February 22, 2024

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has terminated the Consent Order that allowed Minerals Research, Inc. to operate its Cottonwood facility, pending a decision on the company’s air quality permit application.

In a Wednesday news release, ADEQ said that recent results from a January 31st performance test indicated the facility was not meeting the strict emission limit that was a condition of the Consent Order they issued last October.

The Department continues their review of MRI’s air quality permit application, and says they expect to make the documents available for public review and comment in the coming months. They are also conducting a Preliminary Investigation into potential soil and groundwater impacts, which they expect to last into late summer or early fall.

Local residents have complained of the environmental effects of the operations at the Cottonwood slag pile, with some even paying for testing themselves. At a community meeting in December, ADEQ committed to conduct air quality monitoring, which they began doing a week ago. They say they will continue monitoring for as long as it takes to get enough data to provide to the state health department.

Josh Freeman | KAZM News Director | josh@mellowmountainradio.com