Category Archives: Minnesota

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NWF: Great Lakes Remain Vulnerable to New Wave of Dangerous Mining, According to New Report

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Great Lakes Remain Vulnerable to New Wave of Dangerous Mining, According to New Report

Weak laws, lax enforcement undermine efforts to protect natural resources, wildlife, communities from mine waste

05-10-2012 // Jordan Lubetkin
Lake Superior

Gaps, inconsistencies and loopholes in U.S. state and Canadian provincial laws are leaving the Great Lakes and other natural resources vulnerable to a new wave of mining activity sweeping the Upper Great Lakes states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota and Canadian province of Ontario, according to a new legal analysis by the National Wildlife Federation and Ecojustice Canada.

“Weak laws and lax enforcement undermine efforts to protect our water, wildlife and communities from this dangerous form of mining,” said Michelle Halley, National Wildlife Federation attorney. “There is an urgent need for the region to address these issues now or likely face decades of contamination and clean-up.” Continue reading →

Wisconsin Events calling for mining activists!

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Wednesday, January 25th, 5:00p, – 7:00pm
BURY THE MINING BILL PROTEST RALLY: at Lady Forward, to of State Street / Capitol Square, Madison, WI — Protest AB-426 aka “The Mining Bill,” and Wetlands Deregulation Bill AB-463. These Bills will deregulate environmental protections and give immunity to mining operations. The bills are also in direct violation of the treaty rights of the tribes whose resources they affect. The bills are themselves illegal.

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Minnesota: Morse town hall overflows for county mining resolution debate

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12/26/2011 12:10:00 PM  http://elyecho.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=11748&TM=63988.41
STATE REP. Tom Rukavina talks with Becky Rom during a break at the county board meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 20.

Morse town hall overflows for county mining resolution debate

by Tom Coombe & Nick Wognum

After several hours of testimony Tuesday in a jam-packed Morse Town Hall, the St. Louis County Board went on record in support of copper-nickel mining in northeastern Minnesota.

But the resolution ultimately approved on a 4-3 vote wasn’t as forceful as a measure originally presented the week before by Ely commissioner Mike Forsman.

Commissioners instead resolved to support “the existing open, transparent and comprehensive environmental review and permitting process in place” for various copper-nickel mining projects proposed for the region and supports “the success of these projects,” contingent upon the approval of all federal and state environmental permits.

A more strongly-worded resolution of support stalled at a Dec. 13 meeting in Duluth, and other county business was put aside for more than seven hours Tuesday, when both supporters and opponents of the measure turned out in full force.

As many as 90 people crammed into the Morse Town Hall at times, and dozens more waited outside for a chance to speak or take in the proceedings.

After hearing from more than 50 speakers, most from outside the Ely area, commissioners adopted a resolution that Forsman said was tweaked in part to gain the support of commissioner Steve Raukar of Hibbing.

Raukar joined Forsman, Virginia area commissioner Steve Nelson and Chris Dalberg of Duluth to form a four-member majority. Continue reading →

Minnesota: Chamber, corporations pursue sulfide mining at cost of degrading Minnesota’s waters

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By C.A. Arneson | Monday, Aug. 29, 2011

It was bad enough when the U.S. Supreme Court bestowed corporations with personhood – but under the guise of the title Chamber of Commerce, Minnesota now has its own corporative dictator. And Minnesota’s dictator wants sulfide mining at all costs – including the permanent degradation of Minnesota waters.

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Minnesota Letter to the Editor: It’s crazy to damage our watershed

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By: Bob Tammen, Duluth Budgeteer News

We care about our watershed. The Lake Superior Watershed Festival brought out hundreds of visitors to Lake Superior College Saturday to learn about threats to Lake Superior. One of the biggest future threats will be copper mining in the Duluth Complex of minerals. Mining promoters have an impressive array of talking points. Unfortunately, they don’t have a scientifically acceptable mining plan.

Polymet’s draft environmental impact statement got the lowest possible rating from the EPA, which issued a letter detailing the Continue reading →

Minnesota: June 22nd is Sulfide Mining Awareness Day

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Canoe Wild RiceWaterLegacy is collaborating with Friends of the Boundary Waters to promote Sulfide Mining Awareness Day on June 22. 

Talk with your friends, family, and neighbors about the dangers of sulfide mining and help them send a comment on the Hardrock Draft EIS if they haven’t already.

Help make sure our prized northern Minnesota lake district and Lake Superior are protected from toxic pollution and noise caused by prospecting and sulfide mining.

Check WaterLegacy.org or Friends-Bwca.org soon for more details!

Lawsuit Withdrawn After Minnesota Legislature Exempts Iron Range Resources From Environmental Review

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For Immediate Release, March 22, 2011

Contact: Marc Fink, Center for Biological Diversity, (218) 525-3884
Contact: Betsy Daub, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, (612) 332-9630

DULUTH, Minn.— A change in state law exempting Iron Range Resources from Minnesota’s environmental review requirements prompted conservationists today to dismiss their lawsuit against the agency. The lawsuit had been filed to challenge a premature and illegal loan by Iron Range Resources to PolyMet Mining Company, which is pursuing the state’s first open-pit sulfide mine but has not obtained the required environmental approvals. Instead of addressing the problems identified in the lawsuit, the state simply changed the longstanding rules to benefit the mining proposal.

“Passing new legislation that weakens environmental requirements in response to a lawsuit is public policy at its worst,” said Marc Fink, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity.

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Minnesota PolyMet Project:Public Opinion

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Published December 20, 2009

Dissenting view: Creating our own Appalachia means giving up too much

By: Marc Fink, For the News Tribune

Over the years we’ve seen, in the Appalachia region of West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, what happens when a single industry becomes a sacred cow, supported by politicians across the spectrum for their own self interest and political survival. The end result has been tops literally blown off mountains, vanishing streams and continued poverty in local communities.

This scene, unfortunately, now seems to be playing out in Northeastern Minnesota as our local, state, and national politicians compete with each other to see who can offer the loudest support for corporations entering our state to strip-mine copper, nickel, and other metals from the Iron Range.

Lost in the politicians’ rush to support this new type of mining in Minnesota is not only the horrid record of similar projects across the country, but facts disclosed in the just-released draft environmental review for the PolyMet proposal.

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