For Immediate Release
November 12, 2009
Contact: Kristi A. Mills
It’s a shame when publicly elected officials become the mouthpiece for pro-mining propaganda. Not only did Mike Prusi, Michael Lahti, Steven Lindberg, Judy Nerat, and Jason Allen blatantly misrepresent attempts to protect the economy and environment of Upper Michigan, they failed to recognize the largest part of Upper Michigan’s economy. It is our position that if congressmen and women do not have the time to read and research what they are commenting on, they should refrain from doing so.
The movement to prevent pollution and degradation to the water and wilderness of the U.P. started in the hearts and minds of local concerned citizens decades ago. For the past 8 years, small-town folk in Marquette County and across the U.P. have thwarted the attempts of foreign mining companies who would irreversibly contaminate the Great Lakes Region for financial gain. It has taken the same amount of time to rally any attention to this issue from downstate Michigan, and we are proud to endorse MIWater leadership in spearheading the ballot initiative that will further protect our resources.
Recreational and environmental tourism is the lifeblood of Upper Michigan’s economy. Visitation to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore alone potentially generates $100 million over a five year period, (based on 2008 figures) which is $30 million more than what the proposed Eagle Mine would produce. In addition, tourism doesn’t impose heavy utility lines, toxic tailings, industrial haul roads into remote, wild areas, or threaten the water quality of our local watersheds and Great Lakes.
Finally, the ballot initiative DOES NOT “ban mining” as our legislators erroneously assert. Currently no rules exist for uranium mining, so logically we need tough regulations to mine an intensely toxic and radioactive substance to protect health and water quality. The same can be said for sulfide mining that threatens our pure water with hard-to-control acid mine drainage. New ballot legislation would safeguard our resources by strengthening the existing mining law. We agree with the lawmakers when they say, “The people of the U.P. should have the right to decide what is in their region’s best interest”.
The Upper Peninsula is not a “playground” for the concerned citizens of Michigan. This is our homeland. The U.P. plays host to people from around the world who seek natural beauty, unique recreational opportunities, small town charm and a rich quality of life. The movement to protect the Upper Peninsula began here, and will continue to be fiercely supported by those who understand the trade-off of higher wages for quality of life. It is time to invent new and sustainable solutions for our employment woes instead of taking easy money from foreign investors that will ‘boom and bust’ the State of Michigan and leave our land and water in a shambles. One would expect our legislators to feel the same way.
Currently no rules exist for mining moon rocks, so logically we should enact tough regulations for moon rock exploration in the U.P. too.
Without a doubt this comment from Prusi’s office is the worst, collectively signed statement from any form of state gov’t that I have ever read-and that after living in Michigan, Colorado, California, Nevada, Hawaii and Texas for extended periods of time. Perhaps nothing as stupid as this from the Federal Gov’t either.
Mr. Prusi does not want folks below the bridge telling yoopers what to do, but is willing to take orders from a multi-national company with no affiliation whatsoever to Michigan??? He thinks this metal will go to Michigan??? IT is a statement so badly worded, ill-conceived and misinformed that even Kennecott could not possibly have given a nod to it. Perhaps these folks think everyone is quite un-educated and will rally to the side of working class of the UP??? Even this provincial rhetoric is a slap in the face of the few who might get a job related to mine activity.
Maybe, just maybe, it was created to actually get the folks of the UP and Michigan fired up? I say BRILLIANT….cuz it worked fantastically !! Let’s get the job done.
d
Last I checked we live on Earth. “Logically”, there are no moon rocks here so “logically” creating a law concerning mining them would be idiotic, Mr. Dibergi.
Last I checked there is no uranium here, either.
Thanks for the name calling, though.
Marty can’t find it, but its been found…In 2003, Bitterroot Resources entered into an option agreement with Cameco Corporation to explore for uranium in the Jacobsville Basin of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Bitterroot, the project operator, has recently received Federal, State and County permits allowing the resumption of mineral exploration within the project area. Geophysical surveys have recently been completed, which will be followed by a core drilling program later this year.
In early-2007, Bitterroot completed 1,322 metres of core drilling in seven holes, successfully testing five unconformity-hosted uranium targets. Drilling encountered a 0.6-metre interval containing 75 ppm U, including two 0.12-metre intervals containing more than 100 ppm U. These intervals are significant as they confirm that uranium-bearing fluids have been mobile within the Jacobsville Basin.
Bitterroot initially defined its drill targets with a 1,250 line-kilometre airborne geophysical (GEOTEM) survey, identifying several basement structures with a total strike length of over 25 kilometers. Subsequent target refinement was achieved with follow-up ground-based EM surveys and several short drilling programs.
Under terms of the revised option agreement, Cameco can earn a 65-percent interest within a 56 square-mile area-of-interest by incurring a total of $1.6-million of exploration expenditures prior to June 30, 2009. Management expects that Cameco will complete its earn-in by funding the planned 2008 exploration program. Cameco and Bitterroot also jointly retain the right to acquire 50-percent of each other’s interest in an adjoining 72 square-mile area of interest by refunding 100-percent of any land acquisition cost incurred.
Recent meetings with representatives of Gogebic County and neighboring Ontonagon County have confirmed that mineral exploration enjoys strong local support in the western Upper Peninsula…from Bitterroot’s website
Check this link, Mr Dibergi. Perhaps you are not that careful of a reader and “made up” that I called you a “name”?
http://michiganmessenger.com/30150/lawmakers-downplay-possibility-of-u-p-uranium-mining
Lawmakers downplay possibility of U.P. uranium mining
Mining company spent more than $700,000 on U.P. uranium exploration in 2009
If you do not read the article, there is plenty of uranium in the UP-and someone wants to get it>
By the way, I do not mean anything personal by calling someone or something, “idiotic” or calling someone an idiot. But in this debate, it appears that the folks who write letters and press releases supporting this mine simply do not wish to apprise themselves of the issues with sulfide mining in our water rich UP. However, if there has been corruption complicit with our gov’t officials in granting permits or offering support for the Eagle Mine, perhaps idiot and stupid is the most gradious a term that could be applied.