The Land Exchange Bill

Time marches on and debate still rages or at least continues on the controversial "Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act" otherwise known as S.1862. Currently, the bill is before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee in the Senate. It has until November or December of this year (end of the year recess) to pass or not. And according to the Washington D.C.'s watch on bills, S.1862 is currently 62% Against and 38% For.

I know that our Mayor of Superior is going to the Senate sometime this month or perhaps in June, whenever the bill comes up for a hearing in that committee. He is speaking FOR the passage of the bill, with reservations. The reservations are that there must be some provisions for environmental factors in the land exchange, so that Resolution Copper won't just be given the sacred Apache Leap area all free and clear with no oversight on how the best way to get the millions of gallons of heavy mineral water out of the mountain without polluting the water supply of northeast Pinal County.

There is still no dialogue between the Apache Nation and Resolution Copper, something that is required in the Land Exchange. The copper company says succinctly that the Native Americans refuse to talk with them. And that's right, because the Apache Nation says their heads of state will speak with the U.S. government's heads of state, not some international conglomerate company. So right there, is a major stumbling block, I would think. But you know elected officials: if it's something they want, they'll sail right through and ignore their own laws.

The fact of the Mine then still lays like a big boulder in the future of Superior's Main Street. You can't deal with it, without stumbling over it someway or another. The Yes People are right: yes, it would create some jobs; get Superior back on the track that it's been derailed on since 1982 when Magma Copper closed; and give the town the impetus to get moving again. The No People are right too: no, because if the environmental rules are not followed it will create a serious health catastrophe for all the people of Superior and right down to Florence with heavy metals polluting the waters; no, because our federal government gave a promise to the Apache Nation in 1956 that Apache Leap Mountain area would not be touched for development or industry; and no, because if the claims of such a rich strain of copper is found at Apache Leap then shouldn't it be used for U.S. gain rather than a foreign entity?

Man, these are Big Questions and Big Debates. I don't know that any of our elected officials are up to dealing with them fairly.