Tradition of public access to UP forests threatened by ownership changes
‘Place without fences’ already seeing more restrictions on free-roaming hikers, hunters,
snowmobilers as commercial forests change hands.

Click here for full story: UP Forests at Risk

17 December 2007

Rio Tinto is to invest US$300 million in the development of Eagle, a high-grade nickel and
copper mine in Michigan, USA. Eagle will be the only primary nickel mine in the US and
first production is expected to begin in late 2009. Eagle is projected to deliver 16,000
tonnes of nickel per year over seven years until 2016. It will also produce valuable coproducts of copper, platinum, palladium and cobalt.

“Eagle is just one of many projects that will add to Rio Tinto’s growth and value. It is a 4.1
million tonne high-grade nickel resource (3.6% nickel, 2.9% copper) in a highly
prospective region for additional nickel discoveries. Our exploration team discovered
Eagle in 2002 and we are now reviewing over 450,000 acres of mineral title we have in
the area. Our focus is on six further adjacent prospects that may have the potential to
extend significantly the mine life at current planned production rates.”

Click here for the entire Press Release

Click for the WLUC TV story 

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Rio Tinto Poised to Open 6 More Projects on the Yellow Dog Plains

By Gabriel Caplett

Kennecott Minerals and its parent company, Rio Tinto, are looking to become a top ten nickel producer by opening up to 6 more projects near its Eagle Project.

According to Rio Tinto copper chief executive, Bret Clayton, “In 10 years’ time, Rio Tinto could rank in the top-10 nickel producers globally.” Since Rio Tinto’s projects on the Yellow Dog Plains represent one of only two of the company’s nickel investments worldwide, Rio Tinto is looking to the UP to boost the company into a top ten nickel producer.

With Michigan DEQ approval of its project, Rio Tinto is now beginning to express an interest, publicly, in its other projects on the Yellow Dog Plains. Clayton recently told the Sydney Morning Herald: ” At Eagle we are also focused on six further adjacent prospects, which may give us the potential to extend the mine life beyond 30 years at its current scheduled production rate.”

Click here for the whole article

Click here for the Sydney Morning Herald story 

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An August, 2007, confidential memo that the Lone Tree Council recently obtained from the EPA, apparently by accident, using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), contains a scathing criticism regarding the improper handling of the remediation process by both the Governor’s office and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The memo noted that Dow Chemical has gained unprecedented access to the Governor and DEQ Director, Steven Chester:

“Dow has often elevated regulatory matters (normally resolved at a staff level) to upper level management at MDEQ…Dow used this approach in negotiating the 1/20/05 Framework Agreement (FA) between Dow and the State of Michigan which contains conditions that have limited the ability of MDEQ to require timely and comprehensive corrective action in the Saginaw Bay watershed. The FA was negotiated between the Governor’s office, senior management at MDEQ, and Dow…Dow has used the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process, initiated in this matter in 2005, to keep non-confidential information from the public.”

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This just in…

Michigan Professors Send Letter Opposing Kennecott Mine

Click here for the letter

Professors representing 12 universities in Michigan sent a letter opposing the proposed Kennecott nickel mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to Governor Jennifer Granholm and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on Monday. 

The letter, now posted on the website www.isleroyalewolf.org/mine, was signed by more than 40 professors and is presented just three days after Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) approved Kennecott’s permit to develop the sulfide mine.

The DNR has been asked to allow Kennecott to develop the mine on public land just north of the headwaters of the Yellow Dog River and underneath the Salmon Trout River. While the DEQ primarily considered technical issues, the DNR’s decision will be largely discretionary. Ultimately, the DNR will decide whether the proposed mine is in the general interest of the citizens of Michigan.

Instead of assuming that a decision about the mine is merely a matter of comparing expected environmental impacts to possible economic impacts, organizers say the letter offers different reasons for deciding what Michigan should do. Vucetich of Michigan Technological University and co-signer of the letter points out that “the logic of cost-benefit analysis often fails when folks on different sides of an issue agree about the facts, but dispute which facts should count as genuine costs and which are genuine benefits. In such cases, cost-benefit analyses are not useful for informing us about what we ought to do.” The professor goes on to say “We often miscalculate by overestimating the benefits and underestimating the costs; the tragedy in this case being the irreversibility of the harms.”

Michael Nelson from Michigan State University is also a co-signatory of the letter and says this issue is ultimately a decision about sustainability. “What is missing from this discussion is a serious dialog about sustainability,” Nelson said. “Sustainability is much more than a simple debate about costs and benefits cast in purely economic terms.” Nelson suggests that the letter strives to incorporate and demonstrate a way of thinking not always present in such discussions. “Ultimately this is a question about how it is that we ought to relate to nature,” he explained.

The educators say the letter offers a reasoned argument to oppose the mine. Vucetich says “scholars are expected to serve the taxpayers of Michigan by developing ideas for the betterment of our society.” For this reason, Michigan’s leaders and citizens should understand the logic of the letter. It is the logic of sustainable relationship to the environment.

Contact:

Michael Nelson, 517-353-4879

John Vucetich, 906-370-3282

Visit www.wluctv6.com to vote in another one of the mining polls.

The price of gold

Mining firms pay nothing to extract the ore, leaving us to pay billions in cleanup costs.

By Jane Danowitz
December 11, 2007

Gifts of jewelry — particularly gold — are a perennial favorite on Santa’s list. And with the metal’s price hovering near $800 an ounce, the tiniest golden bauble, bangle or bead will be a coveted commodity. But even if you don’t elect to splurge on this luxury, it will still cost you plenty because mining companies from around the world can take gold from U.S. lands basically for free, leaving taxpayers with nothing but the cost of cleaning up the damage that mining leaves behind.

Click here for the whole L.A. Times Article 

The Department of Environmental Quality announced today its decision to approve a series of permits to the Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company to conduct mining operations at the proposed Eagle Project Mine near Marquette.

Click here for the DEQ Press Release, 12/14/07

Opponents vow to fight DEQ approval

of first sulfide mining permit

Disappointment over decision to allow dangerous mining

linked with acid mine drainage leads groups to plan next steps

For Immediate ReleaseDecember 14, 2007

Community and environmental leaders united today in their opposition to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s issuance of a permit for a dangerous sulfide mine on the Upper Peninsula’s Yellow Dog Plains.

Some opponents are now poised to legally challenge the flawed decision that would allow the mine to operate beneath a critical Lake Superior tributary.

The nickel mine would generate hundreds of thousands of tons of acid-leaching waste rock from underneath the Salmon Trout River near Marquette, putting the region’s water at risk, including Lake Superior.

“We are extremely disappointed that after all the work which went into crafting the law governing non-ferrous mining in Michigan that the DEQ has chosen to simply ignore key components of that law. They’ve granted Kennecott a permit which clearly doesn’t even meet the intent, let alone the letter of the law,” stated Anne Woiwode, state director of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.

National Wildlife Federation attorney Michelle Halley said she and other opponents are currently considering a variety of administrative and court actions. “We need time to review the final permit conditions and will proceed after that,” she explained.

Opponents of the permit include: Huron Mountain Club, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Landowners Opposed to Sulfide Mining, Michigan Environmental Council, Michigan League of Conservation Voters, National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, Students Against Sulfide Mining, Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, Save the Wild UP, and a host of other ad hoc groups throughout the region.

Less than two months after receiving more than 4,000 public comments, including a technical analysis that numbered more than 700 pages, the MDEQ upheld its preliminary decision to allow Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co. to blast a mine beneath a blue-ribbon trout stream.

“NWF and key allies that share our concerns are prepared to challenge these permits because they do not meet legal standards,” Halley said. “We cannot stand idly by while the DEQ permits fatally flawed projects.”

Halley questioned whether the MDEQ adequately considered the expert testimony that concluded the mine posed an unacceptable risk to the state’s water resources and the safety of mine workers.

“The MDEQ has always said they would make the decision based on science and yet they have ignored the technical information submitted by leading mining industry experts,” she explained. “Technical analysis was submitted by people who specialize in groundwater, subsidence, air pollution and a myriad of other specialties and all pointed to egregious errors in the permit application. For the MDEQ to turn a blind eye indicates that something other than science is prevailing in Lansing,” Halley continued.

Speaking on behalf of the Huron Mountain Club, Paul Townsend questioned whether the MDEQ ever seriously considered the risks.

“On October 17, we filed comprehensive comments in opposition to the proposed permits, including reports of scientific and engineering consultants, all well-respected experts in their fields. The complete filing was more than 700 pages,” Townsend recalled.

“Now the DEQ has approved the mining permits. While disappointing, this is not surprising, given the past performance of DEQ. We are even more disappointed in Governor Granholm’s lack of leadership on this critical issue. Had the technical comments been properly evaluated, she and her DEQ would have found repeated instances where Kennecott had submitted false or incomplete information which experts believe show that this mine will cause significant environmental damage to the Upper Peninsula,” Townsend said.

Cynthia Pryor, executive director of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, said she believes fear is what is motivating the state agency.

“Unfortunately, Kennecott is holding the State of Michigan hostage to the notion that they will sue them for takings if this mine is not permitted. Why else would our government – who is bound to protect us – sell our lands, our waters and our natural resources to this company from England, despite the will of the people and the scientific realities of the project?” Pryor asked.

Save the Wild UP, the grassroots group that has vocally opposed the project, believes the state has sold out the people of the Upper Peninsula.

“DEQ has made a charade of listening to the public. Governor Granholm seems willing to hold her nose and allow the inevitable nasty pollution of the U.P. and the Great Lakes,” said Dick Huey, co-founder of Save the Wild UP.

While the mining company gained MDEQ approval today, opponents say the project still has several hurdles to clear, including at least one federal permit required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and permission from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to utilize 120 acres of state lands for the mine’s surface facilities via a 40-year land lease. One week ago, Kennecott was notified by MDNR of seven areas of concern related to the company’s plans for the property after the mine’s closure.

To view the DEQ’s Press Release Click Here

Contact:Michelle Halley, National Wildlife Federation – (906) 361-0520

Cynthia Pryor, Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve – (906) 360-2414

Anne Woiwode, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter – (517) 484-2372

Brad Garmon, Michigan Environmental Council – (517) 487-9539

Dick Huey, Save the Wild UP – (906) 249-9999

Paul Townsend, Huron Mountain Club – (313) 886-3487