us gives rio-tinto rights to mine native american sacred sites

[DiscoStu]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate passed a measure authorizing the nation’s defense programs Friday, and along with it managed to give lands sacred to Native Americans to a foreign company that owns a uranium mine with Iran.

The $585 billion National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 is one of the must-pass pieces of legislation that Congress moves every year. But like they did in attaching extraneous riders to the must-pass government funding bill, lawmakers used the defense bill as a vehicle to pass a massive public lands package.

The bill sailed through on a vote of 89 to 11.

Many of the land measures were popular. But one, the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act, had twice failed to win support in the House of Representatives, blocked both by conservationists and conservatives.

The deal gives a subsidiary of the Australian-English mining firm Rio Tinto 2,400 acres of the Tonto National Forest in exchange for several other parcels so it can mine a massive copper deposit.

The Iran connection comes from a uranium mine in Namibia, in which Tehran has owned a 15 percent stake since the days of the shah.

Rio Tinto, which removed Iran’s two members of the mine board in 2012, has argued that Iran gets no benefit from the property, that there is no active partnership, and that it has discussed the issue with the U.S. State Department to ensure that no sanctions against Iran are violated.

A State Department spokesperson confirmed that officials had discussed the site, but declined to say that they could assure there were no violations of sanctions.

“We are aware of the mine in question and have discussed relevant compliance issues with the company,” the spokesperson said.

The official also declined to say if, as might be expected, Iran would be able to benefit from the mine if Secretary of State John Kerry is successful in negotiations to limit the regime’s nuclear aspirations, and sanctions are lifted. “We are not going to speculate on any hypotheticals,” the official said.

A Rio Tinto official also declined to speculate, but noted that under the current sanctions and Namibian law, it's impossible to buy out Iran's share or sever the tie.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) mounted a bid to strip the entire lands package from the bill, but secured only 18 votes in his favor.

It’s not only people concerned about any benefit Iran might get who were worried about giving American forest land to a foreign firm that has such a connection.

Native Americans, particularly the Apache tribe in the area, say digging a massive mine under their ancestral lands will destroy sacred ceremonial and burial grounds.

Rio Tinto says it will work closely with the tribes to ensure their concerns are heard, and will work with the U.S. Forest Service to protect the environment.

The measure was added into the NDAA largely thanks to the efforts of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who, along with fellow Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, sees the project as an economic boon that will create 3,700 jobs over several decades.

Flake acknowledged that the deal never would have passed on its own, even as he lamented the process that got it through the Senate.

“It’s never good to see big packages with so many things in them -- that’s what we want to get away from,” Flake said. “But it’s been very difficult to move individual pieces of legislation over the last few years.”

In this case, the addition of the Arizona swap and the other land measures were never discussed in public, and were added during secret negotiations between the House and Senate Armed Services Committee. the deal was never publicly revealed until the House started work on passing the entire defense bill last week.

It will become law as soon as President Barack Obama signs it. Rio Tinto, though subsidiary Resolution Copper, will take possession of the land a year later. Although the land will then be private property and federal environmental reviews will no longer be enforceable, the company said in a statement after the measure passed that it would abide by such reviews. It also pledged to be a good neighbor:

“Resolution Copper Mining is pleased that the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act passed the House of Representatives and the Senate with strong bipartisan support. Passage of the legislation means that Resolution Copper can move forward with the development of this world-class ore body which will create approximately 3,700 jobs, generate over $60 billion in economic impact and result in almost $20 billion in state and federal tax payments,” said project director Andrew Taplin.

"There is much more work to be done before commercial mining can begin and Resolution Copper looks forward to working with all stakeholders as we continue to progress through the regulatory review process toward responsible development and operation of a world-class copper mine that will safely produce over 25 percent of the current annual demand for copper in the United States.”

Once the legislation is signed into law by President Obama, Resolution Copper will focus on the comprehensive environmental and regulatory review under NEPA, where there will be broad public consultation, government-to-government consultation with Arizona Native American tribes and a comprehensive valuation appraisal of the copper deposit as required by Congress.

Resolution Copper plans to work to expand existing partnerships and create new ones with neighboring communities and Native American Tribes. The company will endeavor to hire locally and regionally whenever possible.

The heart of the legislation is the exchange of 2,400 acres of federally owned land above the copper deposit for 5,300 acres of land owned by Resolution Copper composed of valuable recreational, conservation and culturally significant land throughout Arizona. Congressional leaders made significant improvements to the legislation to address community, environmental and tribal concerns. These changes include provisions for completion of a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prior to the exchange of title, extraordinary protections for historic Apache Leap, and safe access to the Oak Flat Campground after the exchange has been completed.

[DiscoStu]

The San Carlos Apache Tribe (Tribe) has worked for the past decade to shine light on the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange that would transfer Oak Flat and nearby lands in the Tonto National Forest – lands held sacred by my Tribe and many other Native Americans – to a foreign-owned mining corporation for certain destruction. Sadly, this Land Exchange has been airdropped into the FY15 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) at the eleventh hour, as Congress prepares to bring the 113th Session to close.

RELATED: San Carlos Apache Leader Seeks Senate Defeat of Copper Mine on Sacred Land

Hundreds of tribal governments, tribal organizations, and others have joined San Carlos Apaches in opposition to the Land Exchange because it would transfer public federal lands that encompass a known Native place of worship to a private mining company. Because of this opposition, the majority of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives opposed the Land Transfer. House Leadership twice pulled it from consideration because this misguided Land Transfer lacked the votes for passage. The Senate Committee with jurisdiction over the bill also refused to move it forward.

In the face of this opposition, certain Members of Arizona’s delegation forced a closed-door deal to include the SE Arizona Land Exchange into the National Defense Authorization Act of 2015. The Land Exchange was included in Section 3003 on page 1,103 of a 1,700-page bill that was unveiled after 11:00 p.m. the evening before it came up for consideration. This exemplifies everything wrong with Congress.

Before the U.S. Senate takes final action on this breach of trust, on behalf of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, I respectfully urge Senate Leaders to strike Section 3003, Southeast Arizona Land Exchange, S. 1847, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) prior to passage. If the Senate fails to protect our place of worship, I additionally ask that the Administration veto this measure.

Section 3003 would direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey over 2,400 acres of the Forest, including Oak Flat, to a mining company called Resolution Copper, which is owned by the foreign mining giants Rio Tinto PLC (United Kingdom) and BHP Billiton Ltd (Australia). The Forest, established in 1905 from Apache ancestral homelands, is named after the Tonto Apaches who were forced from the Oak Flat area in the 1870s and imprisoned at Camp Verde Reservation. The Reservation is located 15 miles from Oak Flat. During the winter of 1875, the Apache prisoners of war were forced marched to San Carlos Reservation by the military. Over one hundred Tonto Apaches died during that winter March. It seems that history is repeating itself.

Oak Flat is a place of irreplaceable beauty. President Eisenhower specifically withdrew the Area from mining through a Public Lands Order. President Nixon reaffirmed withdrawal. However, Rio Tinto/Resolution Copper seek to develop and operate the largest copper mine in North America in the Oak Flat area. Resolution Copper plans to use the highly destructive block cave mining method to remove one cubic mile of ore – the equivalent of 1,400 stadiums – 7,000 feet beneath the surface of the earth without replacing any of the earth removed because it is the cheapest form of mining.

Resolution Copper itself admits that the surface will collapse creating a crater visible from outer space and destroying forever our place of worship.

No one knows exactly how and where the earth will collapse as a result of Resolution Copper’s underground mining on this scale. Resolution Copper has never addressed what would happen if the inevitable collapse damages or causes the collapse of Highway 60. Highway 60 is the only direct highway from Phoenix to eastern Arizona. The economic repercussions for the citizens of Arizona would be immense and potentially devastating.

The Transfer and resulting mine will forever alter the region’s water quality and water supply. Copper is one of the most water-intensive forms of mining in existence. Add block cave mining into the factor, and the need for water further intensifies. The U.S. established the Tonto National Forest in 1904 to protect the region’s watershed. This protection will also turn to dust with the Land Exchange.

Section 3003 fleeces the American taxpayer and undermines national security. Rio Tinto drafted the appraisal provisions in the bill, ensuring that it will benefit to the greatest extent possible at the expense of the American taxpayer. The beneficiaries of the Land Transfer – Resolution Copper Mining and its parent corporation Rio Tinto – will reap billions in American taxpayer resources. They are earmarked to reap these benefits without any guarantee that the copper remains in the U.S. Resolution Copper Project Director, Andrew Taplin, admitted in a recent Arizona Central article that the copper ore mined from Oak Flat will likely be shipped out of the country to be smelted. Rio Tinto’s top shareholder – Chinalco, a corporation owned by the government of China – cannot wait for this deal to pass.

In addition, Rio Tinto has repeatedly refused to sever its partnership with the Government of Iran, through the Iran Foreign Investment Company (IFIC), in the Rössing Uranium Mine in Namibia, Africa. The Institute for Science and International Security issued a report on October 24, 2013, stating that the Government of Iran may be in proximate possession of weapons-grade uranium. Both United Against a Nuclear Iran and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies have raised concerns with this dangerous proposal that directly benefits Rio Tinto and its partnership with the IFIC. Rio Tinto does not concern itself with the United States’ national security. It only concerns itself with its own profits.

The proponents of Section 3003 claim that the bill was amended to address the Tribe’s concerns with protection of our sacred places and environmental concerns. These claims are hollow. Despite changes to require consultation with affected tribes and compliance with the National Environmental Protection Act, Section 3003 still mandates the transfer of Oak Flat into the private ownership of Resolution Copper regardless of the results of the consultation or information and recommendations resulting from the NEPA process. A mandatory conveyance defeats the purpose of tribal consultations and the NEPA process that are designed to help provide information before decisions about transferring the land are made. In Section 3003, the outcome is pre-determined, rendering tribal views and public comments meaningless. Furthermore, Section 3003 would not require Resolution Copper to mitigate impacts on the Oak Flat area after conveyance and contains no repercussions or penalties on Resolution Copper for environmental harm or the destruction to our sacred areas.

Proponents also falsely claim that the Tribe was consulted on these changes. The first the Tribe saw the language of Section 3003 was after 11:00 p.m. on the evening of December 2, 2014 when the House Rules Committee posted the bill online. This is the antithesis of democracy. We are extremely disappointed by the lack of transparency and lack of opportunity to comment on this provision. The Tribe greatly appreciates the efforts of Rep. Tom Cole, other Members of the House Rules Committee, and Rep. Betty McCollum for their efforts to remove Section 3003 from S. 1847 during that Committee’s vote on the rule on the basis that the provision, among other things, subverted the will of the House and was included in S. 1847 without fair process.'

For these reasons, I again urge Senate Leaders to strike Section 3003 from the NDAA. If this breach of trust moves forward in Congress, I ask that the Administration veto this measure.

Oak Flat is one of our religious places where our Gaan – spiritual deities and Holy People – reside. Apache people have lived, prayed, and died in the Oak Flat Area since time immemorial. We are saddened that Congress, through an 11th hour rider, has ignored the will of the people. We are concerned for our children who may never see or practice their religion in their rightful place of worship. We are worried for the children of southeast Arizona who may have to find new places to live to drink clean water. And we are gravely concerned for the American voter whose voice continues to be ignored. However, the Apache people will not remain silent. We are committed to shining light on the Land Exchange and the proposed mine until we have no breath.

Terry Rambler is the San Carlos Apache Tribal Chairman.

Read more at https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/12/10/re-raiding-native-sacred-places-defense-authorization-everything-wrong-congress

[_Cursive]

..and the wheels of the fascist combine harvester keep on turning.

The near genocide of the native American's wasn't enough.

.."gotta reap those resources."