New Mexico Supreme Court asked to review ‘copper rule’ – by Associated Press (Washington Times – June 14, 2015)

http://www.washingtontimes.com/

SILVER CITY, N.M. (AP) – New Mexico’s attorney general and environmentalists want the state’s highest court to review an appellate court’s upholding of regulations that govern groundwater pollution by copper mines.

Attorney General Hector Balderas and several watchdog groups have filed a petition asking the state Supreme Court to weigh in on a previous ruling maintaining the “copper rule.” The regulations, which were approved in September 2013, allow mining companies to exceed water-quality standards at mining sites. This includes new engineering requirements for handling leftover rock, leach piles, tanks and pipelines.

The Supreme Court could decide any day whether to hear the case or dismiss the petition. If the panel reviews the case, a final decision could take years.

Clean-water advocates say the regulations give copper-producing companies too much leeway to pollute groundwater.

“The copper rule flies in the face of the Water Quality Act,” said Douglas Meiklejohn, a New Mexico Environmental Law Center attorney representing the advocacy groups. “(The act) says that the Water Quality Control Commission must make regulations ‘to prevent or abate’ water pollution. This doesn’t do that. This allows water pollution.”

The state Court of Appeals ruled in April that the regulations do not violate the state’s Water Quality Act. In its ruling, the court said the claims made by environmentalists and a ranch owned by billionaire media mogul Ted Turner were unfounded.

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