"South32’s Hermosa mine would be the first approved under a new, fast-tracked process. The company recently notified local homeowners that it could impact their wells."
"PATAGONIA, Ariz.—When Becky and John Ball retired from careers in firefighting, they found their dream home in the foothills of Arizona’s famed Patagonia mountains. But less than a year after moving in, they worry they made a mistake. In June, a letter arrived in the mail informing them their home was within the “cone of depression” that a proposed mine in the nearby mountains would create, which could cause their well to go dry.
In the mountains above the mine, John Nordstrom got the same letter after his well’s water levels dropped 87 percent, according to data taken by the mine and shared with him. A local pond that was wet year-round on his property went dry after the mine began to dewater the aquifer to make way for underground mining.
Susan Wethington, just a few miles downstream from the proposed mine, has not drank from her well since 2021, when an “iron sludge” began to show up in her water after mining activity began. She relies on the town’s fire department to bring non-potable water to her home each week, with each delivery costing around $150 on top of what she spends on drinking water. Since the mine began to dump water into a local creek, lead levels in her well’s water have risen rapidly, from 0.0007 milligrams per liter to .479 in recent months. The Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level goals for lead is zero. Iron and sulfate levels in Wethington’s well have also risen above the maximum allowable levels for those contaminants."
Wyatt Myskow reports for Inside Climate News August 7, 2025.
Advertisement 
