Bill Pierce Launches Second Campaign to become Arizona’s Next Mining Inspector

Bill Pierce is still on a mission to protect Arizonans and the Grand Canyon State’s environment and water supply from unsavory corporate interests that allow pollution contamination from existing and abandoned mining operations.

After losing a fairly close race to become Arizona’s Mining Inspector in 2018, this engineer, who is also EPA trained in dealing with soil erosion and groundwater protection and a licensed radiation safety officer, has decided to run again for the same office in the 2022 elections.

If elected, Mr. Pierce would focus on the same issues he ran on in 2018 including:

• Properly funding and staffing the Arizona Mining Inspection office to do the job of overseeing the 400 active and at least 1,585 known abandoned mines in the Grand Canyon State.
• Pushing to regulate mining, especially uranium, around the Grand Canyon and fracking for Helium in the White Mountains.
• Protecting the water supply from mining contamination.
• Helping secure and clean up the abandoned mines in Arizona. As a side note, the recently passed Senate Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill contains a measure cosponsored by Senator Mark Kelly that allocates three billion dollars towards capping and cleaning up abandoned mines.

During a nice lunch at Marauders in Tempe (next to Changing Hands Bookstore,) Mr. Pierce, along with his wife and campaign manager, Mary Ann, answered several questions with regards to his second run for Arizona Mining Inspector.

The questions and his responses are below.

1) Please tell the readers two reasons you would like to run for Arizona Mining Inspector again in 2022.

 

• “Get us back on track for our inspection schedule.
• To locate and secure as many abandoned mines as possible and get the staff/funding to accomplish that.
• We have 400 active mines and 1,585 known to be unsecure abandoned mines as of last count and only four inspectors to cover the whole state.”

2) What were two political/electoral lessons you learned from your 2018 campaign for Mining Inspector?

• “Push harder on the uranium mining issues and the mining around the Grand Canyon.
• Push harder on the scarce water supply issues to the reservations because of contamination from the 599 known abandoned and toxic uranium mines on the Navajo Reservation from the Cold War Era.”

 

3) What are at least the three most important issues facing the next Mining Inspector in 2022?

• “Increased funding for the mining inspector’s office to do the job.
• Larger staff and higher pay rate (better than the $41,000 than they already get.) We need a minimum of 10 to 12 field inspectors for the mines we have to do the job adequately and stay in compliance with federal regulations.
• To have people become aware of the environmental issues surrounding some of the mines and to get the Arizona Mining Inspector’s office to inspect fracking for helium in the White Mountains (near Snowflake where the water supply at the Coconino Aquifer may be threatened by fracking) Fracking, by definition, is a mining operation, however, the State Mine Inspector’s office is not authorized to inspect these operations.  The inspections are currently being done by the fracking companies themselves.  Also, if you buy land, make sure you own the mineral rights (under the terms of Split Estate, set up by the federal government during the Cold War Era), all minerals, even on private land, are owned by the federal government.  Therefore, you cannot stop a private business from setting up shop.”

4) If victorious in 2022, what are at least two changes you would make to the Arizona Mining Inspectors Office that would further protect the lands and residents of Arizona?

“Warn people of any potential issues dealing with radiation exposure because you are a licensed radiation safety officer by the nuclear regulatory commission am required by Federal law to inform the people of ANY potential hazard that can arise from any form of radiation exposure.”

 “Another thing I would like to add is collaborating with the outdoor and off-roading groups to report any abandoned mines they might encounter during their activities.  With the current technology, they should be able to send the Mine Inspector’s Office the GPS coordinates.”

5)  Is there anything not covered in the first four questions that you would like the readers to know about your candidacy? Please explain. 

 “Well, I have been trained in erosion control, groundwater protection by the EPA. With my training, I can notify the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality when there are issues I observe. I want to work hand and hand with the environmental agency.

 Mining is a very important economic driver of Arizona and we want to make sure it is done safely and as friendly a manner as possible for the people.

 Because of water shortage and availability, two things we should review are how we have been giving the mining industry and corporate agriculture unlimited water resources. We should also be helping them devise ways to reclaim used water to reduce their dependence on groundwater.”

Please click on the below social media site to find out more about Bill Pierce and his candidacy for Arizona Mining Inspector.

Facebook – PierceforAZMineInspector