PHOENIX— The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today denied multiple requests for an injunction to block the Trump administration from transferring Oak Flat to a private mining company. The decision clears the way for the public lands about 40 miles east of Phoenix to be handed over to Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of multinational mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP, even as three lawsuits challenging the move continue.
“This is devastating news for Oak Flat and everyone who loves this sacred place,” said Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The fight isn’t over, even if Oak Flat becomes the property of a multinational mining giant. I’m hopeful this treasured place will be returned to the people once the legal problems with the land exchange get a full airing in court. We’ll use every tool we have to push back and protect Oak Flat once and for all.”
Today’s decision follows oral arguments Jan. 7, when judges considered whether the popular campground and sacred Apache site should remain in public hands while the lawsuits are decided.
The case reached the appeals court after U.S. District Judge Dominic W. Lanza denied a request for a preliminary injunction in August, which would have allowed the land exchange to proceed. The San Carlos Apache Tribe and conservation groups appealed the same day, and three days later the appeals court issued an emergency injunction temporarily blocking the transfer. Today’s decision lifts that injunction.
One lawsuit challenging the land exchange was filed by the San Carlos Apache Tribe, and another was brought by the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, Earthworks, the Center for Biological Diversity, Access Fund, the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter and the Inter Tribal Association of Arizona, Inc. A third lawsuit was brought by individual Apache women to protect their access to Oak Flat for religious ceremonies.
The Trump administration seeks to transfer more than 2,400 acres of public land, including Oak Flat, to Resolution Copper to facilitate construction of a massive underground copper mine. The project would permanently destroy Oak Flat, a site of extraordinary religious and cultural significance to the San Carlos Apache Tribe and other Tribes in the region.
The lands slated for exchange also provide habitat for endangered and threatened species, including ocelots and Arizona hedgehog cacti, and offer significant recreational and ecological benefits to the public.
Resolution Copper plans to use block-cave mining to extract ore located thousands of feet underground, a method that would cause Oak Flat’s surface to collapse, leaving a crater up to two miles wide and 1,000 feet deep. The operation would require pumping vast amounts of groundwater, threatening regional water supplies and spreading mine waste across thousands of acres of surrounding public lands.
The conservation groups and the Inter Tribal Association of Arizona, Inc. are represented by attorneys with the Western Mining Action Project and the Center for Biological Diversity. Montgomery & Interpreter, PLC also represents the Inter Tribal Association of Arizona, Inc.
