By John Dougherty

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is refusing to release more than a dozen emails with the governor’s office concerning the issuance of the air pollution permit for the proposed Rosemont copper mine.

Most of the withheld emails are between Kevin Kinsall, Governor Jan Brewer’s policy advisor for natural resources, and Eric Massey, director of the ADEQ’s Air Quality Division. Kinsall and Massey exchanged a dozen emails between last Aug. 1 and Aug. 8 during a crucial period when the state took control of Rosemont’s air pollution permit from Pima County.

The ADEQ announced last Aug. 3 that it was asserting authority over the review and issuance of Rosemont Copper Company’s application for the pollution permit for its massive open pit copper mine planned for the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of Tucson. ADEQ stated it was assuming oversight of the permit to “ensure regulatory certainty and enhanced environmental protection.” [Read more…]