Rio Tinto’s Eagle Mine…
Pure Michigan or Poisoned Michigan?
Ask Governor Snyder to halt this project until an Independent Environmental Impact Statement is done!
Sulfide Mining means Acid Mine Drainage
- The rock underlying the Yellow Dog Plains is sulfide based and creates sulfuric acid when exposed to water and air. Sulfuric acid leeches heavy metals including mercury, lead, and cadmium from surrounding rocks creating a toxic slurry called Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). Water contaminated with AMD is unsuitable for human, animal and plant use. AMD is forever.
- Mining employs less than 1% of Michigan’s labor force i. Michigan’s three largest income-producing industries are manufacturing, tourism and agriculture.” All three of these industries require clean water. Contaminating the water in the Great Lakes state puts Michigan’s major industries at risk.
Who is the company proposing this? Rio Tinto and Kennecott.
- The National Resources Defense Council describes Rio Tinto as a London-based mining conglomerate whose history is “… littered with one pollution disaster after another, specifically: in Zimbabwe, Ireland, Nevada, Indonesia, Bolivia, and Utah.”
- Recognizing the company’s poor environmental record, the country of Norway divested their Government Pension Fund from Rio Tinto, giving as a reason “… a risk of contributing to severe environmental damage in Indonesia.” They took this action citing that “… there are no indications to the effect that the company’s practices will be changed in [the] future, or that measures will be taken to significantly reduce the damage to nature and the environment.” ii
History of Labor Abuse
- Corporate Watch, a research and publishing group, describes Rio Tinto: “From its earliest days Rio Tinto has been involved in exploitative labor practices in order to maintain high profits” and employed “an array of tactics designed to maximize exploitation and prevent union activity.” iii This abuse of labor can be found from Namibia to Papua New Guinea to Utah, USA. United Steel Workers, at Kennecott’s Utah mine have a history of complaints. They have filed a suit stating Kennecott has discriminated against employees “by laying them off in retaliation for their support for a labor organization ….” iv
Sacred Sites Indigenous Culture
- Rio Tinto / Kennecott has a record of destruction of indigenous cultures and sacred sites. Corporate Watch describes events at the Grasberg Mine in Papua New Guinea “The site of the mine, Mount Jayais considered by the Amuagme People to be the head of their sacred Mother [sic] has not only been decapitated, but is now having her heart dug into.” This has been enforced for over 7 years by paying $20 million to Indonesian police and military building a conflict which has claimed over 10,000 lives.
- Rio Tinto is permitted to destroy Eagle Rock, a Sacred Site of the Native American Ojibwa People. Michigan regulators have turned a deaf ear to this crime with the MDEQ ruling that “a place of Worship must be a building.” v
Will you join us in protecting the Great Lakes water, protecting Michigan’s top industries, protecting Michigan’s natural resources?
We are asking Governor Snyder to halt the contraction of this proposed mine until an Independent Environmental Impact Statement can be done of the affected area, including the mine area, the haul road and the processing facility as required by the statute.
Call the Governor Day
August 11 and 12, 2011
Call: 517/373-3400
Write the Governor: August 7 – 21, 2011
P.O. Box 30013, Lansing, MI 48909
Email: Rick.Snyder@michigan.gov
Fax: 517/335-6863
i Geography of Michigan and the Great Lakes Region, http://www.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/mining+main.html
ii http://www.norwaypost.no/genbus/pension-fund-divests-its-holdings-in-rio-tinto.html
iii Corporate Watch, Corporate Crimes, Labor Violations, http://corporatewatch.org/?lid=3594
iv http://www.deseretnews.com/article/996923/Unions-file-charges-against-Kennecott.html
v http://IntercontinentalCry.org/dept-rules-against-native-rights-says-eagle-rock-isnt-sacred/