Tribal advocates and environmentalists gathered near the Bruce R. Thompson Courthouse on Monday ahead of a federal injunction hearing. The hearing involved the proposed land sale of the former Anaconda Copper Mine by the Bureau of Land Management for zero dollars.
The mine, which began processing copper ore in 1951, has been the subject of several investigations involving environmental contamination. Now, two Indigenous-led non-profits, along with Great Basin Resource Watch are asking a federal judge to block the sale. If a preliminary injunction is granted, the sale will be put on hold.
Vernon Rogers, from the Taboosi Dikudu Tribe (Walker Lake Paiute Tribe), said his home is just down the road from the mine. Rogers said there are growing health concerns for the surrounding tribal community from years of exposure to chemical residue.
“When the wind blows, the tailing dust blows right over the town, and it's just a whiteout, and people breathe it in,” he said.
Tailings are the residue left behind after the mining process, and if not contained, can cause groundwater contamination and air pollution from toxic dust.
Rogers said concerns of contamination to the land, and consequences on the community's health are deeply intertwined, as Anaconda Mine is a stone’s throw from Walker River.
Joanna Emm, with the Taboosi Dikudu No'Obatu Numma Cooperative, said her home along with many homes on the reservation, have tailing residue.
“I'm living proof, and my son does have stage four cancer right now. He was diagnosed in October, and he's going through radiation treatment every day,” Emm said.
Emm worked as the Clean Water Quality coordinator in Yerington for 20 years, and said that the future of the mine would deepen concerns around water quality.
“Groundwater isn't supposed to be touched at all. That's what I was taught in my upbringing because it's sacred. Water's life, and the groundwater was never ever supposed to be drilled down under and taken for any purpose,” she said.
Attorneys for BLM and Atlantic Richfield Company said they could not provide comment on the proceedings at this time.
A ruling on the preliminary injunction is expected within the next few days, but the case could extend well beyond that.
‘We got an uphill battle, but we're still here," Rogers said.
He said they want to protect and ensure the next seven generations have clean air and water.
