As Michiganders, we are constantly reminded of our role as guardians of 20% of the planet’s fresh surface water. This immense responsibility is hard to comprehend while we are literally surrounded by waves of blue.

But the urgency of establishing strong water security measures is beginning to settle in on many of us. Undeniably, market forces are at work with schemes that would catapult the world’s remaining freshwater into the commodities market. It’s simple supply and demand economics: With a dwindling water supply comes increasing demand and thus the temptation by some to exploit for profit both the resource and the world’s population.

Today, the Michigan House has a chance to lead Michigan into a more secure water future. The House should approve bills reported out by its Great Lakes and Environment Committee that provide another degree of protection against overuse of our rivers, lakes and streams while ensuring the public maintains control of our water.

Will House members act on behalf of all Michiganders and do everything in their power to secure control of our waters? Or will they ignore the critical role they play in determining Michigan’s water future — as the majority in the state Senate did last Thursday?

The Senate legislation requires only those pumping more than 2 million gallons per day to ask permission for that water use. Compare this to Minnesota’s permission trigger, which is 10,000 gallons per day, or Wisconsin’s, at a million gallons. Both states also have created a system to allow public input and oversight at levels up to 200 times more protective than the Michigan Senate approved. Michigan’s senators thumbed their noses at the public’s right to have a meaningful voice in decisions about massive water withdrawals.

And despite having won a majority of Senate support for a measure putting the public interest above the private international interests seeking to commercialize and privatize our water, the Senate leadership maneuvered the process to eliminate this measure from the bill when it went forward for final passage.

Why does this matter? In the words of former Gov. William Milliken, taken from a January 2008 letter to state lawmakers: “Under principles of international trade law, states must be clear and emphatic about imposing conservation standards for use within their borders, and reserving rights and authority as sovereign owner on behalf of the people of all waters of the state.”

Restated, we, the people of Michigan, must have the ability to say “no” someday to large water withdrawals — including proposals to mine and export our water in small containers — if these proposals are not in the public interest.

Similarly, a measure to increase protections for our prized trout streams won majority approval in the Senate but again Senate leadership maneuvered to prevent it from inclusion in the final bill.

The choices made by state lawmakers today will chart the course for Michigan’s future water security. We must send a clear signal to Lansing lawmakers that now is the time to act fully, clearly and completely to secure control of our waters. Real leaders don’t hesitate when the cause is great — and for the Great Lakes State, there is no greater cause.

Instead of supporting leaky laws, state leaders must ensure our waters stay in Michigan and that those wishing to use our water come to us. Now that’s a water future we can all get behind.

CYNDI ROPER is the Michigan direction for Clean Water Action, which has offices in East Lansing, Grand Rapids, Royal Oak, Clinton Township and Ann Arbor: www.cleanwateraction.org/mi. Write to her in care of the Free Press Editorial Page, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226 or at oped@freepress.com.

Crown pillar discussed at hearing

By JOHN PEPIN, Journal Munising Bureau

POSTED: May 19, 2008

MARQUETTE — A downstate contested case hearing on the Eagle Project of the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company was scheduled to enter its fourth week today.

Testimony last Friday from Kennecott included witnesses discussing engineering and the area between the mine roof and the earth’s surface, called the crown pillar. The crown pillar testimony was expected to continue today and into the middle of the week.

The hearing is considering a challenge to a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality decision to grant Kennecott permits for its nickel and copper mine in northern Marquette County.

The National Wildlife Federation, Huron Mountain Club, Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community are challenging the DEQ issuance of those mining and groundwater permits.

The final witness for the plaintiffs testified last Wednesday. Testimony then shifted to witnesses from Kennecott, and will eventually feature DEQ witness testimony.

“Even though Kennecott’s case has begun, it does not change the strong basis we built while outlining the many flaws in the application and the permits,” National Wildlife Federation attorney Michelle Halley said.

On Friday, Kennecott geologist and Eagle manager of exploration Andrew Ware testified on the extensive process Kennecott undertook to gather geologic and geotechnical data relative to the Eagle ore body.

This process obtains information about the size, shape and metallurgy of the ore body — a critical and integral aspect for designing and engineering the mine for environmental protection and safety.

Kennecott witnesses scheduled this week on engineering and crown pillar issues include:

David Stone, president of MineFill Services Inc., who is scheduled to discuss backfilling the underground mine as mining occurs from the bottom of the ore body to the top as it relates to structural integrity.

The mine backfill design ensures the integrity of the mine’s crown pillar in preventing the potential for long-term subsidence.

Kennecott officials said Stone is a mining and geotechnical engineer with more than 30 years experience. His primary expertise is in mining rock mechanics, and he is an internationally recognized expert in mine backfilling, according to Kennecott.

Tracey J. Arlaud, senior mining engineer with McIntosh Engineering, is expected to focus her discussion on engineering and design elements of the Eagle Project, with specific discussion on the stability of the crown pillar of the mine during normal operations.

Kevin Beauchamp, engineer with Golder Associates, is a geotechnical and mining engineering expert who was integrally involved in the crown pillar design and modeling for the mine. He is expected to review the geotechnical assessments and reports provided to regulators as part of the permit process.

Beauchamp has  experience in crown pillar design for underground mines, with much of that experience with mines in the Great Lakes region.

Trevor Carter, a principal with Golder Associates, is a geological engineer expected to testify that the design put forward by Kennecott for Eagle is safe and stable for workers underground.

Carter is an expert on the stability of various rocks and geology.

Once these witnesses have finished testifying, witness testimony will turn to other issues related to the permits issued to Kennecott, followed by the calling of witnesses by the DEQ.

The contested case hearing is expected to take  another few of weeks to complete. Administrative Law Judge Richard A. Patterson is presiding.

Kennecott cannot begin work on the Eagle Project until the contested case is settled.

Patterson will make a recommendation to DEQ Director Steve Chester, who is the final decision maker. Chester can affirm the permits, change the permits or deny them.

State law requires a decision by the end of June. Afterward, the case could be appealed by either side.

Crown pillar discussed at hearing

By JOHN PEPIN, Journal Munising Bureau

POSTED: May 19, 2008

MARQUETTE — A downstate contested case hearing on the Eagle Project of the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company was scheduled to enter its fourth week today.

Testimony last Friday from Kennecott included witnesses discussing engineering and the area between the mine roof and the earth’s surface, called the crown pillar. The crown pillar testimony was expected to continue today and into the middle of the week.

The hearing is considering a challenge to a Michigan Department of Environmental Quality decision to grant Kennecott permits for its nickel and copper mine in northern Marquette County.

The National Wildlife Federation, Huron Mountain Club, Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community are challenging the DEQ issuance of those mining and groundwater permits.

The final witness for the plaintiffs testified last Wednesday. Testimony then shifted to witnesses from Kennecott, and will eventually feature DEQ witness testimony.

“Even though Kennecott’s case has begun, it does not change the strong basis we built while outlining the many flaws in the application and the permits,” National Wildlife Federation attorney Michelle Halley said.

On Friday, Kennecott geologist and Eagle manager of exploration Andrew Ware testified on the extensive process Kennecott undertook to gather geologic and geotechnical data relative to the Eagle ore body.

This process obtains information about the size, shape and metallurgy of the ore body — a critical and integral aspect for designing and engineering the mine for environmental protection and safety.

Kennecott witnesses scheduled this week on engineering and crown pillar issues include:

David Stone, president of MineFill Services Inc., who is scheduled to discuss backfilling the underground mine as mining occurs from the bottom of the ore body to the top as it relates to structural integrity.

The mine backfill design ensures the integrity of the mine’s crown pillar in preventing the potential for long-term subsidence.

Kennecott officials said Stone is a mining and geotechnical engineer with more than 30 years experience. His primary expertise is in mining rock mechanics, and he is an internationally recognized expert in mine backfilling, according to Kennecott.

Tracey J. Arlaud, senior mining engineer with McIntosh Engineering, is expected to focus her discussion on engineering and design elements of the Eagle Project, with specific discussion on the stability of the crown pillar of the mine during normal operations.

Kevin Beauchamp, engineer with Golder Associates, is a geotechnical and mining engineering expert who was integrally involved in the crown pillar design and modeling for the mine. He is expected to review the geotechnical assessments and reports provided to regulators as part of the permit process.

Beauchamp has  experience in crown pillar design for underground mines, with much of that experience with mines in the Great Lakes region.

Trevor Carter, a principal with Golder Associates, is a geological engineer expected to testify that the design put forward by Kennecott for Eagle is safe and stable for workers underground.

Carter is an expert on the stability of various rocks and geology.

Once these witnesses have finished testifying, witness testimony will turn to other issues related to the permits issued to Kennecott, followed by the calling of witnesses by the DEQ.

The contested case hearing is expected to take  another few of weeks to complete. Administrative Law Judge Richard A. Patterson is presiding.

Kennecott cannot begin work on the Eagle Project until the contested case is settled.

Patterson will make a recommendation to DEQ Director Steve Chester, who is the final decision maker. Chester can affirm the permits, change the permits or deny them.

State law requires a decision by the end of June. Afterward, the case could be appealed by either side.

The Michigan state police have been notified of an attack on a Big Bay man at his home over the weekend.  Robert Pryor of Big Bay was assaulted by three unknown males in the late hours of the evening at his cabin, which is located in a remote area of Champion Township near Big Bay.  The three identified themselves by asking if he “was one of those anti-mining guys”.  When he responded and asked them to leave, they attacked him with their fists and knocked him unconscious and to the ground where they left him face down in the rain.   He suffered multiple cuts, scrapes, contusions, and injury to one eye.  The couple’s cabin is within six miles of the proposed Kennecott mine site on the Yellow Dog Plains.

His wife, Cynthia, has been very active in the opposition to this mine proposal on the Yellow Dog Plains.  She was, at the time of the attack, attending the contested case hearings in Lansing and not at home.  Her response to this attack?  “My husband has, by choice, not been a public part of this issue.  To have someone come to our home, attack my husband and leave him unconscious outside in the then freezing weather — is beyond appalling, shocking and distressing – in my mind it is attempted murder.  Bob is 60 years old, was attacked by three younger men and left to the elements. The DNR and DEQ have approved this mining venture as an “orderly development of state minerals”.  The fear and shock reverberating through our small community is something that should make everyone take note.  What are the stakes in this project that would lead to such violence against a citizen of this state – unprovoked and at their home?  The level of watchfulness of those of us living in the remote areas of the county has definitely ramped up.”

Anyone with any knowledge of this attack should contact the authorities.

For Immediate Release, May 5, 2008:
Contact:
Marvin Roberson (906) 360-0288

The Sierra Club today chastised the US Fish and Wildlife Service for changing their
mind on holding hearings on the proposed listing of the Coaster brook trout as an
endangered species. The Sierra Club is one of two organizations petitioning the federal
agency to list the Coaster brook trout under the federal Endangered Species Act .
The Sierra Club and the Huron Mountain Club filed this petition with the USFWS in 2006
to declare the Coaster Brook Trout, a large, very rare trout which reproduces in only one
stream on the south shore of Lake Superior, as Endangered. March 20 of this year, the
USFWS published a notice in the Federal Register noting a positive preliminary finding
on the petition, asking for comments by May 19, and asking for requests for a public
hearing by May 5.
Dozens responded asking for a hearing. However, May 2, 2008, the USFWS released a
letter “To Interested Parties” claiming that the offer of a hearing was “in error”, and
stating that there would be no such hearing.
According to Marvin Roberson, Forest Ecologist with the Sierra Club, “We call on the
US Fish and Wildlife Service to make good on their offer of a hearing on this matter.
While it may have been made “in error”, whatever that means, it was in fact made, and
many groups and individuals responded in the manner and time specified in the Federal
Register Notice”.
Roberson further noted that there is no prohibition which would keep the USFWS from
holding the hearing they offered, and further noted that this letter claiming the offer had
been made “in error” came over 40 days after the original Notice, and only after
numerous written requests for a hearing.