Camenisch’s follow-up phone call about Rosemont with Rick Grinnell

by David Safier

Tuesday, Todd Camenisch held a press conference where he played a phone message he received from Rick Grinnell. In the message, Grinnell said Rosemont Copper is "a personal client," then makes this possibly threatening statement:

"I'm not sure where you got the information [about Rosemont Mine], number one, and number two I'm not sure if you're putting yourself in a position that you would regret."

Grinnell is almost certainly referring to comments Todd made about Rosemont at an October 9th forum in Vail.

Camenisch called Grinnell back, and the two had a most interesting conversation.

Grinnell claimed he was trying to do Camenisch a favor by telling him not to make too many negative statements about Rosemont. Since Grinnell has been a candidate himself, he said, he knows, you just don't want to say certain things or mess with certain folks.

"If you ever plan on staying in politics, that's not real smart."

"This isn't just about Rosemont, it's about politics. I'm really not trying to beat you up here. I'm really trying to tell you something that's sincere."

Grinnell's I'm-just-trying-to-help-you-out credibility goes south when he says in the call that he's a registered lobbyist in Arizona and Rosemont is a "personal client" — meaning, I suppose, he doesn't lobby for Rosemont but helps the corporation in other ways. It's clear, the phone call is not one guy calling another guy with friendly advice. The message is: if you go up against Rosemont, you're going to be in political trouble forever. Rosemont is an enemy you don't want to make.

And Grinnell also freely admits,

"I've given Frank money too. I've known Frank for a long time, and I'm a Republican."

By the end of the call, Grinnell realizes he's in way over his head. He should have realized he was going to have trouble arguing about the pollution that can result from open pit minig with Camenisch who does research into the effects of pollution on the health of the region, and specifically the connection between arsenic and heart problems. Grinnell doesn't have a single fact at his disposal, and Camenisch's knowledge base is huge. It's almost embarrassing how lopsided the argument is.

So Grinnell recommends Camenisch contact someone at Rosemont and mentions Jamie Sturges, Rosemont Copper VP, as one contact. I haven't looked this up, but I have been told Sturges has given about $300 to Antenori's campaign.

Grinnell is clearly upset by a specific comment Camenisch made at the Vail forum, that if his dog jumped into water which has been made heavily acidic by pollution from an open pit mine, the dog's skin could slough off. That's the statement Rosemont never wants to hear again. The corporation is used to the dry recitation of facts and figures about potential dangers of a new open pit mine in Southern Arizona, but it understands the damage that can come from the evocative image of a dog being harmed by doing what dogs do, which is jump into a body of water to go for a swim.