Saturday, March 9, 2013

Curis Resources - The Battle Heats Up

Since I wrote The Curious Case of Curis Resourses There has been a new direction sought by the township. What follows below smacks of the hillbilly tactics the previous article discussed. They intend to expropriate the land the miner intends to us. The action is nothing short of a harassment. It is a mockery of the rule of law in the USA. I suspect this is going to cost the town a lot of money. It makes me wonder if this is actually backed by the people. They would know this is a lost cause and a very big waste of money. It should be amusing to see how this unfolds.


CURIS STATEMENT ON RECENT ACTION BY THE TOWN COUNCIL OF FLORENCE
Curis Resources Ltd. has responded to a recent vote by the Florence Town Council authorizing the acquisition of private land owned by Curis through eminent domain for the purported purpose of a waste water treatment facility. The town's recent action has no legal effect on the ownership of the company's land or near-term project development plans.
The law in Arizona and the United States places a high value on the right to own private property and restricts heavily government bodies from unwarranted takings of private property. The fifth amendment of the United States Constitution provides that "no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law, nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." Hence, Curis has no doubt that the courts will not permit the town to follow through with this council authorization.
The use of eminent domain comes with onerous legal burdens of proof and costs for the town if it fails to meet them. Given the tremendous amount of vacant desert land in the region of the town and the typically small footprint of a waste water treatment plant, the selection of Curis's entire private property holdings as a potential site for a waste water treatment plant lacks foundation.
The town's attempted action does not include the 160-acre state trust land parcel on which Curis can operate for nine years, including the phase 1 production test facility and the first years of commercial operations of Florence copper. Once final permits are received, Curis plans to continue to move forward with the phase 1 production test facility in the near term. The phase 1 production test facility is intended to demonstrate the safeness of the project that it operates well within the limits established by the state (ADEQ) and the federal (EPA) agencies and that it provides significant employment and economic benefits and opportunities in the town and region.
Curis has advised the town that it is willing to meet, discuss and address any and all concerns with respect to the proposed Florence copper development, including the ability to accommodate the waste water treatment facility. The company remains committed to an open and respectful dialogue with the elected officials and citizens of the community.

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