CHICAGO (Oct. 9, 2008) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will hold an open house on October 22 to answer questions about the federal role in regulating the proposed mine and the underground injection control permit application submitted by Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company. The open house will be held at the Holiday Inn, 1951 U.S. Highway 41, West Marquette, Mich. There will be three sessions from 9 to 11 a.m., 1 to 3 p.m., and 6 to 9 p.m.
Kennecott proposes to dispose of treated wastewater as part of a nickel and copper sulfide mining operation within the Yellow Dog Plains of northwestern Marquette County. EPA notified the company that any underground disposal system at the mining site must comply with the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act’s federal Underground Injection Control program before construction and operation. The Safe Drinking Water Act is intended to protect underground sources of drinking water.
The UIC permitting process for the underground disposal system is EPA’s only direct regulatory role in the Eagle mine project. EPA is conducting a technical evaluation of the permit application and supporting documents and expects to issue a draft decision before the end of the year. EPA will accept public comments and hold a public hearing when the draft decision is announced.
A copy of the permit application and more information about the Eagle mine project and the underground injection control program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/region5/water/uic/kennecott/index.htm.
The EPA Public Process Diagram:
The EPA announcements for public hearings and the way it is presented reminds me of of the DEQ meetings. Has the EPA already made their decision too? The fact that Kennecott has purchased the old Humbult mine is also concerning.
I attended the recent Great Lakes “Restoration AND PROTECTION” Initiative meeting, how ironic. Any good news???
In regard to the October 22, ’08, US EPA Region 5 Public Meeting in Marquette, please remember that Mary Gade, the former head of this office was forced to resign last summer. Her replacement, another Bush administration appointee, took office in August,’08. Mary Gade, although a Republican–and earlier, a Bush supporter, lost her job because she had taken on Dow Chemical in Midland, Michigan about their pollution of the watershed in the “thumb” area of MI–and she was pushing for a more concentrated effort for Dow to pay for cleaning up their mess. Dow contacted Washington, DC, and soon she was in trouble. So, let’s ask the EPA what happened just a few months ago….(Mary Gade has taken steps to investigate this “forced resignation” and what really happened in Washington.)
I own land on CR#510, on Lost Creek. I’m about to leave Boston behind and settle in on my land… will it be untouched by Kennecott…or should I abandon my dream and move further north into Canada? The political strings are almost cut with Bush on his way into history… let’s not be the last stupid thing he’s responsible for…someone please stand up to a British mining company who may sell to a Chinese steel company so they’ll have nickel enough to make more crap that we can no longer afford thanks to Bush’s other biggest blunder. Evidence is ripe that even republicans don’t want ALL restrictions removed from everything. Let’s put this one on the books, protect the land 1st, the people 2nd, and tourism economy 3rd. Don’t let the Great Lakes State become the Great Mistakes State.. thank you