An August 16, 2008 letter to the editor, in Marquette’s daily newspaper, proposed a debate between Jon Cherry (Eagle Project Manager) and Laura Furtman (co-author, along with Roscoe Churchill, of the Buzzards Have Landed! The Real Story of the Flambeau Mine). In an August letter to the editor, Laura Furtman responded to the proposal request, challenging Mr. Cherry to an open debate regarding Kennecott’s mining activities at its Flambeau Mine in Ladysmith, Wisconsin. The Flambeau Mine was an open-pit copper mine that consisted of a copper sulfide ore body within 140 feet of the Flambeau River. The facility operated from 1993 and closed early in 1997.

Kennecott Eagle Minerals continues to claim that their Flambeau Mine was an environmentally successful sulfide mine. According to Kennecott’s website “. . . the Flambeau Mine remained in compliance with state permit standards for the 15 years that have included operations and the ten years since the mine’s closure – no permit violations ever occurred.”

However, according to Furtman, “. . . current data does not support Kennecott’s version of what’s happening at the Flambeau Mine site.” Kennecott predicted 522 ppb (parts per billion) of maganese and 14 ppb for copper in groundwater. There is now 42,000 ppb of maganese and 800 ppb of copper, and according to company documents water contamination from the pit will persist for over 4,000 years.

Despite these scientific facts, Kennecott claims the mine demonstrated the “ability to build, operate, close and reclaim a mine while meeting high standards set by regulators and the community.”

But according to Furtman and Churchill’s book, an exemption exists in Wisconsin’s Administrative Code on Metallic Mining which allowed mining companies the express right to pollute the groundwater beneath a mine site to no limit.

Either way, Michigan citizens deserve the facts: Is Kennecott’s Flambeau Mine an “outstanding example of how mining can be accomplished with the environment protected,” or is it just “Grass over a grave”?

As of the date of this publication, Mr. Cherry has not responded to Furtman’s challenge or SWUP’s calls regarding the debate. Stay tuned to savethewildup.org and watch for upcoming information about the public debate.

If you would like a debate, write letters to the editor and call Jon Cherry at (906) 486-1257.