Conservation groups sue Trump administration over Hermosa mine expansion in Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz., Sept 29 — The Center for Biological Diversity and Patagonia Area Resource Alliance sued the Trump administration over its Sept. 2 approval of the expansion of South32's Hermosa mine onto federal public lands in southern Arizona, the groups said.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, challenges approvals by the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. According to the groups, those approvals would expand industrial mining activities across more than 52,000 acres of public land in the Coronado National Forest for 83 years.

The lawsuit says the agencies violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to properly evaluate and protect listed species and their designated critical habitat. It also says the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to provide an adequate analysis of the project's threats, including its effects on groundwater.

"Once these mountains are carved up and their aquifers depleted, there's no putting them back together," said Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center.

The groups said the expansion would include a 225-acre tailings facility capable of holding up to 38 million tons of mining waste, a 7.6-mile permanent access road, 7.2 miles of new power transmission lines and six groundwater wells. They said groundwater pumping would draw down the water table by as much as 250 feet.

According to the groups, the agencies' own assessments say the project would threaten the only corridor for roughly 120 miles where jaguars and ocelots can cross the U.S.-Mexico border.

The groups said the federal agencies reviewed the project through the FAST-41 permitting process. Anna Darian of Patagonia Area Resource Alliance said Hermosa may be the first hardrock mining project approved under FAST-41.