Investigative MEDIA

Documentary exposes how a Canadian miner is seeking to destroy the habitat of the nation’s only known wild jaguar

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Rimrock, AZ—InvestigativeMEDIA’s documentary “Flin Flon Flim Flam” reveals the controversial history of Toronto-based miner Hudbay Minerals Inc. that is now seeking state and federal permits to construct a massive open-pit copper mine in the habitat of the nation’s only known jaguar.

A new video capturing the movements of the jaguar named El Jefe released this week is attracting widespread media attention. The video was produced and released by the Center for Biological Diversity and Conservation CATalyst.

Photo by Jonathan Troung

Photo by Jonathan Troung

The jaguar video comes just weeks after InvestigativeMEDIA released “Flin Flon Flim Flam” on the worldwide operations of Hudbay Minerals and its plans to construct the Rosemont mine on the Coronado National Forest in the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of Tucson, Arizona.

The documentary exposes Hudbay’s history of operating Canada’s most polluting copper smelter, the company’s alleged atrocities in Guatemala where it stands accused in a Toronto civil trial of murder, gang rapes and a shooting that left a man paralyzed, as well as the company’s conflicts with indigenous people in Peru.

The biologically-rich Santa Rita Mountains host a dozen endangered species including the jaguar. The proposed copper mine would destroy more than 3,000 acres of Coronado National Forest and render the northern half of the Santa Rita Mountains useless for recreation, according to the Arizona Game & Fish Department.

“The Rosemont Mine would destroy El Jefe’s home and severely hamstring recovery of jaguars in the United States,” said Randy Serraglio, conservation advocate with the Center. “The Santa Rita Mountains are critically important to jaguar recovery in this country, and they must be protected.”

Hudbay still needs a state Air Quality Control Permit, a federal Clean Water Act permit, and final approval from the U.S. Forest Service before the mine could proceed.

InvestigativeMEDIA releases online version of Hudbay Minerals documentary “Flin Flon Flim Flam”

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“Flin Flon Flim Flam” takes an unflinching look into the operations of one of Canada’s oldest miners

InvestigativeMEDIA’s documentary “Flin Flon Flim Flam” on the worldwide operations of Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals Inc. and its plans to construct the Rosemont Copper Mine on the Coronado National Forest southeast of Tucson, AZ, is now available online.

Produced by Arizona-based investigative reporter John Dougherty, the film premiered Oct. 18 at the Loft Cinema in Tucson and was broadcast on KGUN-9 on Dec. 13 in a special edition of Tucson’s weekly public affairs show ZonaPolitics.

Mr. Dougherty traveled to northern Manitoba to report on Hudbay’s historic operations, to the Guatemala highlands where Mayan peasants allege they are the victims of atrocities at the hands of Hudbay, and to the Peruvian Andes where Hudbay has clashed with the local community over the company’s largest operation, the Constancia Mine.

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Eric Marsh had no cell phone communications in hours before deployment, his widow says

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(Story updated at 9:05 a.m., Dec. 21, 2015 to include Amanda Marsh’s statement that Eric Marsh only carried one cell phone.)

By John Dougherty

Granite Mountain Hotshot superintendent Eric Marsh did not make or receive any cell phone calls in the three hours leading up to the burn over that claimed his life along with 18 other members of his crew during the Yarnell Hill Fire on June 30, 2013, his wife Amanda Marsh said Saturday.

The question of whether Marsh was in cell phone communication with fire commanders in the hours leading up to the tragedy has lingered for more than two years after two state investigations failed to examine his cell phone records.

“There was nothing after 1:11 p.m.,” Amanda Marsh said. “That call was with Todd Abel.”  Abel was a senior commander directing fire suppression operations.

Abel has told investigators he had a cell phone discussion with Marsh at that time to discuss a disagreement Marsh had with another fire commander.

But the call was about three hours before Granite Mountain moved from a safe zone on a ridge in the Weaver Mountains west of Yarnell and descended into a box canyon where the crew was trapped by flames at about 4:40 p.m.

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Key evidence in Yarnell Hill Fire tragedy never provided to official investigators

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(A version of this story was published online in Phoenix New Times on Dec. 16, 2015.)

By John Dougherty

Key evidence that could explain why the Granite Mountain Hotshots moved from a safe location into a treacherous box canyon where 19 men died on June 30, 2013 was in the possession of the Office of the Maricopa County Medical Examiner but was not provided to the state-contracted investigation into the tragedy, autopsy records recently obtained by InvestigativeMEDIA show.

A cell phone belonging to Granite Mountain superintendent Eric Marsh and a functioning camera belonging to hotshot Christopher MacKenzie were with the men’s bodies when they arrived at the medical examiner’s office on July 1, 2013 but were not listed as evidence that was later collected by the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, autopsy records for Marsh and MacKenzie show.

Granite Mountain Hotshots in front of an ancient tree on Granite Mountain after saving the tree during the June 2013 Doce Fire. Photo by Christopher MacKenzie

Granite Mountain Hotshots in front of an ancient tree they saved during the June 2013 Doce Fire. Photo by Christopher MacKenzie

The Maricopa County medical examiner conducted autopsies on all 19 hotshots for Yavapai County on July 2, 2013.

The YCSO has no record of Marsh’s cell phone or MacKenzie’s camera among the evidence collected from the medical examiner, according to a YCSO police report. Marsh’s cell phone and MacKenzie’s camera ended up with family members outside the formal chain-0f-custody.

MacKenzie’s autopsy report states Deputy State Forester Jerry Payne and YCSO Criminal Investigations Commander Lieutenant Tom Boelts were present. But neither name appears on Marsh’s autopsy report.

The YCSO was in charge of gathering all evidence from the medical examiner and later turning it over to the Serious Accident Investigation Team (SAIT) which was contracted by the Arizona Forestry Division to conduct the formal investigation into the Yarnell Hill Fire disaster, according to the autopsy reports and the YCSO report.

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