Stop House Proposal to Disenfranchise Communities and Contaminate Our Water House Floor Vote This Week on HR 4402
HR 4402 is the latest huge giveaway to the mining industry.
The House of Representatives is voting on this bad legislation THIS WEEK. If this bill becomes law, it will allow the mining industry to poison our lakes, rivers and streams and disenfranchise local communities. Continue reading
By Michele Bourdieu
MARQUETTE — Two Big Bay, Mich., residents concerned about air pollution from Rio Tinto-Kennecott’s Eagle Mine went all the way to London — to Rio Tinto’s April 19, 2012, Annual General Meeting (AGM) with shareholders — to request an independent, third-party air quality monitoring program for the mine.
by Jim Malewitz, Staff Writer
A new nickel and copper mine being built at Marquette, Michigan, on the Upper Peninsula, will be a major addition to the state’s mineral extraction industry. (AP)
MARQUETTE, Michigan – It’s a long drive from Marquette to Lansing: more than 400 miles in all, including a five-mile trip across the Straits of Mackinac, divider of Michigan’s peninsulas. So it’s easy to see why local officials here might not feel connected to lawmakers in the state capital. Continue reading
by Jim Malewitz, Staff Writer
BIG BAY, Michigan – For thousands of years, the Salmon Trout River held fast to a deep secret, as its pristine waters flowed into Lake Superior. Below the river’s headwaters, and hidden underneath 1,000 feet of sand, clay and rock, lie 4.1 million metric tons of ore speckled with valuable metals — primarily nickel and copper — a deposit that’s valued at as much as $5 billion. Continue reading
To the Journal editor:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who helped Cynthia Pryor and I get to London. Whether you helped us out financially or by showing your support in other ways, it was deeply appreciated. It was an honor and privilege to be asked to take our message and concerns to the board and shareholders of Rio Tinto. Continue reading
Gaps, inconsistencies and loopholes in U.S. state and Canadian provincial laws are leaving the Great Lakes and other natural resources vulnerable to a new wave of mining activity sweeping the Upper Great Lakes states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota and Canadian province of Ontario, according to a new legal analysis by the National Wildlife Federation and Ecojustice Canada.
“Weak laws and lax enforcement undermine efforts to protect our water, wildlife and communities from this dangerous form of mining,” said Michelle Halley, National Wildlife Federation attorney. “There is an urgent need for the region to address these issues now or likely face decades of contamination and clean-up.” Continue reading
MARQUETTE – A federal court judge set an expedited hearing date Monday to decide whether work should be shut down at the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. mine in Michigamme Township while a new lawsuit by the Huron Mountain Club against the mining company and several governmental agencies is decided.
Posted by Nicole Walton
May 7th, 2012
BARAGA, MI– The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community is claiming sulfide mining infringes on its indigenous rights and lands.
The KBIC has submitted a document to the United Nations outlining how mines like the one in Marquette County are being approved without the tribe’s consent. Continue reading
In the same week that the Huron Mountain Club has made headway in opposing the ever-controversial Kennecott Eagle Mine, the DEQ has gone ahead and unleashed another sulfide mine on the Upper Peninsula, giving mining companies the right-of-way instead of considering the voices of the citizens who live there. Continue reading
To the Journal editor:
Once again we learn why vision is so important when it comes to electing our government officials as we grimace at John Pepin’s story “Board rejects new draft of mine tax.”
The Marquette County Board rejected the third draft of Rep. Huuki’s legislation creating a non-ferrous mining operations severance tax. To the board we say big deal. You have no negotiating position anymore because you foolishly placed yourself squarely behind Rio Tinto’s proposed mining operations from the onset.
Where are we now? The mine is in its final stages of construction. We know that yet another alternative road proposal has been found unacceptable by two of the three federal agencies with oversight responsibilities.
And now we learn that the amount of money the local government will receive as Rio Tinto extracts billions of dollars worth ore from the earth beneath Marquette County is about to be slashed in half.
And there’s absolutely nothing these powerless local officials can do about it. Why would anyone think that Rio Tinto wouldn’t find a way out of building a road in the first place? Why would any state elected official, who have nothing but disdain for local governments, do anything but cut their money?
My plea to the Marquette County Board is simple. Go now to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and demand that they require a permit under the Clean Water Act for the Eagle mine water discharges. It’s your last chance at redemption and it is the law.
Jeffery Loman
Anchorage, AK