The fur is flying in Washoe County, Nev. and it’s not over regional planning or annexation issues. Instead, this time around, lawsuits are pending and the media is calling about an issue, which on the surface seems benign, but when inspected a bit more closely, inadvertently tackles a century old federal law.
Kitty litter, or more to the point, the clay used to make kitty litter, has become the hot button issue du jour in Washoe.
Geologists have found what they claim to be the perfect clay for kitty litter (light, fluffy and highly absorbent) on public lands in a suburban scrub portion of the county, and Oil-Dri, the largest producer of kitty litter in the world, wants to mine the area.
Because the proposed mine would be on federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and because the General Mining Law of 1872 provides broad rights to miners, a county would not typically become involved in such an issue.
However, what makes this case unique is that Oil-Dri wants to operate a processing plant near the mine, on private land, and that requires permit permission from the county Board of Commissioners.
Based on an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) and concerns about the nearby Reno-Sparks Indian colony, BLM, the Washoe County Health Department and other permitting agencies approved Oil-Dri’s request to site the processing plant on private land (pictured above). The permits were then bundled into one package and final approval hinged on the vote of the Washoe County Board of Commissioners.
In a vote of 3 to 2, the county denied the permits to Oil-Dri, bringing the prospect of mining the claim to a halt — at least temporarily.
While anti-mining activists and environmentalists saw this as a victory, the county said it never intended to challenge the General Mining Law of 1872. However, by denying Oil-Dri the permits to build their processing plant, the county is now in the middle of what one official dubbed a “whirlwind that’s not done turning.”
“It could cost me my re-election, but other than that, it hasn’t caused too many problems with the Board,” said Commissioner Joanne Bond with a laugh.
Bond and Commissioner Ted Short were the two commissioners voting in favor of granting the permits to Oil-Dri. “I felt like I was between a rock and a hard place and what I was trying to do is not say ‘Oh what a wonderful idea.’ But, ‘How can we best control and restrict this?’”
According to Bond, she said she and Short weren’t trying to accomplish anything other than gaining some control over a situation that is essentially out of their hands.
“We could not prevent them from doing the mining,” Bond said. “So the issue really in front of us was: Did we want regulation and control over what was going to happen at the processing plant?”
Voting to deny the permits for the processing plant were commissioners James Shaw, chair, Jim Galloway and Pete Sferrazza. According to Sferrazza, the denying commissioners did so based on the idea that large trucks would need to travel through residential areas to get to and from the processing plant.
Sferrazza said he’s surprised at the attention this case has received and never expected to become the “poster child” for the campaign against mining in residential areas. And although Sferrazza admits there is no way to actually stop the mine from happening, if the denial of permits slows down the process and maybe makes everyone rethink the project, then that’s just fine.
“We were told that we could not legally stop the mine so that was not the issue that I was voting on.” Sferrazza said. “I guess if I could have voted on that issue, I probably would have voted against having a mine that close to a residential neighborhood.”
As for the fate of proposed mine, John Singlaub, Carson City field manager for BLM said his agency is just waiting on Oil-Dri to come in with a new proposal.
While the issue is decidedly decisive, everyone involved does agree on one thing. The situation has brought some much-needed attention to the General Mining Law of 1872, which most, from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Gayle Norton to the mining industry to Commissioners Bond and Sferrazza, agree needs to be revised.
If Oil-Dri does come back with a proposal to put the processing plant on BLM lands, the county will be forced by the Mining Law to grant any and all permitting permission. So even though it is now essentially removed from the situation, there still remains one item lingering for the county. Oil-Dri has filed a lawsuit against the county in an effort to recoup some of the money it spent on the entire permitting process.
Oh, and just for the record, some of the county commissioners do in fact own cats.
