Fri, 11/06/2009
LANSING, Mich. (AP) Michigan’s chief environmental regulator wants more information about a rocky outcrop in Marquette County that could affect plans for a nickel and copper mine.
Steven Chester, director of the Department of Environmental Quality, on Friday asked Administrative Law Judge Richard Patterson to reconsider his recommendation about the outcrop, known as Eagle Rock.
Patterson last August said Chester should grant Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. permits to build the mine – but only if steps are taken to protect Eagle Rock, which Indian tribes use for spiritual ceremonies.
Kennecott Eagle plans to run the mine’s entrace tunnel beneath the 60-foot-high rock.
Chester asked Patterson to look further into whether Eagle Rock is legally a place of worship. After getting the judge’s opinion, Chester will decide on the permits.
Mr. Chester must feel that only contractor built churches are suitable for worship. Charitably, perhaps he does not read or study well and is unfamiliar with Public Act/Law 95-341 which specifically grants access to sacred sites for American Indians. All of the “book” religions, by the way, are founded, figuratively and actually, on “uncut” stones…indigenous folks seem to feel this is a good practice also and points to the humbling of all faiths-that mankind cannot “improve” upon the uncut stone without it leading to hubris.