Tag Archives: Science

EPA Open House for Kennecott Application October 22

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CHICAGO (Oct. 9,  2008) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  will hold an open house on October 22  to answer questions about the federal role in regulating the proposed mine and the underground injection control permit application submitted by Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company.   The open house will be held at the Holiday Inn, 1951 U.S. Highway 41, West Marquette, Mich.  There will be three sessions from 9 to 11 a.m., 1 to 3 p.m., and 6 to 9 p.m.

Kennecott proposes to dispose of treated wastewater as part of a nickel and copper sulfide mining operation within the Yellow Dog Plains of northwestern Marquette County.   EPA notified the company that any underground disposal system at the mining site must comply with the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act’s federal Underground Injection Control program before construction and operation.  The Safe Drinking Water Act is intended to protect underground sources of drinking water.

The UIC permitting process for the underground disposal system is EPA’s only direct regulatory role in the Eagle mine project.  EPA is conducting a technical evaluation of the permit application and supporting documents and expects to issue a draft decision before the end of the year.  EPA will accept public comments and hold a public hearing when the draft decision is announced.

A copy of the permit application and more information about the Eagle mine project and the underground injection control program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/region5/water/uic/kennecott/index.htm.

The EPA Public Process Diagram:

US Fish and Wildlife Requests EPA Delay on Kennecott Mine

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The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has requested the EPA to determine whether habitat for the endangered Kirtland warbler and threatened Canada lynx occurs in areas that could directly or indirectly be affected by Kennecott’s Eagle Project.

According to the USFWS, “Kirtland’s warblers utilize young, dense stands of jack pine that are interspersed with treeless openings,” and requested the EPA to conduct a survey of male Kirtland’s warblers, in late Spring, 2009, if potential habitat is located in the area.

The USFWS also stated, “the Kirtland’s warbler, an endangered species, was detected within three miles of the project site during the 2006 and 2008 Kirtland’s warbler census” and, “the Canada lynx’s range includes the proposed project site…therefore, we believe, an assessment for potential affects to Lynx is prudent.”

Although key indicators suggest the area as suitable habitat for both species and were acknowledged in Kennecott’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the company did not consider the project as potentially affecting Kirtland warbler or Canadian lynx habitat.  According to the DEQ, Kennecott conducted only 7 months of the legally-required 2-year flora and fauna study.

A USFWS decision on whether Kennecott’s proposed project would affect native Coaster Brook Trout is expected by December 15, 2008.  Because the Coaster is not yet considered federally threatened or endangered, the USFWS did not consider the EPA to have responsibility at this time.

Located above Kennecott’s ore body, the Salmon Trout River houses the last remaining naturally reproducing population of the potamodromous Coaster Brook Trout on the southern shore of Lake Superior.  Contamination or a possible collapse of the river, due to mining activities, would likely decimate this rare population.

Joe Maki, geologist with the Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Office of Geological Survey has admitted, in a recent contested case hearing, that Kennecott does not have a contingency plan for a collapse of the Salmon Trout River.  Maki was the coordinator for the Mine Review Team that conducted the DEQ’s review and recommended approval of Kennecott’s mine application.

Nature Mapping Program Meeting

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Nature Mapping – A Michigan Initiative for Wildlife Inventory Conservation Management

What:      Nature Mapping Scoping Meeting
When:     July 16, 2008  9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where:    Northern Michigan University
Lake Ontario Room
University Center
1401 Presque Isle Avenue
Marquette, MI 49855

You are invited to a session hosted by the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, Inc in the scoping and building of a Michigan specific Nature Mapping Program.  Nature Mapping was developed by the University of Washington (Seattle, WA) and where specific inventory software has been developed for many states and countries.  We have an opportunity to have inventory software developed for Michigan and need your help in scoping out the requirements for the system criteria.

Nature Mapping is a unique system utilizing Cyber Tracker which allows citizens, professionals, and academics to use hand held PDA units with GPS and populated with user-friendly inventory screens that help the user document field findings of multiple types.  The hand held field information is then downloaded into a central inventory data management system (GIS) and held for all users in aiding their conservation work.

The one day scoping meeting will be run by Karen Dvornich from the University of Washington and she will be looking for stakeholder input for:

– Inventory Requirements
– Training Workshops
– Stewardship Plans
– Data Management Criteria
– Development of a Nature Mapping Center in Michigan

Please RSVP to Emily Whittaker at 906 345-9223 or emowok@gmail.com and let us know your ability to attend this day’s worth of scoping for this system.

For more information please see the following links:
Nature Mapping Program
CyberTracking Tutorial and Movie

Youth in Government Write Bill Against Sulfide Mining

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School: Leland Public School

Introduced By: Kenyon McFarlane and Sarah Jane Crimmins

Grade: 9

A bill to place a ban on metallic sulfide mining throughout the state of Michigan.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

Section 1: This bill shall apply to all persons/companies in the state of Michigan.

Section 2: Persons/companies shall be defined as all businesses, corporations, and people in the state of Michigan who are currently mining sulfide or are planning to.

Section 3: Sulfide shall be defined as any and all sulfide minerals that produce any form of acid mine drainage.

Section 4: Any person/company not in compliance with this bill shall be fined 1,000,000,000 dollars by the state of Michigan, and not allowed to receive any monetary compensation for their retracted goods. They shall also restore the mine’s surrounding environment to the condition it was in directly prior to the mining activities.

Section 5: All fines received from non-compliance with this bill shall be used for environmental restoration efforts within the state of Michigan.

Section 6: This bill shall go into effect six months after passage.

BILL BRIEF

Background/Problem

Currently in the State of Michigan there is an ongoing debate on whether or not to allow major corporations, businesses, and individuals mine sulfide. This is an extremely precarious issue, as many previous mines in other states have destroyed the surrounding environment. There are also many animals surrounding the proposed mine area, and a few are endangered.

Benefits/Advantages/Expected Outcomes

• Valuable fresh water such as the Great Lakes will be protected from contamination.

• Important at-risk wildlife will be protected from hazardous acid-mine drainage.

• Jobs will be preserved, helping sustain Michigan’s economy.

• Recreational land surrounding the area will not be damaged, which is good for revenue from tourism.

• Will help efforts to repopulate the area with coaster-brook trout, which are already diminishing in number.

Drawbacks /Disadvantages

• The proposed mine creates 100 new jobs, which may be beneficial to Michigan’s already-failing economy.

• May discourage other companies to come to Michigan in hopes of mining.

Youth in Government Experience

By: Kenyon McFarlane and Sarah Jane Crimmins

When my dad, Andrew McFarlane, became involved in Save the Wild UP, I quickly became aware of the harmful effects of sulfide mining. But it was only after signing up for Youth in Government that I realized I had found a way to encourage others to join my cause. After introducing my proposed topic to my partner, Sarah Jane Crimmins, she quickly agreed that it would make a strong impression at the April Youth in Government convention.

We gathered information for our bill from a variety of different sources, mostly through informational papers and articles that my dad had collected and were laying around the house. We wanted to be well informed on the topic, for we knew we would have a lot of questions to answer.

Our bill was first opened in committee, where our fellow committee members quickly suspended the rules to ask us questions. The vote was unanimous once we had resolved any queries – it passed with 16 yeas. It then went on to the Senate, because it was a Senate bill. We, however, were in session at the House of Representatives when the bill was opened for discussion. Again, we found ourselves being called upon to answer questions about our bill. Once we were in the Senate, we managed to convince the youth Senators to pass our bill. We were fortunate enough to have the aid of several Ishpeming delegates who helped explain anything that was confusing. The bill passed by a large majority, and it was on to the House of Representatives.

Our bill was finally brought up on the last day of session, because our Speaker of the House set up a docket to attempt to pass all the Senate bills before the conference ended. The initial reaction to the bill was one of confusion – some delegates didn’t understand the large fine associated with disobeying the bill that the Senate had amended. But once again, after we spoke about the bill we managed to change some people’s opinions. The vote in the House of Representatives was closer than the others had been, but the yeas had it.

Our bill was then immediately transferred to the Governor’s Cabinet, and they decided that in order to make an educated decision about our bill they needed to first speak to the authors. However, we had just walked downtown, because it was our lunch break and we were going to find a restaurant. Our advisors, determined to help us get our bill passed, drove around town until they succeeded in locating us. Before we knew it we were back at the Capital building, ready to speak about our bill for the last time. The Cabinet was impressed with our preparation, and they were very willing to listen to what we had to say. The governor asked if anyone had any objections, and there were none. So, our youth governor Dilara Uskup, signed our bill, and it was officially passed.

Out of over 900 bills, our bill ended up being one of only 16 bills that were officially passed during the April Conference. We were very grateful that our bill was passed, but we realized that the journey wasn’t over yet. Because it was passed in the youth government, the bill will now be proposed to the real Michigan legislature, and it has the chance of being signed into law. We are very thankful to organizations such as Save the Wild UP for bringing this serious issue to our attention, and we hope that many more people will do whatever it takes to prevent Michigan from allowing sulfide mining to cause serious damage to our beautiful state.

Kirtland’s Warbler Survey Informational Meeting

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Date: June 5th, 2008
Time: 7pm
Place: Peter White Public Library-Dandelion Cottage Room, Marquette, MI

Information about the federal Kirtland’s Warbler Survey Program will be given along with maps of jackpine stands and survey information. The survey will be focusing on singing males. Christie Deloria Sheffield, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Biologist and Kirtland’s Warbler Survey leader for Marquette County, will be in attendance and available for questions. If you would like more information, call Nancy Moran at the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve (906-345-9223).

Mine opponents speak at Rio Tinto meeting in London

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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.

Kennecott Investigated for Concealing Public Health Threat

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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 

The sercet memo that details the threat 

Photo Gallery of the Kennecott Tailings

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