Florence Copper has strong support
TweetA letter was recently submitted to the Florence Reminder & Blade Tribune by Florence resident Bill Tanner:
"The Florence Copper Project is fortunate to have strong and wide support from business groups, local citizens and surrounding communities in and around the town of Florence. In fact, the project has received numerous expressions of support over the past few years and those numbers continue to grow.
I’m pleased to be one of those town residents who supports Florence Copper. I’m equally as pleased that once in full operation, Florence Copper will have a positive impact on local tax revenue and education funding while creating many direct and indirect high-value, high-wage jobs for our community.
In addition to tax revenues and jobs, Florence Copper has also made a commitment to utilize advanced technology to meet rigorous environmental standards established by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, the state of Arizona and Pinal County to ensure protection of human and environmental health. These agencies rely on years of scientific research to set environmental standards and it is these state and federal agencies that have legal primacy to ensure that health, safety and environmental regulations are enforced, not the town of Florence.
Florence Copper has a legal right to mine in Arizona. Florence Copper has won every legal and administrative challenge that the town of Florence has pursued (and subsequently lost). There is no question about that.
The only question that remains — will the Town Council continue to pursue more legal folly against Florence Copper, waste more taxpayer dollars and create additional community angst and division? Or will it step up to be an arbiter of good faith, cooperation and vision?
It is disheartening that the town of Florence is potentially liable for legal fees and other costs associated with its failed attempts at legal intervention against Florence Copper. The award of such fees and costs is mandatory under Arizona law and those costs could top $5 million to the taxpayers of this town.
I respectfully encourage the council, as decision makers, to allow this needed project to proceed without further legal challenge or appeal and request that the council look for ways to become an enabler of business, not a blocker."
