Pinto Creek, Haunted Canyon,
and the Carlota Mine


The photo on the left was taken looking down Pinto Creek andthe one on the right, in the same area the next year. The area isnear Miami, Arizona north of the Pinal Mountains.




The wild beauty and valuable riparian habitats of Pinto Creek andHaunted Canyon are threatened by the proposed Carlota copper mine. Thefinal outcome is uncertain but the fight continues to protect thefree-flowing desert streams. Only about three per cent of the streamsin the Arizona Sonoran Desert today are perennial streams.

Please help preserve this area for generations yet to come.
Please oppose the Site Specific Standard for Dissolved Copper in Pinto Creek

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) is holding a public meeting
to receive public comments regarding the proposed surface water quality standards:

Wednesday, June 4, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
1110 W. Washington St., Room 3175, Phoenix, AZ

If you cannot attend this meeting, you can submit written comments.
The deadline for submittal of public comments on the proposed revisions to the surface water quality standards rules is by close of business on June 4, 2008. Written comments on the surface water quality standards rules should be addressed to:

Shirley Conard
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
5415A-1
1110 W. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85007

Email conard.shirley@azdeq.gov or Fax (602)771-4528

Pinto Creek is a free-flowing desert stream East of Superior Arizona. In both 1996 and 1997, American Rivers listed Pinto Creek as one of the nation's ten most endangered rivers due to the proposed Carlota Mine. This mine threatens the aquatic and riparian habitats of the creek. Now the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is proposing to establish a site specific standard for dissolved copper in the stream and justifying this decision by indicating that much of the copper in the stream is due to natural background.

This use of natural background belies the longtime disturbance of the area from copper mining. This site specific standard for copper would allow for a much higher level of copper in the creek and would not be protective of aquatic life in the stream. The ADEQ’s choice of method for establishing this site-specific copper standard of 42 ug/L establishes the highest allowable level of copper that might be technically justified using the existing data and chosen methods of analyses. This is not, however, a protective standard for the designated uses of the Creek as mandated by the Clean Water Act, and does not recognize the significant existing disturbance and copper contribution to the stream caused by current and past mining activities. Please tell the ADEQ to reject this site-specific standard and ensure stronger protection for Pinto Creek and its wildlife.





For More Information, Contact:

Tom Sonandres, Coordinator
Friends of Pinto Creek
9742 N. 105th Dr.
Sun City, AZ 85351
Phone: 623-583-6764
e-mail:   spica @ asu.edu

Contributions:

Please send to:
Citizens for the Preservation of Powers Gulch and Pinto Creek
PO Box 238
Vernon, AZ 85940
Phone: 928-532-7027
e-mail:   goodale01 @ frontiernet.net>

PintoCreek: index.html, v 4.0, 6/3/2008
Thomas W. Sonandres
Coordinator, Friends of Pinto Creek
Copyright ® 1999/2008, Friends of Pinto Creek

Web site development by Jon Findley