come together on this plan. More and more of them got up and said they didn't like the way things were done. GRIP is not the voice of the majority of Grant County. We want people from the mines to know that we see their improvements and the efforts they are making and how hard they are trying to make our county safe and our water safe. We appreciate them. We would appreciate it if GRIP would step back and let the mine do what they have promised they would do."

Several times, Orth asked for last call for comments. Several times people responded by wanting to speak.

Juan Jaurequi said he is a second-generation miner, whose father worked at the mine for 30 years. "I'm going on 10 years there. My father got me through college, but he also got me into mining. We are always talking about integrity and accountability at the mine. Mostly, we are talking about safety, taking care of us to get us home at the end of our shift. Yes, we have to take care of the environment. For instance, if there is too much dust in the air, we put the water trucks out on the road. I have worked on the tailings and on water wells from Hurley to the rest area. We pump that water. Much of the water went to Hurley. I know of no other company who would do that for a town. We have programs for teams and schools. We come up with money for them, and the company will match it twice. Climate change hasn't been proven. I think that's about control. I think we have more important things to worry about, like drug use in the county and education. We could be more focused on better things to use resources on."

Helen Nordell said she was born and raised in Hanover. "I've been listening to everybody else. My grandfather, my father and my brother have all been miners. The creek running by tailings on both sides, we used to wade in that water and play in the tailings, and we're still alive."

Cyndi Donovan said she is just curious. "I don't know who gives GRIP authority to have more authority over our rules and laws put in place by the state of New Mexico. Who funds GRIP? It's a non-profit. Is it my taxpayer dollars? It would be like my handing you money, so you could sue me. I know they are very good at using our terms back at us that they do not want to close the mines, and that they have the deepest concern for what's going on in our community and that they very much know the value mines bring to the community. My words of wisdom are not to listen to what they say, but watch what they do, because it speaks volumes. I think they continue to make unreasonable demands and continue to push the bar because they are never satisfied. Ultimately, GRIP wants to see the mines close and that is their deep-down motive. So, you, GRIP, do not represent me or thousands of us in Grant County."

Liz Morales said her family dates back hundreds of years. "I'm quarter Mescalero Apache. They were taken from their homelands and put in concentration camps by our government. They were taken all the way to Florida where they were assigned. A number of years later, they were released and found their way back home. They never conformed to living on the reservation. My great, great, great grandfather mined for gold in the Pinos Altos area. They sustained themselves. Thank God there were no GRIPs then. My great grandfather died at 101, and my grandfather and grandmother lived into their 90s. My father and brother worked in the mines. Yes, we have to take care of our Earth. It's all we have. But GRIP goes above and beyond to make things difficult for Freeport, and not just Freeport, but the coal mines in northwestern New Mexico. The mines are trying to abide by New Mexico Environment Department laws. We've lived close to the Kneeling Nun for years. The water is good. Yes, some die of cancer, but don't blame it on our mines. Work with the mines, and don't make it impossible, because ultimately it will affect you, too."

Mary Walker, a resident of Bayard, was the last to speak. "This messaging concerns me. Of course, everyone wants clean water, clean air and good health. The problem is GRIP. I don't understand why GRIP has such authority. I don't think they have the credibility of being pro-mine."

Orth reminded everyone that written comments would continue to be accepted through Aug. 15.

The hearing closed before 9 p.m.