Haunted Canyon in the Arizona Desert
A Desert Rarity
In the Arizona desert, streams that flow year-round are very precious because they are so rare. Only three percent of streams in Arizona contain water throughout the year.
Originating in the Superstition Wilderness, such a stream flows through Haunted Canyon into Pinto Creek. A forest of majestic Arizona cypress, alder, walnut, ash and sycamores shade its banks.
Further downstream, an eight-mile stretch of Pinto Creek also flows year-round. Birds and other wildlife find crucial watering, nesting, and breeding habitat in the cool, dense streamside.
And now these two unusual and incredibly beautiful desert
streams are threatened by the proposed Carlota mine.
Potential for Disaster
While permanently flowing streams are rare in Arizona, mining disasters are unfortunately all too common. At least six spills have occurred along Pinto Creek from neighboring mine sites since 1944.
The Carlota project would dump 400 tons of toxic sulfuric acid per day for twenty years into a leach pad precariously contained behind one seven-story and two 10-story high earthen dams!
Downstream of Pinto Creek is Roosevelt Lake, a major source
of drinking water for the Phoenix area. A failure of the earthen dams at
the Carlota Copper Project could contaminate the water supply for one of
the largest metro areas in the United States with sulfuric acid and heavy
metals.
