Southern Group Activates Opposition to Beryllium Mining

In a very strong show of opposition, over 200 citizens came to a Mining & Minerals Division (MMD) hearing on December 1, 2009, on a permit application to drill five bore-holes 1,000 feet deep in Monticello Box.

The borings are proposed to be drilled on private property but into the complex and poorly understood hydrogeology of the Box, which provides almost 9,000 gallons a minute of spring water – the headwater of Alamosa Creek. This unique, resource-intensive area is also home to many types of wildlife, including both threatened and endangered species, and is the ancestral homeland of the Warm Springs Apache band.

Residents from Las Cruces to the Plains of San Augustine, many locals from Monticello, Native Americans, scientists, and, of course, Sierra Club members all testified that the risks were held by residents while the exploration company could damage the spring system that so many depend on and then just walk away! Other than the very slick team of lawyers, biologists, hydrologists, archaeologists, and public health experts assembled by the applicant, there were NO advocates for the drilling at the hearing.

This is the second time Rio Grande Chapter members have activated southern New Mexicans against any development of the overall Monticello Box Beryllium mining project. In 2005 we packed the Monticello Firehouse to fight a similar permit application that was subsequently denied by the MMD. At midnight at the December hearing, after 6½ hours of presentations and testimony from experts and local citizens, we asked the hearing officer to recommend denial of this application to Division Director Bill Brancard and Energy, Minerals & Natural Resources Department Secretary Joanna Prukop.

If the public’s voice is heard by the Division, the application will be denied – again. Margot Wilson and Mary Katherine Ray organized the effort, and along with other members, delivered stirring testimony during the hearing. Now activists will likely have a few months to enjoy the Box and await the MMD’s decision.

For more information, contact Conservation Organizer Dan Lorimier (575/740-2927, daniel.lorimier@sierraclub.org). —Dan Lorimier