Western earns pair of RMAC volleyball wins — Page 4

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Oct. 15, 2012
The only local newspaper
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Vol. CXIII, No. 76
Eight pages
WEATHER — 2
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COMICS — 3 SPORTS — 4, 5 CLASS — 6, 7 DONATION — 8

Center contests water-quality ruling

for the past 75 years
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a
Local
Weather
The forecast calls for partly
cloudy skies tonight and clear
skies on Tuesday.
The overnight low
temperature should be in the
low 50s, while Tuesday’s high
is expected to be near 78.
Sunday’s high and low
were 73 and 39.
The extended forecast
calls for mostly clear skies
Wednesday through Friday.
Overnightlowtemperatures
should be in the mid-40s to
the low 50s, while daytime
highs are expected to be in the
upper 70s to low 80s.
Burn planned
The Silver City Ranger
District of the Gila National
Forest has tentatively
scheduled the Farm Flats
Prescribed Fire, 12 miles
north of Silver City, either
later this month or in early
November.
The start date of the
prescribed fire, which totals
2,036 acres, and its duration
could change depending upon
weather and fuel conditions,
according to a news release.
“The objective of the fire
that is planned during the fall
months is to remove dead and
downed woody materials
such as trees, branches, pine
needles, etc., under cooler
conditions, reducing the
chances of a hotter, more
destructive wildfire during
the heat of summer,” the
release stated.
“If driving in the area
of the fire, please exercise
caution as fire vehicles and
By JIM OWEN
Daily Press Staff
the proposed regulations. The
state Water Quality Control
approved, the regulations
“would allow existing
for liners to be required
beneath all stockpiles and
“Setback distances of 500
to 1,000 feet between mines
Proposed water-quality Commission must approve contaminating activities to tailings facilities, unless and domestic wells, springs
rules for copper mines would them. A hearing is scheduled continue at the Chino, Cobre a variance is obtained and municipal wells (are
allow Freeport-McMoRan for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11, and Tyrone mines, contrary under the conditions of the needed) to protect public
Copper & Gold Inc. to in Santa Fe. to the intent of the New Water Quality Act. GRIP drinking-water supplies,”
“pollute groundwater” in In September, the NMED Mexico Water Quality Act also opposes the NMED’s the group wrote.
Grant County, according held a hearing in Silver and not reflective of industry delegation of regulatory
to the New Mexico City regarding the proposed best-management practices.” authority to private Jim Owen may be reached
Environmental Law Center. rules. engineers who work for mine at jowen@silvercitydaily
GRIP testified that, if The organization is calling permittees. press.net.
The organization on
Friday submitted comments
regarding the new regulations
to the state Environment
Department on behalf of
center clients Amigo Bravos,
Turner Ranch Properties
and the Silver City-based
Gila Resources Information
Project.
“The comments challenge
the department’s wholesale
acceptance of regulations
proposed by Freeport, the
company that operates the
large, open-pit copper mines
near Silver City,” the center
wrote in a news release.
“The department’s
upper-level management
adopted Freeport’s proposal
to accommodate (the
company’s) need to routinely
pollute groundwater with
acid rock drainage, metals
and other contaminants in
the course of its mining
operations,” the release
stated.
Bruce Frederick, an
attorney representing the
center, added: “At Freeport’s
request, the department’s
upper management overruled
the recommendations of its
technical staff and would

Bicyclist continues long trek

personnel will be working
near or on Forest Road 282
(Sheep Corral), and Forest
Road 4083V (Snow Creek),”
(Photo Courtesy of Aart Huijg)
now allow Freeport and AART HUIJG BICYCLES SOUTH ON THE TRANS-AMAZONIA HIGHWAY THROUGH BRAZIL
other operators to construct
and operate leach, waste

on his way to the South Pole

according to the release.
“Smoke from the fire will
be present in these areas and
could impact visibility along
New Mexico 15 and 35.
“For safety purposes,
reduce speed, be alert to other
vehicle traffic and bicyclists
traveling along the road, and
drive with vehicle lights on,”
the release stated.
For more information,
contact Randy Gomez,
district fire management
officer for the Silver City
Ranger District, at 388-8461.
Case to be heard
WASHINGTON (AP)
— The Supreme Court
will take up an appeal from
Arizona over its requirement
that people prove they are
American citizens before
registering to vote.
The justices on Monday
said they will review a
federal appeals court ruling
that blocked the law in some
instances.
A 12-member panel of
the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in San Francisco said
that federal law trumps the
Arizona requirement. Federal
law allows voters to fill out a
mail-in voter registration card
and swear they are citizens
under penalty of perjury, but it
doesn’t require them to show
proof as Arizona’s 2004 law
does.
The ruling applies only to
people who seek to register
using the federal mail-in form.
Arizona has its own form and
an online system to register
when renewing a driver’s
license. The court ruling did
not affect proof of citizenship
requirements using the state
forms.
Arizona officials have
said most people use those
rock and tailings stockpiles
without a liner. When
exposed to precipitation,
these stockpiles produce a
highly acidic solution that
can leach into groundwater
and pollute it above water-
quality standards unless they
have an impervious liner.”
The release pointed
out that the department’s
attorney once worked for the
same law firm that represents
Freeport. The center called
the situation “an obvious
appearance of a conflict of
interest” and called on the
attorney to “remove himself
from the process.”
Sally Smith of Silver
City, president of GRIP
and director of the group’s
“responsible mining”
program, wrote: “These
proposed rules are in
flagrant conflict with the
Legislature’s mandate to put
forth regulations for copper
mines to prevent water
pollution and monitor water
quality. To the contrary, these
rules will allow copper mines
to pollute New Mexico’s
scarce water resources and
will relieve mines from
adequately monitoring
water pollution from their
activities.
“This process and the
proposed rules demonstrate
Freeport’s undue influence
over the Environment
Department, an agency
created to protect our state’s
water, not allow companies
to pollute it,” Smith alleged.
The department does not
have the authority to adopt
Hurley mayor discusses shutting
By ROGER LANSE
Daily Press Staff
Aart Huijg, the Netherlander from Amsterdam bicycling
from the North Pole to the South Pole, who stopped in Silver
City traveling south on Nov. 9, 2011, is nearing the end of the
Trans-Amazonia Highway through Brazil.
Encountering one month of dust, heat and steep climbs on
the TAH, Huijg reports in his latest update that he is back on
asphalt and heading to Machu Picchu, Peru.
Huijg hopes to reach Ushuaia, capital of Tierra del Fuego,
Argentina, around April 2013. Ushuaia, a city of about
64,000, is commonly referred to as the southernmost city in
the world.
The Silver City Daily Press has continued to follow Huijg’s
progress from his stop here in November 2011 to southern
Mexico in January, Panama and Colombia in May, British
Guyana and Venezuela in August, and now, in October, to
Brazil, nearing Peru.
Huijg reports in his email dated Oct. 9:
“It has been a while now since I left Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
My cycling journey started 15 months ago in the deserted
and most Northern oil village on the American continent. I
left the North Pole in the morning, cycling from the North
Pole to the South Pole through the North and South American
continents. The unpaved Haul Road running from the most
Northern village in Alaska to Fairbanks was spectacular. In
one week I cycled the 440 miles carrying all food necessary
to survive the sparely populated plains of the North Slope.
“Today, things look quite differently. I transformed into
a super efficient battle machine. Over the months, I already
fought several rounds against Nature. Snow, rain, wind, heat
and steep climbs. Time after time, Monster and I showed to
be as strong as steel. In the last fight, Nature gave it all and
combined all in one. In the Amazon rainforest, the sun heated
up the red gravel road transforming the steep roller coaster
into a long tunnel of dust. Now, the winner talks.
“The first night along the Trans-Amazonian Highway (BR-
230) sets the rhythm. Clouds of red dust whirl down on my
tent. I only notice when I prepare my granola breakfast next
morning. Before sunrise, I mix milk powder with water. My
headlight illuminates the red cup vaguely. The ray of light is
blurred by the fine bauxite dust coming down from the sky.
While the roosters and dogs wake up, Monster and I set foot
on the bumpy gravel road. A steep climb follows. Soon the
first trucks pass by and I am happy to wear a mask. I make
sure I breathe in through the nose so that most dust will be
filtered. Though, an hour later, breathing through the mask
becomes impossible. My cotton mask is soaked with sweat
and air hardly comes through.
“A truck loaded with logs passes by spreading a curtain of
dust around me. While going down the hill at full speed, I
realize that I am in a dangerous situation. God knows where
the truck is right now. It might have stopped to pass a narrow
wooden Amazonian bridge. I keep my coolness and slow
down gradually.
“A new world opens up. Some facts. It seems as if everyone
in the Amazon is wearing a digital Casio watch. The one I
proudly wore when I was young in the eighties. A new dish
is added to my daily menu. Everywhere you can get a liter of
Acai, a thick purple fruit juice made out of palm tree berries.
In my panniers I carry a bag full of farina de tapioca. The
popcorn-like wheat goes great with the Acai I buy on the
countryside. More people than I had ever expected live along
the highway.
“Brazilian girls are beautiful, it must be said, but I make
no change. Most are married and have children at an age of
fourteen. They don’t know any better. I realize I am rich.
Not directly in terms of monetary wealth, but mostly in the
education I enjoyed back in The Netherlands. It made me
independent and fearless. It gave me the opportunity to enjoy
and learn before settling down. Anyway, I am not here to find
love. So, I enjoy the local hospitality and play pool at an open
bar next to the wooden church.
“Every now and then a motorbike stops to have a talk
and to have a shot of cheap cachaca. Cars are expensive
and the road is bad. So many move around on motorbikes.
Sadly, drink and driving is part of the game and I meet many
handicapped people.
“Deeper down the Amazon, I enter a small town. Forty
years ago there was nothing. In the seventies, the Brazilian
government constructed the BR-230. It made the interiors
accessible and land became available for everyone willing to
migrate. You could work as much soil as your means allowed
you to.
“Most people in Apui came from the border region with
Paraguay and have German ancestors. I am more than happy
to smell the odour of fresh baked bread. Only Germans can
bake something that nutritious out of wheat.
“For a minute, I forget about the Nazi background of most
people living here. Together we eat, drink and pray. Carlos
represents the local farmers and is upset with the Americans.
Probably, he means all Western nations when he criticizes
their hypocritical demands. ‘They want us to preserve the
Lungs of the Earth for the world’s future generations. But

down commodities-distribution site

methods and the state form
is what county officials give
people to use to register. But
voting rights advocates had
hoped the 9th Circuit decision
would make the federal
mail-in card more popular
because it’s more convenient
than mailing in a state form
with a photocopy of proof of
citizenship.
The citizenship requirement
stems from Proposition 200,
approved by Arizona voters
in 2004. The law also denied
some government benefits to
illegal immigrants.
Several factors were involved in the decision to close the Hurley Fire Department as a
commodities-distribution site, according to Mayor Edward Encinas.
“Firetrucks were moved in and out of the fire station by unauthorized personnel after the
supervisor in charge of the commodity program was advised that no one other than a Hurley
volunteer fireman was allowed to move any firetruck or any vehicle,” he said.
Encinas added that, “for liability reasons and the abundance of people that come in for the
commodities, it is essential to have a Fire Department member present due to the high-dollar
firefighting equipment that is (at the station).”
No firefighters are “available to assist this function,” according to the mayor.
He also cited “numerous complaints to the town of Hurley pertaining to the customer
service and quality of food distributed.”
Encinas told the Daily Press that Hurley’s insurance carrier “will not cover any liability
claims presented by the commodity program,” which he pointed out “would be costly to the
town.”
He pledged to “continue to try to find a location in Hurley for the program.”
where does that leave us? And who is the United States to tell
us what to do when they have already cultivated most of their
land?’ I guess he has a point there.
“My eyes fill with tears when I hand out the last punch.
Another 250 miles of dust lie ahead of me. My leg muscles
prepare for the decisive Knock Out. Even though I am about
to win the final round, I feel sad. 1,500 miles of gravel made
me tired. I have been giving it the fullest day after day. My
best friends are having their first kids and I am left out. There
is hardly time to enjoy. Though, I think ahead. At the end of
the Trans-Amazonian lies the Hualla Hualla pass. Once I pass
the 12,000 foot Hualla Hualla, I can embrace cold nights at
the Machu Picchu Inca temples in Peru.”
Huijg may be followed on his Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/Today.You.Can or on his website,
www.today-you-can.com.
Roger Lanse may be reached at reporter1@silvercitydaily
press.net.