Judge won't delay impact report on mine, sees apparent missteps

A federal judge refused Monday to grant an injunction delaying the release of a draft environmental report on the proposed Rosemont mine in the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of Tucson. But the judge also found "an appearance of impropriety" by Rosemont Copper and the U.S. Forest Service in their handling of meetings about the mine issue that triggered this lawsuit. Senior U.S. District Judge Frank Zapata ruled late Monday that opponents failed to show that they would prevail on the merits of their lawsuit. They charged that the Forest Service violated federal law by having mining-company officials, but not representatives of the general public, attend numerous meetings on the controversial proposed mine. About two dozen such meetings, many attended by Rosemont officials or consultants, were held in 2009 and 2010 with representatives of 17 local, state and federal agencies who have been advising the service on the mine's environmental-impact statement, Zapata wrote. But Zapata ruled the service was "less than prudent" in having Rosemont representatives as the only nongovernmental entities attending. Such action, "at a minimum, presents an appearance of impropriety on the part of the USFS as well as Rosemont."...more