At 8 a.m. Sept. 17, several bright neon signs announced their intentions to comers and goers at Coconino Community College in Flagstaff.
The refrains are familiar to those in the Valle, Grand Canyon and Flagstaff communities, but there was more urgency on this particular morning. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) was holding its monthly board meeting at the college, and protesters were there to make their voices heard: they wanted a public hearing over the aquifer permit for Canyon Mine’s operation.
The previous permit expired Aug. 31...