Posted by John Flesher | The Associated Press
Opponents of a planned nickel and copper mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula are trying to overturn a decision by the state Department of Environmental Quality to allow the project.
A hearing began Monday in Lansing on a challenge to the DEQ’s approval of permit applications submitted by Kennecott Minerals Co. It is expected to last several weeks.
LONDON, ENGLAND – Four community leaders took their opposition to the proposed Upper Peninsula sulfide mine to the United Kingdom today when each spoke at the annual meeting of London-based Rio Tinto, the mining giant and parent company of Kennecott Eagle Minerals Co.
Before a gathering of thousands, Susan LaFernier, vice president of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, was joined by Cynthia Pryor, Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve; Fran Whitman, Friends of the Land of Keweenaw; and Gabriel Caplett, Northwoods Wilderness Recovery. Each possesses either a share of stock or a proxy allowing them a voice at the meeting.
“We hope to bring an understanding to the Rio Tinto board of directors and shareholders that the citizens of our region and across the state of Michigan do not support their sulfide mining venture on the Yellow Dog Plains,” Pryor explained in an interview just days before the meeting. “We will present them with every citizen and group resolution or petition signed in opposition to this mine.”
In her presentation, LaFernier will explain the tribe’s sense of responsibility for human health, air, water, land and cultural resources, including Eagle Rock, a location of spiritual importance to Native Americans in the region.
“I will inform the Rio Tinto board about our rights as written in the 1842 and 1854 treaties with the United States. These are rights we have always had as first owners of the land,” the tribal official explained. KBIC has opposed the mine since 2004, when the Tribal Council adopted a resolution in opposition to the project.
“The Rio Tinto board should understand that the opposition is not a few radicals, as they have been led to believe, but a large and well-organized coalition involving thousands of people across the state,” Pryor said.
Caplett says the scope of Kennecott’s plans for the Upper Peninsula demands action. “Rio Tinto has multiple projects planned for our water-rich area. These projects would affect the Great Lakes, which contains roughly one-fourth of the world’s freshwater. Other companies are planning metallic mineral projects, as well as uranium operations, and are encouraged by weak new mining laws that were heavily influenced by Rio Tinto’s agenda.”
The message of the Upper Peninsula foursome wasn’t the only one heard in opposition to Rio Tinto projects throughout the world. Activists from Argentina and West Papua also appealed to shareholders to take a closer look at projects in their respective countries.
Following the Rio Tinto annual meeting, LaFernier spoke on behalf of the group at a public meeting hosted by Amnesty International UK’s Human Rights Centre.
The environment in the Upper Peninsula recently received a boost when Save the Wild UP was awarded a grant from Freshwater Future (formerly great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund). The $3,500 grant was awarded to help protect the Upper Peninsula from major risks to the health of some of the Great Lakes region’s most precious groundwater and surface water habitats. This project will research the legal mechanisms landowners can utilize to control mining exploration or mining activity under their surface land ownership, as well as protect habitat. Results will be used to help educate the public on mineral rights ownership and their role in protecting aquatic ecosystems.
Freshwater Future builds effective community-based citizen action to protect and restore the water quality of the Great Lakes basin. They work towards this goal by providing financial assistance, communications and networking assistance, and technical assistance to citizens and grassroots watershed groups throughout the Great Lakes basin. Grassroots organizations and citizen initiatives in both the U.S. and Canada are eligible for funding in the two annual funding cycles.
“With so many great proposals for important work throughout the Great Lakes region, the decision making process was difficult as always,” said Jill Ryan, Executive Director of Freshwater Future. “The 20 applications we reviewed presented unique and thoughtful ways to engage local communities in protecting local rivers, lakes, and wetlands. Save the Wild UP was one of just 10 that received funding in this grant cycle,” said Ryan.
SWUP’s mission is to protect Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from unsustainable development, environmental degradation, and dangerous contamination through public awareness and education. The grant from Freshwater Future will help accomplish this mission by helping to protect headwaters habitats in the Lake Superior and Lake Michigan watersheds from the risks of alteration and contamination by nonferrous metallic mining, particularly sulfide mining processes.
If you would like more information on this project, contact Save the Wild UP, 906-228-4444.
The Salt Lake Tribune (SLT) has been covering a major scandal involving Kennecott and Magma, UT.
“Kennecott concealed the seismic risks facing the tailings pond less than a half mile away [from Magma]…
Walker feels a little betrayed and deeply suspicious of the Utah copper giant, which used an undisclosed agent to sell her the home in 1996 – before Kennecott deemed the tailings impoundment safe. “ Click here for the rest of the story
Additional SLT articles on this breaking story:
Kennecott keeps Utah community “in the dark”
Kennecott concealed the potential for a disaster
Excerpts from the Investigation Memo
How the Salt Lake Tribune stories came to be
“TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took a step Thursday toward placing the coaster brook trout, which once thrived in the upper Great Lakes, on the endangered species list.
A petition filed by two groups in 2006 made a strong enough case to justify a formal review, the service said in a Federal Register notice. The Sierra Club and the Huron Mountain Club sued the agency in December for failing to act earlier. Officials blamed the delay on budget restraints.”
Click here for the rest of the story
Click here for more information on Coasters from NMU Fish Biology Lab
The following is from a March 2 story in the Deseret Morning News.
” Salt Lake County ranks second in the nation as a depository for the most materials containing toxic substances.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s annual report of the top 20 counties in the country that have these deposits, 120.3 million pounds of materials containing toxic substances were deposited in Salt Lake County in 2007.
That puts Salt Lake County behind Alaska’s Northwest Arctic County, with 615.3 million pounds of materials deposited, but ahead of Humboldt County, Nev., which had 84.6 million pounds of materials deposited — and 17 other counties with smaller numbers.
Ostensibly, Salt Lake County’s numbers are so high because Kennecott Utah Copper, one of the world’s largest copper mines, is located in the county.”
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore may house the newest Wilderness are in Michigan.
“MUNISING — The effort to designate the 11,739 acres of the Beaver Basin as wilderness at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is making its way to Congress.
The National Park Service is working to finalize the establishment of the Beaver Basin Wilderness Area, which is one component of the park’s General Management Plan completed and approved in 2004 after five years of planning and extensive public involvement.”
Click Here for the full story in the Mining Journal
TRAVERSE CITY, MI — A recent report released by a coalition of Great Lakes area local governments argues that the federal governments of the United States and Canada are not shouldering their fair shares of costs to care for the lakes, said a recent Associated Press story.
The report claimed local governments spend about $15 billion annually on Great Lakes environmental programs while the
