The state environmental agency has announced a draft temporary permit for the Florence Copper Project, and the public will have 30 days to comment on the permit amendments.
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality will host a public hearing on May 19, the last day of the comment period, from 6-9 p.m. at the Florence High School gym.
“With this permit, the company will have received 20 of the 21 authorizations required to operate the PTF (“production test facility,” or small-scale test phase of the Florence Copper Project),” Russell Hallbauer, president and CEO of Taseko of Vancouver, Canada – owner of Florence Copper – said in a statement on April 14.
The Town of Florence and many Florence residents oppose the project, fearing contamination of the water supply. Others look forward to the good-paying jobs and the chance to diversify the local economy during the 20-year life of the mine. The town has refused to grant industrial zoning that would allow the project to operate on all of its land, but the company hopes to begin on a 160-acre parcel of state land outside the town’s jurisdiction.
