This photo courtesy of MJournal
WAVE members wrote and performed a skit on the steps of Marquette County Courthouse Friday (4-29) to an audience of passersby, honking motorists and a variety of WAVE supporters. The skit featured Governor Rick Snyder, Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality, Kennecott Minerals, WAVE, a doctor, a lawyer and a police officer with her cop-dog, Nutmeg. The supporting crowd chanted “Ensure the PURE” and “Our Governor doesn’t listen!” in response to his (the Governor’s) ‘passing off’ of Wave’s request for a comprehensive environmental impact study for the Eagle Project.
Response letter to Snyder: Response to Gov denial FINAL
WAVE Rally Scheduled for Friday April 29
WAVE, a new grassroots environmental coalition, will hold a public rally on Friday, April 29 at 5:00 PM on the steps of the Marquette County Courthouse in Marquette. The rally will feature street theater, music and WAVE’s response to the Governor. The public is invited to attend and encouraged to bring friends, family, signs, noise makers and musical instruments.
The rally is to protest Governor Snyder’s refusal to halt mining giant Rio Tinto’s development of the Eagle Mine project. WAVE requested the Governor to halt the project until an environmental impact study encompasing all aspects of the Eagle Mine Project could be performed, including mining, power, transport and milling of ore.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) responded on behalf of the Governor. A letter signed by DEQ Director, Dan Wyant, stated, “We believe the Eagle Mine can be operated without causing harm to the environment and the tourist industry.”
WAVE in its letter asking for the halt in development of the mine said:
“Allowing the development of the Eagle mine to continue or to close the mine down is, quite simply, a question involving life and death choices. Physicians and public health professionals have testified repeatedly that our health and the health of our children is being placed at great risk by the Eagle mine for generations to come. We think you would agree that we should not compromise the lives of our people for a short term economic gain.”
WAVE provided the Governor with copies of petitions signed by over 15,000 persons that expressed concern about the risks posed by the mine. They were signed by a cross section of Michigan citizens.