On July 18, 2008 the Environmental Protection Agency requested information regarding Kennecott’s request for an Underground Injection Control Permit. Please click here to read Kennecott’s reponse to the EPA’s questions.
Yearly Archives: 2008
Large Rio Tinto Shareholder Divests on Ethical Grounds
Large Rio Tinto Shareholder Divests on Ethical Grounds
September 10, 2008
Gabriel Caplett
The Norwegian government recently sold its $890 million stake in mining giant Rio Tinto, based on the company’s “grossly unethical conduct” at its Grasberg Mine, in Papua New Guinea. Norway’s Ministry of Finance made the decision after realizing that continued investment in Rio Tinto would “contribute to severe environmental damage.”
Norway’s $375 billion Government Pension Fund-Global invests the country’s oil and gas revenues in foreign stocks and bonds. The Fund was one of Rio Tinto’s largest shareholders and is Europe’s largest equity investor, holding roughly 1 % of all European-listed shares. Norway’s Council on Ethics offers recommendations to the Ministry of Finance regarding the Fund’s holdings.
According to Kristin Halvorsen, Minister of Finance, “Exclusion of a company from the Fund reflects our unwillingness to run an unacceptable risk of contributing to grossly unethical conduct. The Council on Ethics has concluded that Rio Tinto is directly involved, through its participation in the Grasberg mine in Indonesia, in the severe environmental damage caused by that mining operation. There are no indications to the effect that the company’s practises will be changed in future. The Fund cannot hold ownership interests in such a company.”
Since 1996, Rio Tinto has held a 40% stake in the largely open-pit Grasberg Mine and has contributed roughly $1 billion in capital investments. The mine, which borders Lorentz National Park, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) heritage site, is considered to be profitable until 2041. Daily, the company dumps at least 230,000 tons of tailings waste into the local river system that contains high amounts of heavy metals, such as copper, lead and zinc, as well as toxic levels of selenium, arsenic and cyanide.
The Council on Ethics maintains the company is “taking advantage of the low environmental standards and the lenient law enforcement in the country where it operates” and that its system of tailings disposal has “led to the destruction of most aquatic life in the waters affected by the discharge.” The Council reports that tailings disposal will increase with future mine expansions and that “there are no indications to the effect that these practices will be changed in future, or that measures will be taken to significantly reduce the damage to the environment.”
In response to a September 9, 2008 Ministry of Finance press release, Rio Tinto Copper CEO, Bret Clayton, said, “We believe we have an excellent safety and environmental record and that this is an unfounded position and that we are an industry leader for many years in this area.”
Rio Tinto spokesman, Nick Cobban, maintained that the company has “an exemplary record in environmental matters, world-leading in fact, and they are given the very highest priority in everything we do.”
Regarding tailings and acid mine drainage contamination, the Council on Ethics reported that, “riverine tailings disposal is undoubtedly the major environmental problem associated with the mining operation today as the daily disposal of 230,000 tons of tailings generates severe and long-term environmental damage. Furthermore, the Council deems it probable that acid rock drainage from the stockpiles will constitute an increasing and considerable environmental problem with potentially far-reaching harmful effects in the future. Consequently, the Council takes as its point of departure that the damage is severe and that there is an unacceptable risk that the environmental impact caused by the mining operation is lasting and irreversible.”
In a response to the Council on Ethic’s December 4, 2007 letter of inquiry Rio Tinto insisted that it “maintains the highest environmental standards at all its operations wherever they are located.”
According to the Council, Rio Tinto did “not address” the mine’s extensive acid rock drainage (commonly-known as “acid mine drainage”) which is “considered one of the most serious mining-related environmental problems across the world.” The Council’s report noted that, “Acid rock drainage from the deposit sites was first observed in 1993, and leaching into the groundwaters has also been reported, causing the pollution of springs in the Lorentz National Park, among others.”
According to Partizans (People Against Rio Tinto And It’s Subsidiaries) founder, Roger Moody, “Rio Tinto has excused its participation in this unacceptable project for thirteen years claiming that, because it doesn’t actually manage the mine, therefore it’s not responsible for its impacts. In fact, Rio Tinto’s financing proved crucial to the massive expansion of this mine a decade ago, and the company has been directly complicit in creating the unmitigated disaster it is today. The Norwegian government has recognized this. Hopefully other investors will quickly do so too. Just about every major bank, and many pension funds, also have shares in Rio Tinto.”
At Rio Tinto’s April 17, 2008 Annual General Meeting (AGM), several shareholders discussed the extensive environmental and economic devastation that has occurred due to the Grasberg Mine, as well as human rights violations of rape, torture, murder and arbitrary detention linked to the company’s cooperation with the repressive Indonesian military. The Australian Council on Overseas Aid found mine security and military personnel were responsible for the disappearance of 22 civilians between 1994 and 1995. The company has acknowledged that it paid the military $4.7 million in 2001 and $5.6 million in 2002 for its services.
Benny Wenda, an independence leader from West Papua, and founder of the Free West Papua Campaign, spoke at the AGM, raising concerns over the continued Indonesia occupation of West Papua and military control over freedom of speech. Wenda was “arrested, tortured and threatened with death” for peacefully protesting the Rio Tinto/Freeport McMoRan Grasberg gold and copper mine. He escaped from prison and resides, as an exile, in the UK.
Rio Tinto is the parent company of Kennecott Minerals, which is seeking to open a metallic sulfide mine on the Yellow Dog Plains, southwest of Big Bay, Michigan. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Kennecott is the second largest toxic polluter in the US. The company maintains that, at its Eagle Project, it is “promoting harmony and preserving balance between people and nature.”
State approval of the mine project is currenty in contested case, in Lansing. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has admitted, in sworn testimony, that the mine does not meet legal standards to protect the environment and that Kennecott has no contingency plan for a mine collapse or tailings leaks. The DEQ approved Kennecott’s mine, groundwater and air quality permits on December 14, 2007. A final decision regarding the contested case is expected by January, 2009.
The DEQ recently admitted that Kennecott must legally apply for permit amendments for its plans to supply electric power to the mine site and construct a haul road. A surface use lease permit from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has yet to be finalized and a circuit court case regarding the decision has not yet begun. Additionally, the EPA has sent a letter of deficiency to the company regarding Kennecott’s application for an Underground Injection permit. The EPA requested further information and clarification on incorrect information in Kennecott’s mine plan, such as the correct direction of groundwater flow at the site.
Two and a half years after submitting its application, Kennecott still lacks any legally-complete state or federal approvals to open and operate its proposed mine.
Green Investment Will Yield Two Million New Jobs in Two Years
Washington, D.C. (September 9, 2008) — As America confronts the current energy crisis, a new report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and partner labor and environmental groups shows that the U.S. can create two million jobs by investing in clean energy technologies that will strengthen the economy and fight global warming. The report finds that investing in clean energy would create four times as many jobs as spending the same amount of money within the oil industry.
“This new report shows that investing in clean energy is a win-win solution. Shifting to clean energy will put more people to work, provide consumers relief at the pump, help reduce global warming pollution and revitalize our economy at a time when many Americans are hurting,” said Frances Beinecke, President of NRDC.
“Green Recovery – A Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy” analyzes the potential for a two year $100 billion green investment program – which would be comparable to the size of the April 2008 federal stimulus package dedicated to consumer rebates – to be an engine for job creation in the U.S. This type of investment is a component of a broader clean energy strategy to create a low-carbon economy and reduce global warming pollutions.
The program could be paid for with proceeds from auctions of carbon permits under a global warming cap-and-trade program that will drive private investments into clean energy and raise public revenue through carbon permit auctions. A cap-and-trade program will enable America to reduce global warming pollution to the levels science indicates are needed to avoid the worst effects of global warming.
The package is illustrative of the potential for clean energy – and specifically green infrastructure investments – to create new jobs and strengthen the economy. The specific package would invest in six green infrastructure priorities: retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency, expanding mass transit and freight rail, constructing “smart” electrical grid transmission systems, wind power, solar power, and next-generation biofuels.
The report also shows that the vast majority of the two million jobs gained from this initial $100 billion investment in clean energy would be in the same areas of employment that people already work in today, in every region and state of the country; for example: constructing wind farms creates jobs for sheet metal workers, machinists and truck drivers, among many others. Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings through retrofitting requires roofers, insulators and building inspectors. Expanding mass transit systems employs civil engineers, electricians, and dispatchers.
In addition to creating two million jobs nationwide over two years, a $100 billion initial investment in our clean energy future would:
- Create nearly four times more jobs than spending the same amount of money within the oil industry and 300,000 more jobs than a similar amount of spending directed toward household consumption.
- Create roughly triple the number of good jobs — paying at least $16 dollars an hour — as spending the same amount of money within the oil industry.
- Bolster employment especially in construction and manufacturing. Construction employment has fallen from 8 million to 7.2 million over the past two years due to the housing bubble collapse. The Green Recovery program can, at the least, bring back these lost 800,000 construction jobs.
The report proposes that the $100 billion of initial investments fund:
- $50 billion for tax credits. This would assist private businesses and homeowners to finance both commercial and residential building retrofits, as well as investments in renewable-energy systems.
- $46 billion in direct government spending. This would support public building retrofits, the expansion of mass transit, freight rail and smart electrical-grid systems, and new investments in renewable energy.
- $4 billion for federal loan guarantees. This would underwrite private credit that is extended to finance building retrofits and investments in renewable energy.
The report was written by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, under commission by the Center for American Progress (CAP) and released by NRDC and a coalition of labor and environmental groups. The authors of the report are Robert Pollin, Heidi Garrett-Peltier, James Heintz, and Helen Scharber of PERI. For the complete report findings go to
Ckeck out the EPA’s new web page!
The Environmental Protection Agency has put up a new web page on Kennecott’s proposed mine. Please take some time and click here to check it out!
Margaret Comfort Completes Walk Across the UP
Margaret Comfort of Bourbonnais, Illinois completed her two-week walking journey on Labor Day that logged 175 miles, beginning at Kennecott’s proposed nickel mine site on Eagle Rock near Big Bay to St. Ignace and the Mackinac Bridge. The trek was highlighted by rallies and visits to several UP communities along the way that brought awareness to the issue of metallic sulfide and uranium exploration and mining.
Comfort, along with a vehicle support team and several volunteer walkers was generously supported by concerned citizens, businesses and tourists along the way. Donations of food, firewood and funds overwhelmed the walkers. “The love and concern from people opening their hearts and helping out was amazing,” says Comfort. “Folks honking and waving energized us to keep moving towards our goal—the Mackinac Bridge Walk. If I had more time, I would walk all the way to the Capital in Lansing, camp out on the front lawn, and ask our legislators some tough questions. What is the ultimate goal of this destructive new mining process? Why is the state even considering allowing this to happen? Who is to benefit from this risky resource extraction?”
Banners reading “Protecting our Water, Step by Step, from Eagle Rock to the Mackinac Bridge” were prominent on support vehicles and T-shirts worn by the walkers. Says Comfort, “We were always within walking distance of a wetland, stream, inland lake or a Great Lake. That is why we were out there…to help protect our most precious gift of water and the Great Lakes.”
Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, Save the Wild UP, Keepers of the Water and Northwood’s Wilderness Recovery sponsored the Walk and provided information and materials to communities along the way. For more information and photo’s of the Walk click here.
Our Heartful Gratitude to the following contributors to The Walk from Eagle Rock to the Mackinac Bridge:
The Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve
Save the Wild U.P.
SASM – Students Against Sulfide Mining
Northwoods Wilderness Recovery
Keepers of the Waters
The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community
Ojibwe Cultural Museum, St. Ignace, MI
Bay View Inn, Epoufette, MI (Sharon Stevenson)
Beaudoin’s Café, Naubinway, MI (Robert and Gene Beaudoin)
Big Cedar Campground, Germfask, MI (Tonya, Barry, Kenny Peters)
Hog Island Country Store and Cottages, Naubinway, MI (Sandy & Tom Jacobs)
King’s Fish Market, Naubinway, MI (Russ & Sally Schultz)
Lakenenland (Tom Lakenen and family)
Michigan Welcome Center (Harvey)
Naturopathic Associates, MQT (Dr. Katy Nelson)
John Anderson
Teresa Bertossi
Scott Bouma
Barb Bradley
Solomon Brown
Tom, John, and Jan Bushey
Gabriel Caplett
Gene and Carla Champagne
Doug Cornett
Lon and Lynn Emerick
Nick and Sharon Cartier
Lon and Lynn Emerick
Marcia and Sven Gonstead
Gail Griffith
Rachelle Giulianni
Gale Hausfeld
Michelle Halley
Teri Irving
Sue Jacobson
Wendy, Milo, and Kiah Johnson
Bill and Thomas Kinjorski
Bethany Lyons
Kora Mills
Kristi Mills
Myra McDonald (Detroit)
Chauncey (“River Walker”), Nancy, and Jeremiah Moran
Sue Radloff
Lynn and Ben Rebertus
Lynn Roovers
Cynthia and Bob Pyror
Tom and Johnny Reed
John Saari
Teresa and John Scram
Mary Vaisanen
Beth Webb
Emily Whittaker
Jeff from MQT
EPA Requests More Information from Kennecott
The EPA has completed the initial review of Kennecott’s permit application for the underground injection control permit application for the treated water infiltration system. The EPA will make a draft decision if they determine the information to be sufficient for a permitting decision. According to Dr. Stephen Roy of the EPA, an informational meeting with be held in October (the exact date has not yet been determined). A public hearing will follow the informational meeting. He also informed us that a web page containing information on the proposed Eagle Project should be up by the end of the week on the EPA’s website. Please read the attachment for more detailed information regarding the deficiencies and stay tuned to savethewildup.org for updates about the upcoming EPA meeting and hearing.
Join Us for the Labor Day Bridge Walk
Cross the Mackinac Bridge on foot September 1, 2008! Show your support for the Great Lakes and help us spread the word about uranium and metallic sulfide mining.
This will be the last segment of the Eagle Rock to the Bridge Walk. It will be a culmination of a 200 mile journey that began on August 17 at Eagle Rock just north of Marquette. Margaret Comfort, along with a support team of drivers and walkers are making there way to St. Ignace step by step while meeting with communities along the way to raise public awareness of the threats of uranium and metallic sulfide mining to the Yellow Dog Plains and to our Great Lakes Waters. Click Here to read more about the Walk.
Where:
Meet at St. Ignace Big Boy Restaurant on US-2
When:
6:30 am Meet at Big Boy
7:00 am Start walking the Bridge!
8:30 ish Shuttle back to St. Ignace $5 fee
Walkers are Half Way to the Bridge
The group of walkers that have been supporting Margaret Comfort on her campaign to “Protect our Water!” have made there way 108 miles across the UP to the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. Upon completion of the Seney segment, the group will rest one day before heading out to walk the second half of the journey- Germfask to St.Ignace and the Labor Day Bridge Walk with Governor Granholm.
Margaret Comfort, initiator of the trip from the Yellow Dog Plains to the Bridge comments, “This trip has been such a joy. People have been honking and waving all along the way!”
“We urge all who can to come join us at the Bridge for the final 5 miles of this UP trek,” says Cynthia Pryor of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve.
The Walk has been supported by several environmental organizations and donations from concerned citizens and interested participants. For more info about the route, walk updates and how you can help, contact Save the Wild UP at 228-4444 or www.savethewildup.org.
For immediate contact, call Kristi Mills 250-3350
Or SWUP office, 228-4444
Click here to see some photos
Flambeau Mine Author Challenges Kennecott’s Jon Cherry to Public Debate
A recent letter to the editor in the Marquette Mining Journal from Laura Furtman (co-author of “The Buzzards Have Landed”) challenges Kennecott’s Jon Cherry to a public debate on the issue of the Flambeau mine in Wisconsin.
To the editor:
As the co-author of “The Buzzards Have Landed: The Real Story of the Flambeau Mine,” I hereby challenge Kennecott’s Jon Cherry to a public debate.
I traveled 250 miles to speak at the Protect the Earth Summit in Marquette (Aug. 2-3) because current data does not support Kennecott’s version of what’s happening at the Flambeau Mine site.
I wish Mr. Cherry had attended my workshop to educate himself about the ongoing water pollution problems at this reclaimed mine site. Instead, he continues to spew out the public relations rhetoric that prompted my visit.
Join the Walk! Eagle Rock to the Bridge
Eagle Rock to the Bridge is Underway!
Walk in Margaret’s Shoes
Margaret Comfort of Bourbonnais, Illinois along with other dedicated individuals, hopes to raise funds and bring added attention to the threat of metallic sulfide mining and uranium mining in the UP by walking from the proposed Eagle Project site on the Yellow Dog Plains in northwest Marquette County to the Mackinac Bridge. The team will journey across the Upper Peninsula raising awareness about the harmful effects of this type of Mining. Along the way the group will be meeting with communities to:
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“You can help”
Click here |
- Highlight threats of metallic sulfide mining to the Yellow Dog Plains and our Great Lakes waters.
- Show the connection of watersheds and people of the Upper Peninsula.
- Encourage folks to join Governor Granholm for her Annual Walk across the Mackinac Bridge on September I, 2008 (Labor Day) to show their disapproval of Metallic Sulfide Mining.
Click on the links below for more details:
- Press Coverage
- Photos
- Labor Day Bridge Walk Information
- Dates and route
- Ways that you can help
- Eagle Rock to the Bridge Sponsor Form
- Eagle Rock to the Bridge Brochure
- Route Map
- Printable Poster
A Letter from Margaret…
| Dear Citizens of Northwest Lower Michigan,
Over a dozen mines for copper, nickel, gold, zinc, and possibly URANIUM are currently on the drawing boards for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, home to some of the most pristine rivers and aquifers in the world. Acid Sulfide Mining has the potential to pollute both glorious Lake Michigan and mighty Lake Superior. This type of mining is not like that of the old days. It has the potential to pollute for hundreds of years.This type of mining has already caused irreparable harm near the Flambeau River in northern Wisconsin. The mine there closed in 1997; however, ten years later, there are still toxic levels of iron, copper, and manganese in the region – very harmful to fish and at levels (manganese) known to cause Parkinson-like tremors in humans. In fact, the state of Wisconsin will no longer allow such type of mining unless or until a company can show that a mine has operated and been closed for 10 years without causing such mess. Read about it in “The Buzzards Have Landed” (www.deertailpress.com). Also, this type of mining is being explored less than 25 miles from the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of Minnesota. Sulfide mining also has the potential to permanently eradicate the last known spawning grounds of the rare coaster brook trout along the south shore of Lake Superior. The demand for raw materials to feed China’s industrial machine could turn Michigan into a “colony” and will pollute it (and China) at the same time. Also, we here in the U.S. can consume more “stuff” and China and other developing industrialized and newly-affluent nations can have items like cars, refrigerators, and cell phones. The chickens (?vultures?) have finally come home to roost. Yes, this may be karmic and yes, who are we (the U.S) to deny others…however, it is a REALLY DUMB IDEA to pollute pristine rivers that feed our Great Lakes – our ONLY source of fresh water and truly irreplaceable gems. As the issues of “not enough water” and “not enough clean water” rise to the forefront here in the US (and they inevitably will), we will be left with a nightmare if these types of mines are allowed to take foot anywhere near the Great Lakes. My beloved Michigan is beset with economic woes – not enough jobs; but these mining jobs are short-term and the potential health ramifications will last a life-time (whereas the workers’ health insurance will not!). Over 100 U.P physicians and 40 Michigan physician assistants have signed a resolution seriously questioning sulfide mining. These mines will also pollute the air and utterly destroy the peace and quiet of a people who treasure and respect the wild (the local citizens and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community). In fact, drilling is slated to occur right through “Eagle Rock” – a sacred site to the Community. The mines are also dangerous from a highway/road/transportation standpoint. Check out the following websites www.yellowdogwatershed.org, www.savethewildup.org, www.northwoodswild.org for more details. More importantly, join us as we walk from the Yellow Dog Plains (western Marquette County) to The Bridge during the last two weeks in August – just in time to walk The Bridge on Labor Day. You can walk for a few hours, a weekend, or do the entire trip. Don’t be fooled. This is NOT just an isolated “Yooper problem”; nor is it just a “Michigan problem”. IT IS A GREAT LAKES PROBLEM. Having lived on gorgeous Beaver Island, Boyne City, Petoskey, and Marquette and having spent many a summer in the Traverse region, I know how precious these lakes are … how they feed our souls and refresh our spirits. It would be a TRAVESTY to see them destroyed. Get off your duff this summer and walk with us from the Yellow Dog Plains to The Bridge. Contact us at the websites listed above or call 231-330-0589. Come see the splendor of the U.P and what we ALL (yes, you) risk losing. Margaret Comfort |
If you are interested in participating in the walk, please call Margaret at (231) 330-0589.