Greg Brown CD & DEQ Mine Hearings

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Greg Brown

Greg Brown’s newest album, a live recording of his August 2005 performance at the Peterson Auditorium in Ishpeming, Michigan, is a raw, reverent commentary on the times we live in and a testament to the artist’s love for the wild lands and waters of the Upper Peninsula. Greg Brown performed the concert to benefit the Yellow Dog for free, and, after arriving two hours late because of flight delays, he treated the audience to a fresh batch of brand new songs and reworkings of old favorites.

“I brought out my notebook tonight. I’m gonna sing a bunch of stuff I never sung before. I figure it’s been kind of a nutty day already, why not just take it on home that way…” Brown said. “I’m proud to be here. Proud to stand up for a little river.”

All proceeds for the album will go to the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, an organization dedicated to protecting the Yellow Dog river. A metallic sulfide mine has been proposed within the Yellow Dog Watershed.

The Department of Environmental Quality will hold hearings on the proposed mine from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. & 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. March 6-8 at the University Center at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. The DEQ plans to make a final decision in May. Public commentary is welcome and encouraged.

The CD will be released by Michigan label Earthwork Music, and they are offering a buy one, get one free deal for the new record to all those who come to the hearing to support the Yellow Dog Watershed.

Photo credit: Greg Brown in Missoula by Chris Lombardi, get details on the disc and photos from the show at Earthwork Music and check below for the Yellow Dog cd cover! Continue reading →

Free Concert in Marquette

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The NMU student organization, Students Against Sulfide Mining (SASM), are hosting a free concert on February 23, 2007.  It will be at the Ramada Inn at 7 pm and features performances by Something In The Homemade Jam, Grass Monkey and Jesta.  If you are a student and interested in joining SASM or just want to check them out in action, go to the Charcoal Room in the University Center of NMU at 8 pm on Wednesdays.

Coaster Brook Trout in Danger

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Coaster Brook TroutTrout Unlimited tells us that there was once an abundant population of coaster brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) across Lake Superior that drew anglers from across the country. Over-fishing, introduction of new species and the destruction of the trout’s habitat reduced the coasters’ numbers to today’s small populations.

According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Salmon Trout River in northern Marquette County is thought to be the only location for natural reproduction of the coaster brook trout in Michigan. Today, 26 governmental agencies, tribal entities, non-profit organizations and universities from across Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ontario are working together to rehabilitate the coaster brook trout.

Is this mine worth the risk to another irreplaceable species?

Further Reading

Acid Mines are Never Safe

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Stream Contaminated by Acid Mine DrainageThe root of major dissent to the metallic sulfide mine on the Yellow Dog Plains can be traced to one source – Acid Mine Drainage. This unavoidable and destructive by-product of the sulfide mining process has been deemed one of the most serious threats to water quality by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Mining into sulfide ores brings this volatile ore to the surface, crushing it and exposing it to water and oxygen, a dangerous combination that leads to a substance closely associated with battery acid. This acid makes it way through every crack and crevice and ultimately pollutes thousands of miles of rivers and streams every year. It contaminates drinking water and threatens animal and plant species.

In a Wisconsin Engineer story printed in 1997, author Jennifer Schultz included the following statement: “There are no ideal metallic mineral mining sites which can be pointed to as the model approach in preventing acidic drainage industry-wide.” Recognizing the inevitable threat of sulfide mining as fact, the Wisconsin legislature issued a provisional ban on sulfide mining in the state which still stands today.

Sulfide mines differ greatly from the iron mines that now operate in the Upper Peninsula. It is a widely known fact that all sulfide mines produce acid mine drainage, Governor Granholm must deny the permit application and protect the state from the predictable destruction of acid mine drainage and the slippery slope that comes from allowing even one such mine in our water-rich state.

Further reading

What is acid mine drainage? from the US EPA (pdf)

More Facts of Metallic Sulfide Mining from Save the Wild UP.

Eagle Mine Hearings slated

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The Mining Journal
By JOHN PEPIN, Journal Staff Writer
Sunday, January 14, 2007

MARQUETTE – Supporters and opponents of a proposed Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company nickel and copper mine on the Yellow Dog Plains in northern Marquette County are looking forward to a series of upcoming public hearings on whether to grant final approval on permits for the project.

This week, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality issued a preliminary decision to grant those permits to Kennecott for the project. The ruling came after a review and evaluation of the permit application, public comment and supplemental information provided.

The DEQ will now hold hearings from 1 to 10 p.m. March 6-8 at the University Center at Northern Michigan University in Marquette.

“The hearing will provide an opportunity for interested persons to submit new information that could influence the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s final decision,” the DEQ said in a background report on its decision.

Comments will also be solicited at the hearings on Kennecott’s applications for a groundwater discharge permit, air use permit and a lease from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for the use of state-owned surface property for proposed Kennecott processing and storage facilities.
Continue reading →

Governor Granholm Missteps With Proposed Mine Approval

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Jan. 9, 2007
DEQ’s decision dismisses alarming dangers from risky U.P. sulfide mine

Gov. Jennifer Granholm brushed aside glaring shortcomings in a Kennecott Minerals Co. plan to drill in an Upper Peninsula sulfide rock formation when her regulators gave preliminary approval to the plan today.

The nickel mine, which would generate hundreds of thousands of tons of acid-leaching waste rock from underneath the Yellow Dog Plains near Marquette, would be the only mine of its type in Michigan. Several other potential U.P mine sites are pending, as companies wait to see how stringently state officials apply environmental safeguards to Kennecott.

“This sets the bar for what may well be a rush to extract minerals from across the Upper Peninsula, so it’s not just another permit application,” said Andy Buchsbaum of the National Wildlife Federation. “We’re appalled that Governor Granholm’s people appear – at least preliminarily – unwilling to set that bar at a level which protects water resources and the tourism-related jobs in the U.P.”

Environmental groups who were instrumental in forging new regulations regarding the risky sulfide mining in 2006 expressed disappointment that those rules are being interpreted loosely by the Granholm administration.
Continue reading →

Editorial: New Nickel Mine in the U.P. Looks Like a Bum Deal

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Grow Detroit
by Dave Nelson
Posted January 11, 2007 @ 9:57 pm

Right now, it seems that the only people in favor of opening the Eagle Nickel Mine north of Marquette are Kennecott ‘ the company that owns the mine ‘ and the state regulators who gave the project a tentative greenlight on Tuesday:

‘This type of mining is a return to the boom-and-bust resource extraction, which caused so much damage to the U.P. in the 1800s,’ Roberson [a long-time U.P. resident and Sierra Club member] said.

Although it is true that the mine will create 120 good jobs, it is also true that those jobs will be gone in less than a decade. Furthermore, since the minerals to be mined are embedded in sulfide rocks, there is a very real risk that exposing those rocks will lead to sulfuric acid and heavy metals contaminating the home of the last naturally reproducing strain of coaster brook trout.

We need the jobs, but let’s take a pass on this one, Michigan.

Story appeared in the Grow Detroit.
Click here to view the complete story.

Editorial: What Century is This?

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Great Lakes Guy
By Andy Guy
Friday, January 12, 2007

For every company that symbolizes Michigan’s creeping transition to the knowledge economy – Google, United Solar Ovonic, Compuware – there seems to be a similiar number of profiteers trying to perpetuate business as usual and pull the state back towards the outmoded development patterns of the 20th century.

Just look at the types of enterprises the state’s Department of Environmental Quality is approving out of the gate in 2007. The agency recently gave prelimary approval to Kennecott Minerals Company’s plan to dig for nickel and copper beneath the Yellow Dog River in the Upper Peninsula. And the agency also awarded preliminary approval for Nestle Water’s plan to mine high quality H2O from the water systems of two designated trout streams in the central Lower Peninsula. What’s next, trapping beavers for fur?

Both developments promise to create dozens – maybe even 100 – jobs. But they both also raise significant questions about Michigan’s desire and ability to protect the water resources and natural amenities that drives its quality of life, arguably the state’s most important asset in the global economy.

Meanwhile, Gov. Jennifer Granholm used an appearance at the Detroit Auto Show to remind us – yet again – that innovation is the key organizing principle of 21st century prosperity. Indeed, ideas and information are the essential raw material in the modern economy.

Story appeared in the Great Lakes Guy.

DEQ: Tentative OK to Michigan mine

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BusinessWeek.com
The Associated Press
By JOHN FLESHER
January 9, 2007, 2:54PM EST

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich.

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality tentatively approved a proposal Tuesday to drill a nickel and copper mine in the Upper Peninsula.

The department’s ruling is a crucial step for Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co.’s plan to operate the mine in the Yellow Dog Plains region of northern Marquette County. A final decision will be made later this year, following a public comment period.

The proposed mine has drawn heavy opposition from environmentalists, who say it would endanger the sensitive Salmon Trout River headwaters and pose other ecological threats. Company officials say they would take extensive steps to protect the environment.

DEQ Director Steven Chester said the agency would take public reaction seriously as it works to “ensure this project is as protective of the environment as it can be.”
Continue reading →

U.P. nickel mine gets state’s OK

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The Detroit News/Detnews.com
Detroit News Lansing Bureau
By Gary Heinlein
Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Environmentalists question whether regulators are sacrificing wilderness for a few jobs.

It’s the classic confrontation between jobs and the environment in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

State environmental regulators gave tentative approval Tuesday to a nickel mine northwest of Marquette, leading to charges the state plans to sacrifice pristine wilderness for a relatively small number of paychecks. Kennecott Minerals officials predict the mine will create 120 jobs.

The Department of Environmental Quality will hold public hearings in March and make a final decision in the spring.

“The governor campaigned on moving the economy of Michigan forward and protecting the state’s natural resources,” said Marvin Roberson, a 16-year U.P. resident who works for the Sierra Club.

He was on Granholm’s committee to rewrite state mining laws and says this proposal is deficient.

“This type of mining is a return to the boom-and-bust resource extraction, which caused so much damage to the U.P. in the 1800s,” Roberson said.
Continue reading →