USDA’s Approval of Rio Tinto-Backed Mine in Arizona Challenged

Apache women on behalf of themselves and others issued a fresh challenge to the US Agricultural Department’s decision to allow a Resolution Copper mine to be constructed at Oak Flat, a sacred site in Arizona.

“The government has authorized the complete physical destruction of an irreplaceable Native American sacred site solely to pad the bottom line of a foreign-owned mining company,” the individuals said in their complaint, filed Thursday with the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

The USDA’s Forest Service on June 20 published its final environmental impact statement for the proposed mine at ...