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Vol. 87 No. 25 Periodicals Postage Paid at Superior, Arizona 85173
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs… Congressman Gosar concludes hearing for Resolution Copper Land Exchange By Taylor Sheaffer Ritter Early Tuesday morning, June 14, several residents of Superior met at the Resolution Copper office, eagerly awaiting the hearing scheduled by U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-01) and the Natural Resources Committee concerning H.R. 1904, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2011. The bill seeks to trade roughly 5,300 acres of privately held land in Arizona for 2,422 acres of Federal land, referred to as Oak Flats, to move forward with the planned progress of the Resolution Copper Mine, providing thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in tax revenue, both desperately needed by the public of the State of Arizona. During the hearing, several witnesses for both sides gave testimony of their reasoning for either supporting the land exchange or opposing it. “This project was one of the very first things brought to my attention by the people of my district. Many of those folks, excited for the economic development and sustainable growth that this project will bring, wanted this legislation introduced immediately with the start of the new Congress. However, I felt it was
my duty…to engage with interested stakeholders,” said Congressman Gosar. Throughout his opening statement, Gosar highlighted the many benefits that this bill would allow, including stimulating both job growth and the economy with more than 3,700 local jobs, providing more than $220 million in annual wages, with a total economic impact for the State of Arizona estimated at $61 billion total, at nearly $1 billion per year, plus another $20 billion dollars in Federal, State and County revenue. “This legislation,” he continued, “will also significantly contribute to our mineral and energy independence. Today we import 30 percent of our copper compared to 7 percent in 1993. This project will produce up to 25 percent of the current U.S. demand. The demand for copper is skyrocketing…Renewable energy production from solar, wind, geothermal and other technologies depend heavily on copper to transmit the energy they generate,” lending to the very relevant cause for the high price of copper. In a alternate view, Congressman Gosar stated this bill as not only “a jobs bill, it’s a conservation bill,” detailing that part of the land the public would acquire in the exchange
include important recreational and conservation areas, along with the one of the last un-dammed river in Arizona, the San Pedro River, nearly seven miles of which are included in the exchange. Additionally, Congressman Gosar pointed out that nearly 100 acres of Apache Leap will be conveyed to the U.S. Government in the legislation; the conservation of which is an immense concern to the Native American tribes. Due to speculation that this piece of legislation circumvents environmental law, Congressman Gosar staunchly explained, “[It] address[es] explicitly and implicitly compliance with Federal environmental laws and regulations pertaining to conveyances of Federal land and approval of mine plan of operations. The partners must comply with other applicable Federal laws and regulations prior to the conveyance of lands. Thus, the exchange will not go forward until major environmental requirements under the National Historic Preservation Act, Endangered Species Act, Executive Orders pertaining to wetlands and floodplains, and Hazardous Materials Surveys are met,” guaranteeing that this bill is not meant to hastily push See Hearing, Page 3
50¢
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Superior Little League hosts end of season awards ceremony, announces all star teams
See Story, Page 4
Plans underway for Superior Fourth of July What could be more patriotic then spending the day with friends and family, playing games, eating food, swimming for free and then later oohing and awing over the colorfully explosive lights from a fireworks show? Why, doing all of the above in Superior, of course! The folks on the Town of Superior’s Parks and Recreation Board are already hard at work planning for the annual celebration of the Nation’s Birthday. A little birdie told us that there will be a water slide, free swimming at the Superior pool, games for the kiddies and food booths galore. Alas, no parade this year, but with the Arizona heat, the omission is surely forgiven.
The local planners, we’re told, are in DESPERATE need of volunteers! So if you can help out in some small way or, even better, in a big way, please call Barbara Arriola at 520-827-0052 and give her the good news. She’ll have something for you to do, we’re sure. So get out your red, white and blue decorations, dig out that patriotic spirit and get ready to spend the Fourth of July on Main Street! Check back with the Superior Sun next week for more details. You’ll be glad you did!
Recall election set for Nov. 8 By Taylor Sheaffer Ritter Superior voters this November will be asked whether to recall Mayor Michael Hing. As per protocol, Town Manager Melanie Oliver called for a recall election at last week’s Superior Town Council meeting. The election will be set for Tuesday, Nov. 8. The next action needed by the town council for the recall election to take place will be to pass a resolution officially
calling for the recall election. During his closing statements, Hing said, “I was considering resigning after I heard that over 300 names were submitted, but I changed my mind because of the fact that 60 names were thrown out right off the top by the Recorder’s Office and now there are some issues concerning those who have signed the recall so I will pursue legal issues that challenge the recall. I will do it because fiscally this will cost the
town about six grand [$6,000] to call this election, so I will pursue legal challenge to the recall such that the town will not have to go through this. There are some issues that surround the recall petition itself, the town attorney cannot handle this so I will pursue this off to the side. I did consider resigning after being informed about the amount of signatures received… but I will remain and will fight this to the end.”
By Taylor Sheaffer Ritter Superior residents who live on Magma Avenue will have to endure some minor inconveniences, but it will be worth it in the end when the street gets a fresh new coat of asphalt. Last week, at the Superior Town Council meeting, Town Manager Melanie Oliver explained that the planned paving of Magma Avenue would begin on July 11. “The Magma Avenue paving ... will take two to three days to complete. We will get information out to all residents on Magma Avenue so that they will be aware of the construction and that it will be difficult to get in and out of their driveways. We would like to move this along as quickly as possible. The
overlay will come from Main Street to the top of Magma Avenue and then Main Street to the bridge will be a slurry fill,” Oliver explained. Along with the overlay, crack sealing will be taking place due to the large amount of cracks on the road; it is necessary to do this prior to laying down the overlay on the road. “So…this dispels the rumors that we weren’t going to repair Magma Avenue,” Superior Mayor Michael Hing laughingly added. The town was able to save money due to the timing of the project. Cactus, the company which will be doing the work, are already going to be in the area addressing a different project and thus the town was not required to pay
additional fees to bring in the equipment. If you have questions concerning the re-paving of Magma Avenue, please contact Superior Town Hall at 520-689-5752.
Paving on Magma Avenue to begin Rapt attention ... Resolution Copper Company invited Superior Council Members and other local residents to watch the Land Exchange Hearing on a live feed in RCC offices. (Taylor Sheaffer Ritter photo)
Tentative agreement reached with Asarco, Unions Tucson, AZ – Tucson based ASARCO LLC (ASARCO) President and COO Manuel Ramos announced today that the Company and the Unions representing employees at five Asarco operating facilities located in Arizona and Texas have reached tentative agreement on a labor contract that will be effective through June 2013. Over the next week, the unions will be submitting the agreement for employee ratification at the various Asarco units. The Copper Basin News/Superior Sun
made attempts to contact Manny Armenta, the local sub district director for the United Steelworkers, but was unable to get additional comment prior to press time. ASARCO is an integrated copper mining, smelting and refining company with approximately 2,600 employees. The Company is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona and operates mines, mills and a smelter near Tucson and a refinery in Amarillo, Texas. For more information, visit http://www.asarco. com.
Weather
Date
June 13 June 14 June 15 June 16 June 17 June 18 June 19
High
101 104 106 103 104 104 100
Low Pcp
58 61 64 68 66 64 66
Weather readings courtesy Boyce Thompson Arboretum.