Tucson, Arizona | Wikimedia Commons/Relic38
Tucson, Arizona | Wikimedia Commons/Relic38
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) approved an open-pit Rosemont copper mine in the southeast of Tucson, which has been overturned by a federal judge.
U.S. District Judge James Soto said the FWS did not think habitats of endangered species would be destroyed with the project, but knew it could affect the endangered species. Soto’s ruling aligns with his other decision in June 2019, which overturned the U.S. Forest Service’s approval of the same project.
Marc Fink, attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, said Soto’s ruling supports the claim that FWS’s opinion did in fact go against the Endangered Species Act.
"And so this is now a second major permit for the mine that's been found unlawful and thrown out by the court," Fink told Arizona Public Media.
The Center for Biological Diversity sued over the mine project with the help of Fink.
Their case highlighted the negative effects the project would have on endangered species, such as jaguars and riparian habitats.
Hudbay Minerals, the company developing the mine, said Soto’s ruling wasn’t necessary because of the company’s 11 years worth of research, which said the project’s effects on endangered species would be next to nothing. Hudbay Minerals is determined to carry out the project.
Alerts Sign-up