Tag Archives: Legal

Judge refuses to stop work on Eagle Mine

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July 26, 2012
By JOHN FLESHER – AP Environmental Writer , The Mining Journal

TRAVERSE CITY – A federal judge has refused to halt construction of a nickel and copper mine in northern Marquette County.

In an order signed Wednesday, Judge Robert Holmes Bell rejected a request by the private Huron Mountain Club to stop work on the mine while the club’s lawsuit works its way to trial.

The exclusive club owns about 19,000 acres of forestland in Marquette County, including an 11-mile stretch of the Salmon Trout River. In May, the club filed a suit claiming the mine would damage the river and nearby wetlands.

The mine’s name recently was changed from Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. to Rio Tinto Eagle Mine.

State regulators and company officials say the mine can be operated safely. Drilling has begun and mineral production is expected to begin in 2014.

Court Rules Flambeau ‘Model Mine’ Violated Clean Water Act

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Court Rules Flambeau ‘Model Mine’ Violated Clean Water Act

The Flambeau Mine near Ladysmith, WI has a long history of controversy due, in part, to the proximity of the mine to the Flambeau River. This photo was taken in September 1994, when heavy rains   caused flooding at the mine site.

 

State Officials Urged to ‘Learn from Flambeau’ and Stop Proposed Mega-Mines in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan

A federal court ruled yesterday that Flambeau Mining Company (FMC) violated the Clean Water Act on numerous occasions by allowing pollution from its Flambeau Mine site, near Ladysmith, Wis., to enter the Flambeau River and a nearby tributary known as Stream C.

The lawsuit was filed early last year by the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council (WRPC), the Center for Biological Diversity, and Laura Gauger. The complaint charged that Flambeau Mining Company (a subsidiary of Kennecott Minerals Company / Rio Tinto) was violating the Clean Water Act by discharging stormwater runoff containing pollutants, including toxic metals like copper and zinc, from a detention basin known as a biofilter. Continue reading →

Kennecott, feds answer

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Sides prepare for Wednesday hearing in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids

June 4, 2012
By JOHN PEPIN – Journal Staff Writer , The Mining Journal

MARQUETTE – Attorneys for three federal agencies and the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. have responded to claims made by the Huron Mountain Club in a federal lawsuit, which seeks a preliminary injunction to shut down development operations at Kennecott’s Eagle Mine in northwestern Marquette County. Continue reading →

As Residents Fight Back, Sulfide Mining Strikes Again

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Submitted by Michigan LCV on Wed, 05/09/2012 – 9:18am

Kennecott Eagle Mine, Orvana Copperwood Mine, Sulfide Mining, Upper Peninsula
by Alicia Prygoski, Special Projects AssociateAlthough countless Michigan residents have made it clear that they don’t want their pristine natural areas decimated by sulfide mines, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) doesn’t seem to want to listen.
In the same week that the Huron Mountain Club has made headway in opposing the ever-controversial Kennecott Eagle Mine, the DEQ has gone ahead and unleashed another sulfide mine on the Upper Peninsula, giving mining companies the right-of-way instead of considering the voices of the citizens who live there. Continue reading →

Eagle Project: Petitioners Appeal Court Decision

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Groups Appeal Decision Allowing Dangerous Mine to Move Forward

http://www.yellowdogwatershed.org/blog/2011/12/12/petitioners-appeal-court-decision/

 MARQUETTE, MICH. (December 12, 2011) – A coalition of groups is appealing a court decision that has allowed a dangerous mine to proceed in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula—despite the threat the mine poses to water quality, the Great Lakes and one of the region’s last spawning grounds for the coaster brook trout.

The Huron Mountain Club, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, National Wildlife Federation and Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve filed the motion with the Michigan Court of Appeals over the weekend. The groups are opposing the mine on the grounds that it poses unacceptable risks to water and air quality—and that it could collapse, endangering workers and the river it is underneath.

“This mine is the first to be permitted under Michigan’s new mining law, and we must ensure that the law’s protections of human health and the environment are honored and applied,” said Michelle Halley, attorney for the National Wildlife Federation. “So far, they have not been and that is why we are seeking leave to appeal. Many more mines are in the queue and this is a precedent-setting case.”

The groups are appealing a decision by the Ingham County Circuit Court that allowed international mining company Rio Tinto to start mining activities on Eagle Rock—a site considered sacred to Native Americans.

“It is very important to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community to protect Eagle Rock as a sacred place,” said Chris Swartz, President, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, “and we are hopeful that this appeal will result in the Court of Appeals reversing the decisions of the circuit court.”

The type of mine being proposed—in which nickel and copper deposits are extracted from sulfide ores—poses severe risks to the environment. One byproduct of so-called “hard rock” or “sulfide ore” mining is sulfuric acid, which has proven deadly to rivers, streams and wildlife in other parts of the country. Rio Tinto, the company overseeing the project, has broken Clean Water Act laws dozens of times in mines they have controlled in other states.

Now, the Michigan Court of Appeals will decide whether to take the case. There is no date by which the court must make its decision.

“We will continue to put forth our concentrated efforts to ensure that this area remains unharmed and protected for everyone’s enjoyment, not just for special interests,” said Emily Whittaker, executive director of Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve.

Groups Ask Judge to Halt Mine Blasting

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Huron Mountain Club – Keweenaw Bay Indian Community -
National Wildlife Federation – Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve
For Immediate Release: September 1, 2011
Contact: Michelle Halley, National Wildlife Federation, (906) 361-0520

Groups Ask Judge to Halt Mine Blasting
MARQUETTE, MICH. (September 1, 2011) – A coalition of groups yesterday asked a judge to halt imminent mining activity that would desecrate a sacred Native American site and jeopardize water quality for the Great Lakes and one of the region’s last spawning grounds for the coaster brook trout.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

MI-DNRE Lack of Oversight Leads to Citizen Contested Case

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Big Bay citizens seek common ground with state over Kennecott contested case issue

March 7, 2011 – By JOHN PEPIN Mining Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE – A Big Bay citizens group challenging state permit decisions made in extending electric lines to the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. mine have decided to try to settle its grievances with the state.

Administrative Law Judge Richard Patterson recently gave Concerned Citizens of Big Bay leader Gene Champagne until next Friday to file an initial status report indicating whether the group plans to pursue settlement negotiations with the state’s Office of Geological Survey or move forward with a contested case hearing on the issue.

Champagne said Sunday the group will mail its official response to Lansing today.

“Concerned Citizens of Big Bay has decided to pursue a negotiated settlement with the Department of Environmental Quality/Department of Natural Resources and Environment at this time. As long as good faith negotiations take place, we see it as an opportunity to save the court and the state some time and money,” Champagne said. “We have asked that negotiations either take place in Marquette County or are conducted via conference call or some Internet means, such as Skype. We are working citizens who can ill afford to take time off of work to travel to Lansing. We have no attorney to speak for us.”

Last month, Champagne’s grassroots citizens group petitioned the state Office of Administrative Hearings for a contested case hearing, alleging regulatory failure of due process and enforcement by the DNRE in its oversight and enforcement of the state’s Part 632 law, governing non-ferrous mining projects.

The group contends the DNRE erred in action or inaction in granting a permit amendment to Kennecott in December, which governed Kennecott changing its electric source for the mine from diesel generators to electric power.

Champagne said the DNRE should have also required a permit amendment from Kennecott when the company contracted with the Alger Delta Cooperative Electric Association to run a combination of buried and overhead lines roughly 32 miles from Marquette to the mine. Kennecott funded the $8 million line upgrade undertaken by Alger Delta.

The group claims there were no environmental assessments, reclamation plans, contingency plans, review of financial insurances, nor provision or opportunity for public comment.

In a contested case hearing proceeding, a recommendation based on sworn testimony, stipulations and hearing exhibits presented would be made by Patterson to Michigan DEQ Director Dan Wyant. Wyant would review Patterson’s recommendation and make a final decision. That ruling could be appealed to circuit court by either of the parties.

Hal Fitch, chief of the state Office of Geological Survey, said previously the state believes it acted properly and the agency is confident in its position.

The negotiations will be conducted with Fitch’s office. But Champagne’s group wants Fitch excluded from the talks because Fitch “used his authority to approve the amendment for electrical power and extensions that are in dispute.”

Fitch said today the agency is open to negotiations, including his exclusion.

“I guess when it comes to negotiations, certainly everything is on the table,” Fitch said. “When we get their response we’ll take a look at it and see what our response is.”

Champagne’s group has a series of remedies it is seeking from the state.

“The reliefs sought in our petition are our starting point in negotiations. We hope that the DNRE show integrity and are judicious in what they are willing to negotiate,” Champagne said.

Officials with Kennecott and Alger Delta have been monitoring the progress of the case. Unlike in a previous contested case hearing on a surface use lease, Kennecott is not precluded from continuing work on the mine while the matter is being settled, Fitch said.

John Pepin can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. His e-mail address is jpepin@miningjournal.net.

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