Tag Archives: Economic

Event: Mining Heritage: Past, Present and Future

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When: Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009, 10:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m Central Time, 11:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Where: Patrick J. White Conference Room, West Iron District Library; 116 West Genessee; Iron River, MI 49915 (One block South of U.S.2, midtown); (906)265-2831
Contact person: Robert Rivera (906)265-3176

Concerned citizens of Iron County, with assistance from the Northwood Alliance, will hold a public forum, “Mining Heritage: Past, Present and Future”, on January 17, from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the West Iron District Library in Iron River, MI. A morning session, beginning at 10:30 and ending at noon, will examine the history of mining in Iron County. Two afternoon sessions, beginning at 1:00, will examine remediation efforts at the Dober and Buck mine sites on the Iron River and the prospects of new mining development and its future effects. The sessions will feature a short film by the National Wildlife Federation about the Eagle Rock project on the Yellow Dog Plains near Marquette, and local experts and citizens will report on various aspects of mining. Numerous governmental and corporate spokespersons have been invited to participate, as have representatives of regional groups opposed to new mining development. There will be musical interludes in late morning and mid-afternoon, as well as question-and-answer sessions following the afternoon presentations.

Iron County, Michigan, is part of a mining district extending across the Upper Peninsula, Northern Wisconsin and Northern Minnesota. Both the Iron and Mesaba Ranges have experienced intensive mining, deeply imprinting local culture and significantly affecting the environment. Most mining activity ceased forty or more years ago, but the heritage persists. Now, new mining exploration and development, including uranium exploration, are arising throughout the region. This movement, and techniques such as sulfide extraction, may bring to the area threats historically unseen with traditional methods of copper and iron ore mining. The allure of economic development has been confronted by those concerned with potential environmental damage and future economic costs from short-term gains.

For more information on this event, contact Robert Rivera at (906) 265-3176.

Over 250 Attend Film Critical of DEQ and Kennecott in Marquette

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Over 250 people attended a December 7 showing of the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) new film, “Mining Madness, Water Wars: The Great Lakes in the Balance.” The film was shown at Northern Michigan University.

The film focused on questionable behavior, at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, in permitting approval of Kennecott’s Eagle Mine application and featured members of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC), mining, geology and water quality experts, as well as UP State Senator, Mike Prusi.

Retired mining engineer and expert on local mine geology and rock mechanics, Jack Parker, attended the showing and participated in a panel that answered audience questions. According to Parker, because Kennecott’s plan is riddled with “errors and omissions” and looks like “an amateur had written the application,” the plan is “all bullshit” and the DEQ should “throw it out.”

Parker, who says he is adamantly “not against mining,” has over 60 years of mining experience and has worked on over 500 mining operations, including about ten years at the White Pine Mine.

According to Parker, Kennecott plans to leave much of the ore behind, taking only the richest available. Parker maintains that, since much of the ore is owned by the people of Michigan, mining only the high-grade and leaving the rest is “not responsible mining.”

The film focuses on the cover-up of a rock mechanics report highly critical of Kennecott’s mining operation. In March 2007, the DEQ was forced to withdraw proposed approval of the project when NWF pressed the agency for a report, commissioned by the DEQ, that criticized Kennecott for not using “industry best-practice” and maintained that the company’s conclusions were “not defensible.” The report noted the possibility that the roof of the mine could collapse, endangering workers and draining a branch of the Salmon Trout River.

In the initial report, reference was made to local mines, with similar geology, that have suddenly collapsed. This has occurred at the Athens Mine, west of Marquette. Subsequent versions of the report omitted any reference to case history that could affect permitting of Kennecott’s project.

Joe Maki, geologist with the DEQ’s Office of Geological Survey and Mine Team Coordinator for review of Kennecott’s application, acknowledged that he personally discarded the report, considering it “not useful” and “too technical.” Maki was absolved of wrong-doing through an investigation conducted by an unqualified former DNR employee who interviewed only DEQ employees for his assessment.

In the film, Senator Prusi said that Kennecott has not shown “good corporate stewardship” at some of its other operations and that he is “not fully confident” in the Michigan DEQ’s ability to monitor Kennecott’s activities effectively. Prusi acknowledged possessing little knowledge regarding the legal importance of Native American treaty rights.

KBIC member Pauline Spruce said that Kennecott’s plans to construct its mine portal at Eagle Rock, a culturally-significant site for area Native Americans, violates the Native American Freedom of Religion Act of 1979.

The film highlights communication from the DEQ’s Steve Wilson referring to Native American treaty rights as a “trump card” that could affect approval of the Eagle Mine.

According to NWF attorney, Michelle Halley, who hosted the event, at a recent contested case involving the DEQ’s mine project approval not one of Kennecott’s witnesses would personally guarantee the success of any portion of the mine.

Engineer Dr. Stanley Vitton, from Michigan Technological University, said that he was “shocked” when he discovered that companies can drill, without a permit, in nearly every part of the Western UP and cited Kennecott’s mine safety projections as inadequate. “Five percent [fail rate of the mine’s roof] is not acceptable.”

Parker compared Kennecott’s mine plan to a used car that looks decent, initially, but upon closer inspection has “doors that don’t fit,” “drips” and, when you kick the tire, “the wheel falls off.” According to Parker, Kennecott’s application is “deceptive, therefore illegal.”

Under Michigan’s new metallic mining laws, “A person who…intentionally makes a false statement, representation, or certification in an application for or form pertaining to a permit…is guilty of a felony and may be imprisoned for not more than 2 years.”

According to Halley and film co-producer, Angela Nebel, NWF plans to organize future showings of the film throughout the state. The film will be available on the NWF website.

New Sulfide Mining Documentary Show Times and Locations

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Mining Madness, Water Wars: The Great Lakes in the Balance
A Documentary Film on Sulfide Mining

“Mining Madness, Water Wars: The Great Lakes in the Balance” is a timely, compelling documentary that lays bare a controversial proposal to blast a mine beneath a blue ribbon trout stream in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

The 33-minute story is told through the passionate voices of scientists, community activists, tribal officials, and others who care about protecting our most precious asset water. Watch a short excerpt that focuses on one aspect of the controversy — the apparent disregard for Native American treaty rights.

Despite extensive scientific testimony that the project’s flaws could place workers in peril and jeopardize a Lake Superior tributary and its watershed, citizens and environmental organizations have found the state’s leadership unresponsive and now look to the justice system for resolution.

“Mining Madness, Water Wars: The Great Lakes in the Balance” was underwritten by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and produced by Brauer Productions, Inc. and Summit Public Relations Strategies, LLC.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwFT1cuRyrY[/youtube]

“An easy tutorial on one of the most momentous environmental battles in Michigan history”
–Lawrence Cosentino
Lansing City Pulse

Green Investment Will Yield Two Million New Jobs in Two Years

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Washington, D.C. (September 9, 2008) — As America confronts the current energy crisis, a new report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and partner labor and environmental groups shows that the U.S. can create two million jobs by investing in clean energy technologies that will strengthen the economy and fight global warming. The report finds that investing in clean energy would create four times as many jobs as spending the same amount of money within the oil industry.

“This new report shows that investing in clean energy is a win-win solution. Shifting to clean energy will put more people to work, provide consumers relief at the pump, help reduce global warming pollution and revitalize our economy at a time when many Americans are hurting,” said Frances Beinecke, President of NRDC.
“Green Recovery – A Program to Create Good Jobs and Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy” analyzes the potential for a two year $100 billion green investment program – which would be comparable to the size of the April 2008 federal stimulus package dedicated to consumer rebates – to be an engine for job creation in the U.S. This type of investment is a component of a broader clean energy strategy to create a low-carbon economy and reduce global warming pollutions.
The program could be paid for with proceeds from auctions of carbon permits under a global warming cap-and-trade program that will drive private investments into clean energy and raise public revenue through carbon permit auctions. A cap-and-trade program will enable America to reduce global warming pollution to the levels science indicates are needed to avoid the worst effects of global warming.
The package is illustrative of the potential for clean energy – and specifically green infrastructure investments – to create new jobs and strengthen the economy. The specific package would invest in six green infrastructure priorities: retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency, expanding mass transit and freight rail, constructing “smart” electrical grid transmission systems, wind power, solar power, and next-generation biofuels.
The report also shows that the vast majority of the two million jobs gained from this initial $100 billion investment in clean energy would be in the same areas of employment that people already work in today, in every region and state of the country; for example: constructing wind farms creates jobs for sheet metal workers, machinists and truck drivers, among many others. Increasing the energy efficiency of buildings through retrofitting requires roofers, insulators and building inspectors. Expanding mass transit systems employs civil engineers, electricians, and dispatchers.
In addition to creating two million jobs nationwide over two years, a $100 billion initial investment in our clean energy future would:
  • Create nearly four times more jobs than spending the same amount of money within the oil industry and 300,000 more jobs than a similar amount of spending directed toward household consumption.
  • Create roughly triple the number of good jobs — paying at least $16 dollars an hour — as spending the same amount of money within the oil industry.
  • Bolster employment especially in construction and manufacturing. Construction employment has fallen from 8 million to 7.2 million over the past two years due to the housing bubble collapse. The Green Recovery program can, at the least, bring back these lost 800,000 construction jobs.
The report proposes that the $100 billion of initial investments fund:
  • $50 billion for tax credits. This would assist private businesses and homeowners to finance both commercial and residential building retrofits, as well as investments in renewable-energy systems.
  • $46 billion in direct government spending. This would support public building retrofits, the expansion of mass transit, freight rail and smart electrical-grid systems, and new investments in renewable energy.
  • $4 billion for federal loan guarantees. This would underwrite private credit that is extended to finance building retrofits and investments in renewable energy.
The report was written by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, under commission by the Center for American Progress (CAP) and released by NRDC and a coalition of labor and environmental groups. The authors of the report are Robert Pollin, Heidi Garrett-Peltier, James Heintz, and Helen Scharber of PERI. For the complete report findings go to

World Water Day 2008

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March 22 was World Water Day.

“The world faces a future of “water wars”, unless action is taken to prevent international water shortages and sanitation issues escalating into conflicts, according to Gareth Thomas, the [British] International Development minister. ”

Click here to read the rest of this story from The Independent 

 “Water – the most basic element on earth. Without water, human life doesn’t exist. And without safe water, neither does good health. For most of us, it’s a short walk to the faucet in the kitchen, or bottled water in the refrigerator. But for more than a billion people – about one in six people on earth – getting safe water each day is no easy task.”
Click here for more information

Anyone living in the Great Lakes Region is fortunate to have 20% of the world’s freshwater at our fingertips. It is easy to take it for granted. Please consider cutting your water consumption to remind yourself and others how precious fresh, clean water is to most of the Earth’s inhabitants.

For some World Water Day satire, click here and here

Paradise Found: Marquette Receives National Recognition

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 Outdoor Life Magazine Names Marquette as #7 in Best 200 Towns List

In the April 2008 issue of Outdoor Life Magazine, Marquette received the honor of ranking #7 in the top 200 towns in the United States for hunters and anglers.

“We’ve all visited those towns, the ones with the river running through them, the woodlands nudging the outskirts and the cafe that’s crowded at 5 a.m. with duck hunters and trout guides.

Maybe it’s a Western mountain town tucked into drop-dead scenery. Or a whitewashed New England village or a charming Southern river city. Maybe it’s a Midwestern county seat or a coastal vacation spot with forever views of the blue-green beyond.”
Click here to read the rest of the story