Author Archives: Save the Wild UP

Opinion: Professors, knowledge and the politics of mining

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December 19, 2010 – Jon Saari, as published in the Mining Journal

University professors occupy an unusual niche in American society. I speak from the experience of having been one for 34 years at Northern Michigan University.

Professionals by virtue of their long and specialized graduate training, professors are considered an educated elite, and looked up to by many.

But disdainful critics see only too-smart experts and intellectuals.

Our democratic noses sniff out patronizing and smug attitudes. Yet we often enjoy demeaning caricatures of our supposed ” betters” as well as our “inferiors.” Along with the greedy fat capitalist and the baby-kissing conniving politician is the figure of the bumbling professor who is hopelessly out of touch with reality.

The truth is professors are interested in much more than the real world. Take the concept of profit and loss. It means the bottom line to a corporate executive, or the keys to electoral victory to a politician.

The university community fairly hums with multiple perspectives on the concept: economists theorize about externalized costs, linguists trace the changing meanings of the word “profit,” historians construct portraits of economic life in different cultures and eras, and philosophers look at the logic and consistency of our use of the terms.

Stop, you say! Just give me a common sense definition. But reality has many faces in the university, and in becoming educated we learn to try them all on, like dancers putting on masks at a ball.

Such reality testing is at the heart of what professors do; we are trained not to be cogs in a machine, but critical thinkers who take very little at face value. But however much Americans praise free-thinking, many of us actually prefer like-thinking.

Conservative parents are horrified that their daughter has a Marxist professor, corporate clients want research that produces results favorable to their interests, and legislators often want to run universities like businesses.

Because of these pressures, special traditions have evolved around universities to protect them as sanctuaries for free inquiry. On principle, parents and legislators are held at arms length from the classroom, and professors (after five-to-seven years probation) are granted career-long tenure that can only be ended for serious misconduct or demonstrated incompetence.

In recent years, the mining controversy in our region has drawn NMU faculty into its vortex. At least five faculty members (three retired, including this writer) have been active opponents of the Eagle Project on the Yellow Dog Plains, while a number of others have seen it as an opportunity for professional research, even collaboration with a new multinational mining corporation.

Such diverse reactions are to be expected in an academic subculture of free thinkers and professional entrepreneurs.

But one recent collaboration between two NMU faculty members and Kennecott Eagle Mineral Company has a number of observers raising their eyebrows.

Tawni Ferrarini (Economics) and Marcelo Siles (International Studies), as independent contractors, have undertaken a study of community attitudes for Kennecott.

The first phase was completed during the summer of 2010, and utilized a SWOT analysis, which stands for an analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats related to new mining in parts of Marquette and Baraga counties. A second phase is being launched.

The main scholarly concern is that Kennecott is a client paying for this research study. It wants the information, and will ultimately use it as part of a strategy for building ties in this community.

To their credit, the researchers and their focus groups turned up perceived weaknesses and threats, even though opponents were excluded in phase one. But other problems remain.

Ferrarini and Siles emphasize that they are not representing NMU in this study, but in fact the credibility of the study rests on their degrees and university affiliation.

It would have been more transparent and convincing if it had been funded by NMU research monies instead of KEMC community outreach funds.

Editor’s note: Jon Saari is a retired Northern Michigan University professor and member of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition.

Also read Thomas Polkinghorne’s letter to the editor concerning the controverial Kennecott haul road:

http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/556865/Changes-are-coming.html?nav=5067

WI: Mining Project Execs Gave Governor-elect Walker $10,000

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Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
Mining industry, law firm contributed nearly $40,000 in two months

December 15, 2010

http://www.wisdc.org/pr121510.php

Madison – Republican Governor-elect Scott Walker accepted $10,000 in campaign contributions from a mining company owner and one of his executives around the time the company reportedly contacted Walker about developing an open-pit iron ore mine, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.

In addition, mine developer Christopher Cline of Beckley, West Virginia, several executives with his out-of-state mining companies, a law firm he does business with and owners of the northern Wisconsin land where the mine may be located contributed $29,750 to Democratic State Senator Jeff Plale, Republican Representative Mark Honadel, both of South Milwaukee, and Republican legislative candidate Shirl LaBarre of Hayward.

Continue reading →

Student Environmental Coalition Fights to ‘Save the Wild U.P.’

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By ANYA ZENTMEYER | Grand Valley Lanthorn

Updated: December 5, 2010, 8:31 PM


Katie Sexton, president of the Student Environmental Coalition, poses for a photograph at “Save the Wild Up” hosted by the SEC


Bounded by three of the five great lakes as well as the St. Mary’s river, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is most frequently noted for its abundance of wilderness and wildlife.

The stillness and sanctuary “above the bridge” is rivaled only by the looming threat of ecological destruction due to the increasing trend of sulfide mining not only in the UP, but across the entire Lake Superior basin.

President of Grand Valley State University’s Student Environmental Coalition (SEC), Katie Sexton, is hoping to help the U.P.‘s modest man power in the process of gaining momentum, educating and informing Michigan’s students about the metallic sulfide mining process.

“People in the UP lack the numbers to create a strong political opposition to this mine, and this organization is a way of getting other Michiganders, environmentalists, and people concerned with the basic human right to fresh, clean water concerned about the threats that these mining projects pose,” Sexton said.

At an event hosted by the SEC on Nov. 30, guest speaker Sara Culvers of the citizen-based organization Save the Wild U.P. held a video showing and discussion on the dangers of metallic sulfide mining, which can introduce contamination to Lake Superior that will take 190 years to cycle through.

“Our Great Lakes make up at least 18% of the planet’s fresh water,” Culvers said. “We are losing fresh water at a dizzying pace and in the words of a Marquette physician, ‘You’re rolling the dice if you put a mine next to this lake.’”

GVSU junior and ‘Yooper’ Kelsey Mackie heard Culvers speak and said that although she called the wilderness above her home, she never realized the importance of it until now.

“Growing up in the Upper Peninsula, I took living on the shore of Lake Superior and having the opportunity to explore the surrounding wilderness for granted,” she said. “But after learning about the sulfide mines endangering the ecosystem of my home, I was actually outraged.”

Currently, the Save the U.P. anti-sulfide mining efforts have zeroed in on Kennecott Minerals – a wholly-owned subsidiary of world mining giants Rio Tinto – that Sexton said has a history of poor mine structure that often leads to severe water pollution and damage to surrounding ecosystems.

The metallic sulfide mining process extracts valuable metals like gold, nickel and copper from a sulfide ore body of which are prevalent along the 1,700 miles of U.P. shoreline. Extraction of the metals releases sulfur that when oxidized (mixed with water and oxygen) produces fragrant sulfuric acid that turns streams orange, kills plants and wildlife and is long term and irreversible.

In pursuit of the sulfide rock ore -which contains several billions of dollars worth of nickel – Kennecott is pushing to begin mining under the Salmon Trout River with the mine’s entrance site at Eagle Rock – a sacred site of worship to the native Ojibwa tribe, who make up a substantial portion of the population along the Keweenaw Peninsula.

“Blowing up Eagle Rock for mining is the same thing as blowing up a church to them,” Sexton said.

Aside from potential sacrilege and water contamination, Culvers said that all plants and animals species in the area will be drastically and adversely impacted by the metallic sulfide mine, including the endangered Brook Trout.

“If this goes through, my grandchildren will not have the joy of seeing their grandchildren frolicking on the clean beaches of Lake Superior or splashing in the Yellow Dog River any more than we can enjoy the waters of the Grand River,” she said.

Although Kennecott received permits from state agencies to begin mining in Michigan under Michigan’s sulfide mining regulations – which the Save the Wild U.P. website maintains are “weak and untested” – the permits are currently being contested by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Huron Mountain Club, Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, and the National Wildlife Federation.

It’s not just Kennecott who has big plans, either. Culvers said that a number of other big ticket mining companies are in the process of detailing plans in hopes to turn the U.P. into a comprehensive “mining district” that would stretch from the far eastern tip of Minnesota, passing through Wisconsin and the center of the U.P. and continue on down under the waters of Lake Michigan.

“If these mines are built, the entire U.P. will be another Appalachia: ruined land, poisoned waters, and an impoverished society,” Culvers said.

To combat criticism, the network of mining agencies is emphasizing job creation in the face of an exhausted economy. Culvers said that because “no politician wants to seem anti-job,” big business sulfide mining is receiving growing support from a number of politicians and representatives.

The most effective way to fight back, Sexton said, is by “getting a critical mass of concerned citizens to influence decisions made by legislators, officials, and ultimately those individuals who will be making the decisions about the mine and its operating procedures,” or more simply put – political lobbying.

By writing into state legislators as well as the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and US Department of Natural Resources, college students can be pivotal in influencing future legislation.

“College students have the educational resources and ability to cause a shift in the mining trend. It is important that we fulfill these responsibilities,” Sexton said. “And with the growing human population and diminishing sources of freshwater, accelerating the water crisis is something that has the potential to become very real to them later in life.” news@lanthorn.com

Published December 5, 2010 in News

MDNR Public Meeting on Illegal Kennecott Power Lines

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After installing 35 miles of unpermitted power lines to their Eagle mine site on the Yellow Dog Plains, Kennecott Minerals is requesting an amendment to their original permit language.

A DNR press release reads:

“The purpose of the meeting is to provide an opportunity for interested parties to obtain information and provide comments on the amendment request.

The meeting will be held Tuesday, December 7, 2010, at the Westwood High School Auditorium, 300 Westwood Drive, Ishpeming, Michigan, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The DNRE is required by law to make a determination on or before December 15, 2010, as to whether the amendment request constitutes a significant change from the conditions of the Mining Permit. Written and verbal comments may be submitted to the DNRE at the public meeting. Written comments may also be submitted by email by 5:00 p.m., December 8, 2010, or by mail postmarked not later than December 6, 2010, to the following address:

Email: wilsons15@michigan.gov
Mail: Steven E. Wilson
Office of Geological Survey
Environmental Resource Management Division, DNRE
P.O. Box 30256
Lansing, MI 48909

The request for the above amendment of Mining Permit MP 01 2007 can be accessed on the DNRE OGS Web page: http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3311_4111_18442-130551–,00.html

The entire release:Public-_Meeting-2010-11-17_338793_7

Letter from Kennecott: Power-Amendment-Letter-2010-11-15_338498_7

DC Bureau: Midwest Mining Rush Threatens Water: Parts I – VI

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Thursday, 16  November 2010
Written by Tiffany Danitz Pache, DC Bureau,   http://dcbureau.org/index.php

Some of this nation’s most pristine ancient forests, glacial wetlands and fresh water lakes are under threat from large, multinational mining companies that plan to extract billions of dollars in copper and nickel using methods untested in a water-rich environment. The Great Lakes Basin – America’s largest supply of surface fresh water – faces the duel dangers of increasing prices for industrial metals and a failing economy in desperate need of good paying jobs. These economic realities have weakened efforts to protect the region.  For entire article, click here  http://www.dcbureau.org/201011021253/Natural-Resources-News-Service/midwest-mining-rush-threatens-water-part-i-foreign-owned-mining-companies-vs-us-regulators.html

2010 1111Midwest Mining Rush Part 1

2010 1111 Midwest Mining Rush Part 2

2010 1111 Midwest Mining Rush Part 3

2010 1116 Midwest Mining Rush Threatens Water Part 4

2010 1116 Midwest Mining Rush Threatens Water Part V

2010 1126 Midwest Mining RushPart 6

The Facts in the Case: How Kennecott and the MDEQ are Overriding Michigan’s Mining Laws

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by Lillian Marks Heldreth

If anyone is wondering why people continue to protest Kennecott’s Eagle Mine Project, or why litigation is ongoing despite the fact that we are repeatedly told it’s a “done deal,” the reason is simple: the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and Kennecott have together managed to circumvent and ignore Michigan’s mining and environmental protection laws as well as applicable federal statutes.

Both Kennecott and the state claim that we are protected by these laws, but because they have chosen not to obey them, the miners, the environment, and our citizens are without any protection whatsoever from what promises to be a disaster, the scope of which ranges from “very bad” to “the BP of the Great Lakes.”

Because to our knowledge the full scope of these violations has never been published in one place in any of the public media, we consider it our civic duty to reveal them here, as clearly and as simply as we can.

OUR SOURCE

Most of our information is drawn from a 100-page brief filed on July 23, 2010 in Washtenaw County Circuit Court.  It appeals the Final Determination Order of the MDEQ, which upholds the permit granted to Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company under the provisions of Part 632 of Michigan’s Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act.

This brief summarizes testimony from all previous litigation in the case, and clearly demonstrates that essential provisions of the law were bypassed while compelling scientific evidence was ignored.

This brief does NOT call for an end to sulfide mining efforts in Michigan. It calls for fair, honest enforcement of Part 632 of our State’s duly instituted mining code and federal codes. It asks that Kennecott’s operation be required to meet the stipulations of Michigan’s laws.

“Kennecott’s proposed Eagle Mine,” the brief charges, “stands poised to combine, here in the Great Lakes System, elements of recent West Virginia and Utah mine disasters with the catastrophe of the Gulf oil spill. As oil is to the waters of the gulf of Mexico, sulfuric acid and heavy metals like nickel, copper and arsenic could be to Lake Superior if, as predicted, the proposed mine or treatment systems fail.”

The brief details how Part 632 of Michigan’s law is expressly designed to minimize the known damaging effects of nonferrous (anything but iron) metallic sulfide mining, which, if not properly controlled, according to the law, “can cause significant damage to the environment, impact human health, and degrade the quality of life of the impacted community.”

NO LEGAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

Part 632 requires an applying company to provide in advance an Environmental Impact Assessment, with detailed natural resource information for the entire potentially affected area outside the mining area. It must include data on land surface, surface water, ground water, air resources, resident plants, animals, insects, and birds, and must provide benchmarks for evaluating a later dates the mine’s impact in the environment.

Kennecott did not do this study. Instead, during previous litigation, Kennecott persuaded the Administrative Law Judge and the agency effectively to read the word “potential” out of the statute, and to declare that the mining operation would have “no adverse environmental effects outside the fence line.”

Thus, any effects downstream, downwind, or in the surrounding water table or to wildlife outside the fence are effectively eliminated from any need for consideration. –Or, we assume, from cleanup responsibility as well.

If so, that neat bit of finagling must be saving Kennecott millions or billions in potential liability and cleanup costs. But the rest of us can’t drink money.

A FATALLY FLAWED DESIGN

By ignoring 300 safety warnings, officials of Massey Coal, another English Multinational, saved themselves the cost of adequate ventilation systems, effectively killing 28 miners by suffocation and/or methane gas explosion in April, 2010. We’d call that murder, for they were repeatedly warned.

Unfortunately, Kennecott, too, has been warned, and advised by experts whom its agents chose to ignore, to change the design of this mine.

“Kennecott and the agency [MDEQ] have also steadfastly refused to take into account the overwhelming concerns from experts on all sides of the contested case that the proposed mine, as designed, would be unstable and likely to collapse.”

Five experts essentially agreed, even though the data they were given were supplied by Kennecott, and were presumably the most favorable Kennecott had to offer. But the experts knew their subject well, pointing out that Kennecott’s designers had used an outmoded method of calculation, and had not taken into consideration any of the local geologic characteristics, including a great deal of shale in the “crown pillar” (roof of the main shaft), a fault line, an intrusive dike, or any horizontal stress. (We note that shale tends to slide sideways).

Nor had Kennecott’s team accounted for the fact that the crown pillar would be under the Salmon Trout River and would be wet, greatly increasing the chance for slippage and failure.

Part 632 of Michigan’s law specifically requires a contingency plan for the potential of a collapse. Kennecott hasn’t shown one.

DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES OF COLLAPSE

The consequences of such a collapse are horrific. Jack Parker, a recognized mining engineer and industry consultant, has also testified that the mine is likely to collapse, and that if the crown pillar collapses entirely, the Salmon Trout River would be sucked all the way down into the cavity itself. In another report, Mr. Parker also maintains that because of factors inherent in the faulty design, no workers could escape from the mine alive in the event of collapse or mine fire. Mr. Parker expects that collapse would also likely result in fire.

We can see only one reason for insisting on a plan that mining experts consider to be highly dangerous. It’s quicker and therefore cheaper, which means higher profits, but arguable at a potential cost in human life.

We also note that the recent Chilean mine collapse, which trapped 33 miners underground for several months and cost a tremendous amount in rescue efforts, has been attributed to flaws in the mine’s design, also due to cost-cutting efforts.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE MINE’S OPERATION

Here we think it best to quote directly from the brief’s summary. As Kennecott has done no environmental studies, the plaintiffs called reputable scientists to testify in previous hearings. We have deleted specificreferences for readability, but they may be found on our website:

1. Dr. John Ejnik testified that the entire Salmon Trout River will be polluted from the mine at levels that will destroy aquatic life.

2. Dr. David Flaspohler detailed respects in which operations on the immediate physical facility will produce impacts far beyond the property lines or the facility boundary lines:

a. Truck traffic will have an effect on wildlife along the roads.

b. Road dust generated by heavy traffic on an unpaved road will settle into snow, and affect area wildlife after snow melt.

c. The deposition of heavy metals will be spread over tens of kilometers and enter both land and water.

d. Water running off the roads and off the facility itself will introduce heavy metals and sulfuric acid into surrounding habitats.

e. Pulses of copper, nickel and sulfur in the spring snow melt will enter the Salmon Trout River and be carried all the way “out into Lake Superior.” (Emphasis added)

f. Not only will the operation of the mine have negative effects extending “for miles from the mine footprint,” it is “likely to impair or destroy wildlife in the area of the mine and extending well beyond the property boundaries.”

3.Dr. Paul Adamus testified that at the minimum three-foot drawdown predicted by Kennecott’s consultant, Geomatrix, wetlands-dependent plants and animals would totally disappear for an entire one-mile radius.

4.Dr. Kerry Woods testified that the wildlife of the Huron Mountain Club, including its birds and large mammals, would all be disrupted by the development of the Eagle mine.

5.Dr. Mac Strand testified that a substantial drawdown of groundwater in the upper Salmon Trout River would impair or destroy the River’s entire ecosystem.

6.Based on published literature showing serious contamination of rivers as much as 40 miles downstream from polluting mine sites, Dr. Strand concluded that the metal contamination of the headwaters will have negative impacts all the way to the river’s mouth.

7.Expert ornithologist Alec Lindsay testified that the proposed mine would almost certainly adversely affect bird populations in both the Yellow Dog Plains and the Huron Mountain Club.

8. Kennecott’s expert, William Taylor, a leading expert in landscape ecology, was insistent that the entire Salmon Trout River needed to be studied in order to understand any part of the Salmon Trout River. He believes that the entire region must be studied, rather than stopping at boundary lines, in order to understand the potential effect of human disturbance. In particular, fish populations and communities must be viewed in the context of the entire watershed.”

The brief examines at length such obvious oversights as lack of any consideration for the Kirtland’s warblers, spruce grouse, or any insects, fungi, reptiles, salamanders, or plants.

GROUNDWATER DRAWDOWN=ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION

“Every expert who testified on the subject, including Kennecott’s wetlands expert, agreed that damage to area wetlands would implicate the health of the entire Salmon Trout River.” Aquatic ecologist Dr. Mac Strand stated “that a substantial drawdown of groundwater in the upper Salmon Trout River would impair or destroy the River’s entire ecosystem.”

We conclude that this dooms the only Coaster Brook Trout population in the contiguous United States. Sulfuric acid, the ultimate by-product of acid mine drainage, simply sterilizes streams.

There is more: the brief details a violated treaty and specific violations of environmental law, which lack of space prohibits our reporting in one article. We encourage readers to remember: “It’s not over ‘til it’s over.”

The full text of this brief may be found at K_TBrief_on_Appeal_-_FINAL

We encourage ALL interested citizens to inform themselves, be proud of our lawmakers, and call for full enforcement of our laws.

Note: the petitioners in this case are as follows:

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION, KEWEENAW BAY INDIAN COMMUNITY, YELLOW DOG WATERSHED PRESERVE, INC. and HURON MOUNTAIN CLUB.

Citizens Call for End to Obstruction of Environmental Justice in State Supreme Court

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October 28, 2010, Traverse City.  Leaders and attorneys for state water protection organizations held a press conference before the historic State Theater late Thursday afternoon protesting a recent obstruction of legal arguments by some of the Justices once characterized as the “Gang of Four” by columnist George Weeks.

“After years of work and tens of thousands of dollars raised by ordinary citizens to bring one of the most important issues facing us  – water and environment – I was appalled that some of the Justices, led by Justice Young, wanted to argue issues having nothing to do with environment and water and denied us a fair debate,” said Terry Swier, President of Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, the citizens group that won the historic 10-year battle against Nestlé for its massive water bottling operations.

“It was disturbing,” said Bruce Pregler, President of Anglers of the AuSable, “that the process seemed to trivialize one of the most profound questions facing us here in Michigan in the 21st century – the future of our lakes, streams, and the Great Lakes.”

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ordered Anglers, and invited others like MCWC, to appear and present arguments on recent lower court decisions that denied citizens the right to sue government for environmental wrongs and opened the Great Lakes to exports.  Two weeks ago the Anglers and MCWC, two leading state water protection organizations, appeared before the Court to argue for the reversal of decisions that crippled Michigan’s water and environmental laws.  During the arguments, Justice Robert Young diverted the arguments to his own agenda over jurisdiction of the Court to hear the case, and drowned out the people’s voice to address the future of Michigan’s water and related environmental issues.

“It doesn’t matter what political party you’re in or what side of the argument you’re on, the takeover of oral arguments by some justices was taken by my clients as a deprivation of their right to petition and address these important questions,” said Jim Olson, the environmental attorney who argued the case for the Anglers before the Court.

“The denial of the rights of citizens and landowners to sue to protect the environment threatens Michigan with the loss of its water, serious pollution, and further economic decline,” said Mike Dettmer, former US Attorney and an attorney for MCWC.

“If we want  ‘pure justice,’ we need to elect newly appointed Justices, like Tom Davis or candidate Denise Langford-Morris to the Supreme Court,” Greg Reisig, President of Northern Michigan Environmental Council, said.

“If we want a ‘Pure Michigan,’” said Swier, “We don’t need our courts inviting big corporations or government to treat the Great Lakes like they did the Gulf of Mexico. The future of Michigan’s water and environment hinges on whom we elect to the Supreme Court. Judges like recently appointed Justice Tom Davis offer a new era of jurisprudence and justice for the people of Michigan.”

The Anglers of the AuSable, MCWC, NMEAC, and other state conservation organizations want to preserve the existing balanced access to the courts under the Michigan Constitution and laws so landowners’ and citizens’ air, water, and natural resources are protected from harm and abuse.

CONTACT: Terry Swier, President MCWC      (231) 792-8856

Bruce Pregler, Anglers of AuSable      (248) 813-9900

Greg Reisig, NMEA     (231) 264-8396

Jim Olson   (231) 946-0044

Mike Dettmer    (231) 946-3008

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enviro-mich is hosted by the Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN):

					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Lois Gibbs Inspires a Community

			
						

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Nobel nominee gives speech



Also, watch video by Greg Peterson by clicking


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTK4NBzy4JQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml1Si6MhiJc


Grassroots community efforts can sometimes be the turning point  in battling big corporations over environmental and safety issues, said  Lois Gibbs, the executive director of the Center for Health, Environment  and Justice (CHEJ).


Gibbs spoke at NMU in Jamrich 102 on Friday, Oct. 15. Her  presentation, “From the Love Canal to Michigan,” was sponsored by  Students for Sustainable Living, among other groups, and focused on  environmental action on a local level, with special regard to the  controversial Kennecott Eagle Rock Mining Project.


Lois  Gibbs, pictured on the left with Nicole Fisher, visited the Eagle Rock  Mine Project during her trip to Marquette. Gibbs gathered in front of  the mine with students in a silent protest. she presented her personal  story of New York’s Love Canal on Friday Oct. 15. Gibbs promotes  environmental activism projects nationwide. // Photo courtesy of Greg  Peterson




Gibbs, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, has appeared on television shows  such as 20/20, Good Morning America, and The Oprah Winfrey Show to  present her strategies on local environmental action and to share her  personal story on how she became involved in environmental activism  through her experiences with the historic environmental catastrophe of  Love Canal.


Gibbs did not originally intend to be an environmental activist. Her  life’s aspiration was to start a family in her hometown of Niagra Falls,  NY.


“What I wanted to be was a mom. I wanted to have lots of babies,” she said.


After getting married and having her first child in the ‘70s, Gibbs  became concerned when her son Michael was diagnosed with asthma and had  dangerous bouts with pneumonia on a weekly basis. Gibbs and others began  noticing an increasing trend of birth defects in newborns in the town,  and when her second child was diagnosed with leukemia, Gibbs knew  something was wrong. Gibbs found out that 56 percent of children in  Niagra Falls were born with severe birth defects.


“I knew that if I didn’t stand up and if I didn’t do something that my children were going to die,” she said.


Little known to members of the community, the town of Niagra Falls  had been built on a filled-in canal called the Love Canal that contained  20,000 tons of toxic waste. The dump contained traces of dioxin, the  most toxic chemical known to man. The EPA had originally approved  containment facilities for the toxic waste and deemed the area safe to  live, but, despite precautionary measures, the waste leaked into the  groundwater supply.  Gibbs and the community fought with the New York  State and national governments through local political efforts and  managed to secure evacuation for the town’s 833 families who were  affected by the environmental hazards of the area.


“To win these battles, you need to fight with politics,” Gibbs said.


Gibbs found success in her personal struggle by rallying support door  to door and pressuring elected officials with bad publicity.


When Gibbs realized that no local, state or national organization  existed to advise environmental community action groups, she went on to  found the CHEJ to organize communities that are in situations similar to  her own and help promote a change in environmental policies.


“Whatever you’re fighting for, there are probably a lot of people out  there who are with you. A lot of people who would take a stand, but  they just don’t know what to do,” Gibbs said.


The struggle of Love Canal is similar to the struggle that  environmental organizations in the UP are facing with the Kennecott  Eagle Rock Mining project, Gibbs said. She made it clear that she is not  against the mine specifically, but she is worried that information  presented to the community about the mine’s safety could possibly be  misleading.


“Why is it that the state of Michigan hasn’t done a study to check  and make sure that in fact the data that the mining company is  (correct)? I’m not anti-mine, I’m anti-poison. Maybe it is a safe mine,  but frankly, we don’t know,” she said.


Gibbs was also invited to speak at Marquette Senior High School about  her victory at the Love Canal, but when she was asked not to speak  about the Kennecott mine, she declined the opportunity to speak, said  Gibbs.


Kathryn O’Donnell, a member of Students for Sustainable Living, said  the speech was informative, and may lend guidance for organizations who  are against the Kennecott Mine in the UP.


“She really gave a lot of direction and examples on good plans that may work,” O’Donnell said.


The message Gibbs said was the most important was that anyone can be  effective in creating change if they only stand up for themselves and  fight for it.


“I am just a housewife. We were able to bring the president of the  U.S. to stand in our high school auditorium to give us what we wanted.  It was because we had a plan and a strategy,” Gibbs said.


Mining Journal Coverage:


http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/554571/Activist–tells-how-to-battle-polluters.html


Read also , a recent letter to the editor concerning the Marquette Senior High School’s decision to disallow discussion of Kennecott/Rio Tinto:


http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/555468/Speaker-at-MAPS.html?nav=5067

					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
Walk for the Woodlands

			
						

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1.  WHAT:    A walk to bring attention to the MQT Co. Road Commission’s decision to create Route 595 – the so-called “Woodlands Road”


2.  WHEN:  Saturday October 30th and Sunday October 31st


3.  WHERE:


SATURDAY –  11 miles – ISHPEMING TO KOSKI’s KORNER –  More precisely, from the MQT Co. Road Commission Hdqtrs in Ishpeming (right by Ralph’s Italian Deli on the corner of 2nd St. and Hwy 41) to Koski’s Korner (Rte 95 and Hwy 41, by the BP gas station, there is a public parking area on the NW corner along Rte 95).  LEAVING ISHEPMING AT 10:00 AM SHARP !!!


SUNDAY –  12 miles – KOSKI’s KORNER TO MICHIGAMME –  from the public parking area (NW corner of Rte 95 at Hwy 41)


LEAVING KOSKI’S at 10:00 AM SHARP !!!


4.  HOW:  Join for as much or as little as you can.  We will  walk on the shoulder of Hwy 41.   Blessings at Middle Branch Escanaba River and Peshekee River.


5.  RULES:


a.   Sorry, no children allowed, it is too dangerous for them.


b.   You are responsible for your own transportation – shuttling or carpooling.


c.   You MUST wear a blaze-orange or yellow vest.  NO EXCEPTIONS.


d.  No facemasks allowed.  You are welcome to wear a halloween costume, if you so desire; but please be careful that you do not endanger yourself by doing such.


e.  You are welcome to carry a sign; however, no foul language.


f.  Wear comfortable, sturdy shoes, appropriate clothing and bring raingear.


g.  Single file when approaching Champion and Michigamme – the curves are dangerous.


h.  Bring lots of water and pack a lunch.


6.  MEALS AND LODGING:  Lodgers welcome to stay at Margaret’s on Saturday night.  Sunday  late afternoon  “THANKSGIVING FOR OUR WOODLANDS” dinner at Margaret’s featuring turkey, squash from Terri’s garden, spuds from Gabe’s garden, cornbread stuffing with Michigan cherries, Michigamme apple-cranberry chutney, Keweenaw beer, and Michigan “Witches Brew” !