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October 12, 2007 Detroit Free Press Editorial: No room for UP mine errors:
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality must tread carefully as it nears a final permitting decision for a proposed nickel mine near Marquette. Even a single flaw should be grounds for rejection.
The Kennecott Eagle Mine project involves blasting underground on a slant from a rock outcropping to a patch of nickel-laden rock beneath wetlands. The wetlands area, which sits high on the Yellow Dog Plain outside Marquette, feeds two rivers that run to Lake Superior. If Kennecott has made any miscalculations, the environmental damage could be huge. Even operational mistakes could cause problems that linger for decades.
On paper, a perfectly run mine would cause minimal disruption except for its trucks. Pollution concerns would be minor to nonexistent. But the Lake Superior basin, outside of some long-standing mining and industrial zones, has remained magnificently untamed. It also is covered by a binational pact to work toward zero discharge of key pollutants, including mercury and dioxins.
In other words, the UP’s north shore, in particular, deserves special safeguards — and the recognition that humans rarely hit perfection. If the proposed permit cannot stand up to this standard, it should be denied.
In addition, an assurance bond Kennecott will post seems low. The $17 million to be set aside is budgeted mainly to restore the land if Kennecott walks away. The money can be used for environmental repairs, but if serious damage occurred, that might be a drop in the bucket.
The mining industry’s track record has improved greatly over time, but accidents happen. Lagoons leak. Land unexpectedly subsides.
A mine offers temporary construction and operations jobs in the often-stressed UP. But its future seems more likely to lie in luring tourists, adventurers and workers with virtual jobs who love the wild bounty of this very special peninsula.