Column: The time is now to oppose the Back Forty Mine
by Bill Van Lopik, Community columnist
Post-Crescent, Appleton-Fox Cities
August 12, 2017
One of our most precious resources with living in northeast Wisconsin is our fresh water. We live in the Great Lakes Basin, which contains literally 20 percent of all the fresh water in the world.
After years of abusing this resource by dumping of toxic chemicals into our waterways, we have helped our lakes and waterways make a strong rebound through citizen, governmental and corporate action to clean up our water.
Millions of dollars have been invested in remediation efforts to restore contaminated waterways like the Lower Fox River, the Menominee River and the bay of Green Bay. Our waters are cleaner now from the aftereffects of toxic sediments than they have been in decades.
However, this progress is facing an ominous threat, particularly in the case of the Menominee River, Green Bay and ultimately Lake Michigan. The Back Forty Mine project is a proposed open pit metallic sulfide mine to be located along the Menominee River in Michigan’s UP. A Canadian development stage company (Aquila Resources) is actively seeking the necessary approvals to mine and process gold, zinc, copper and silver at the site.
Sulfide mines like this one pose serious threats to freshwater ecosystems due to the inevitable leaching of poisonous contaminates from the tailing ponds into rivers, lakes and groundwater. There are no documented instances where mines of this magnitude have not been guilty of emitting some kind of hazardous waste into the environment over time. Pollution knows no political boundaries, so even if the mine is located on the Michigan side of the Menominee River, the contamination would still affect the precious waterways of Wisconsin.
The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin has directed the efforts to block the mine. The mine development would imperil many of their sacred cultural and burial sites that lie along the banks of the river.
Additionally, other environmental groups like the Sierra Club, the River Alliance of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Resources Protection Council have also voiced opposition to the mine because of the harm it could cause to the region’s ecosystem, public health and tourist economy.
Recently the county supervisors of Door, Brown and Marinette counties passed resolutions condemning the mine. It is now time for other citizens and governmental entities to join the fight in passing similar resolutions against the Back Forty Mine.
Supervisors in Outagamie, Calumet and Winnebago counties need to step up and vote for clean water in northeast Wisconsin.
At the state level, Assembly Joint Resolution 69 has been introduced by the bipartisan team of Rep. Amanda Stuck, D-Appleton; Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay; Rep. Eric Genrich, D-Green Bay; and Rep. Jeffrey Mursau, R-Crivitz.
It is important that other legislators endorse the resolution so that a strong message is sent to Aquila Resources and the state of Michigan that they do not have the “social license to operate” in this area. Social license refers to the acceptance by local communities of their mining companies and proposed projects.
If we as stakeholders demonstrate our opposition to the Back Forty Mine, we can hopefully convince decision makers to oppose it.
We realize that the proposed mine is actually in the state of Michigan and final approval ultimately rests under their jurisdiction. Nevertheless, our voices of opposition can send a strong message across state borders that we in Wisconsin are also invested in protecting the waters of the Great Lakes.
Bill Van Lopik is a resident of Grand Chute. He can be reached at williamvanlopik@gmail.com
