A Southwest environmental group sent the U.S. House ethics committee documents purportedly linking GOP Congressman Rick Renzi’s amendment on a bill to a scheme to prop up the value of land owned by his one-time business partner.
Staff for the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct said it doesn’t comment on investigations. The chairwoman and ranking Republican can issue news releases after consulting each other. There has been no news from the committee on Renzi, who represents Arizona’s 1st Congressional District.
He stepped down from all his House committee assignments April 24, over earlier allegations involving the same parcel of land.
The Center for Biological Diversity says documents it sent the committee show that the value of the 480-acre parcel owned by James Sandlin would have been hurt if Fort Huachuca had been compelled to limit its use of groundwater. Renzi introduced an amendment to a 2003 defense authorization bill (HR1588) to exempt off-base water use by related defense contractors from the Endangered Species Act. The nearby San Pedro River provides habitat to a number of endangered species, but groundwater pumping threatens aquifers that feed the river.
The restriction would likely have meant downsizing the base, the biological center’s board chairman Robin Silver said. And that, in turn, would have hurt the value of the parcel, Silver said.
“All we can do is connect the dots. In 2003, the fort was at risk because of the inadequacy of water in the area,” Silver said.
President Bush signed the bill into law November 2003.
Indictment would trigger probe
The House ethics committee could end up investigating Renzi’s activities in any case, if it hasn’t started doing so already. Under a new rule, a criminal charge or indictment would trigger an investigation by a four-member subcommittee.
And Renzi has been the focus of a federal grand jury probe in Arizona for a proposed land swap involving the alfalfa field. Renzi, the The Wall Street Journal reported April 21, sought to sell the parcel to Resolution Copper as part of a land swap the company was putting together to acquire federal land for a site it wanted to mine.
Renzi introduced a measure in Congress to approve the swap, but later withdrew his support, reportedly after Resolution turned down the land offer in early 2005.
Resolution continues to seek congressional approval for the overall trade, which would give it ownership of a portion of Tonto National Forest known as Oak Flat.
The center said it sent the same documents on the Renzi amendment to the U.S. attorney in Arizona. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a phone message he would look into the matter, but did not call back.
Renzi’s press aide did not return a call seeking comment.
In a related action, Gov. Janet Napolitano signed a measure to establish a special district to conserve groundwater in the upper San Pedro basin, which includes Fort Huachuca as well as Sierra Vista, Tombstone, Huachuca City and part of Bisbee.
The measure’s main purpose is to ensure a water supply for Fort Huachuca.
“The Legislature,” it says, “finds that maintaining the mission of Fort Huachuca will strengthen our national defense and ensure and improve the public safety of the residents of this state ….”
But Silver said the same missions could be carried out elsewhere, without harming the environment.
“The missions at Fort Huachuca don’t have to be done in Sierra Vista,” Silver said. “They can be done anywhere.”