U.S. EPA Continues Kennecott UIC Permit Review

Jan 14, 2008

U.S. EPA has notified WIMS that it is continuing its review of an Underground Injection Control permit application it requested from Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. in March 2007, regarding the company’s proposed Eagle Mine northwest of Marquette in Michigan‘s Upper Peninsula. EPA’s Phillippa Cannon of the Office of Public Affairs told WIMS on January 14 that, “EPA is in the process of reviewing the Underground Injection Control permit application, including whether any additional federal laws or regulations might impact construction activities.”

    On March 23, 2007, EPA announced that Kennecott must obtain an underground injection control permit before it can begin construction of a proposed wastewater disposal well that would be used to dispose of industrial process wastewater. At that time EPA said, “EPA requires permits in order to protect underground sources of drinking water. Based on the significant volume of wastewater to be discharged and the industrial nature of Kennecott’s proposed well, permit conditions will be necessary to protect human health and the environment and to meet the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act and underground injection control regulations.” EPA said that Kennecott was required to submit a complete permit application for the proposed wastewater well within 60 days of that time, and would also be required to provide assurance that sufficient money has been set aside to properly close the well.

    In a related matter, on January 10, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) announced at the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) [See WIMS 1/11/08], that it is delaying its decision on approving a surface use lease for 120 acres of public land for 35 years necessary for the proposed Kennecott nickel mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to commence. The MDNR decision is the second part of the State approvals required for the mining operations. MDEQ has already announced its approval of the Kennecott’s permit to develop the sulfide mine [See WIMS 12/14/07]. On December 21, 2007, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Huron Mountain Club and Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve announced they were filing a contested case petition and a lawsuit against MDEQ as the first step in a legal challenge to halt the mine [See WIMS 1/2/08].

 This was forwrded to SWUP in an e-mail.  WIMS= Waste Information and Management Services.  WIMS provides a subscription-based environmental news bulletin.  There was no official Press Release from the EPA on this matter at the time of posting.