A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. Forest Service violated the Endangered Species Act when it approved an Arizona copper mine expansion without fully examining how far the project's water impacts could reach.
The decision could have implications beyond the single mine, potentially influencing how federal agencies evaluate harm to sensitive ecosystems, including habitat used by the endangered yellow-billed cuckoo.
Here's what to know
U.S. District Judge Dominic Lanza's split decision gave Sierra Club a partial win in its challenge to the planned expansion of the Pinto Valley copper mine in eastern Arizona.
As Courthouse News reported, Lanza said the Forest Service defined the affected area too narrowly, leaving more than 90% of Pinto Creek outside the zone it treated as likely to be impacted.
Located in the Tonto National Forest near Miami, Arizona, the mine uses a staggering amount of water every year, over 5 trillion gallons. That massive water use reduces subflow in Pinto Creek, which supports the endangered yellow-billed cuckoo.
The Forest Service based its review on work from third-party SRK consulting, which limited the analysis to places where the water table was expected to fall by at least five feet, as reported by Courthouse News. The outlet also noted that this SRK work left out at least 90% of the creek from its analysis.
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Lanza wrote in the ruling that the Forest Service's threshold was too restrictive and violated the Endangered Species Act, writing, "The 5-foot groundwater drawdown contour cannot possibly encompass the full ESA 'action area' given SRK's express acknowledgement that the baseflow effects of the action would extend, at a minimum, to the Magma Weir, which falls outside the 5-foot drawdown contour."
Lanza also requested more briefing on possible remedies, giving Sierra Club, the plaintiff, two weeks to say what it thinks should happen next.
Where can I learn more?
These stories look at similar clashes over mining, federal oversight, and endangered species protections.
• In Arizona, residents say a fast-tracked mining project could leave them as guinea pigs.
• A federal court struck down a shortcut that let coal companies bypass endangered species review.
• In Appalachia, a federal judge said coal mining oversight failed rare crayfish and other species.
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