Wisconsin Resources Protection Council

To: Committee on Michigan’s Mining Future

From: Al Gedicks, Wisconsin Resources Protection Council

Re: Climate Change and Mine Waste Disposal

Climate Change Poses a Risk to Mining Infrastructure

The committee recognizes that “climate change increases the risk of hazardous events” that can damage mining infrastructure. Apart from the mine itself, the largest mining infrastructure on the surface are the contact water basin and the tailings impoundment. Tailings storage facilities are some of the largest human made structures on earth ( Mine Tailings Storage Is No Accident. United Nations Environmental Programme, 2017).

from the Menominee Nation News:

https://www.facebook.com/MNN.MITW/videos/922564374991120/

Peshtigo Times

Issue Date: July 22, 2021

Stephenson Island was packed on July 16th in honor of the Menominee River. The proposed Back 40 Mine project has been seen as a threat to the Menominee River for almost 20 years since the project was first proposed in 2003. Born from the desire to protect the Menominee River’s clean drinking water and sacred indigenous sites, the Coalition to Save the Menominee River has been working steadily to promote awareness about the dangerous effects of the mine. The July 16th gathering included speeches from experienced individuals, live music, a raffle, and much more to celebrate this special river. 



by Maya Shimizu Harris

July 20, 2021

Eagle Herald

by Laina G. Stebbins

July 17, 2021

MichiganAdvance.com

For years, Indigenous and environmental groups have been standing up against Calgary-based Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac, arguing a rupture could harm the areas’s freshwater and ecosystem. And about 200 miles west across Lake Michigan, in the far reaches of the Upper Peninsula, a similar story is unfolding.

On Friday, nearly 300 activists and tribal citizens gathered on small Stephenson Island in Wisconsin — a stone’s throw from the bridge separating it from Michigan — in a joint effort to protect the river that encircles it.

The Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River gathered recognizing efforts to stop Back Forty.

by Grace Blair

Upper Peninsula TV6

July 16, 2021

MARINETTE, Wis. (WLUC) – The Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River celebrated clean and accessible water in the Menominee River on Friday. The Menominee River was blessed during a water ceremony performed by the Menominee Indian Tribe.

“It celebrates the connection between the people in Menominee River and the sacredness of the water, especially to the native people of the area,” said Dr. Al Gedicks, executive secretary of the Wisconsin Resource and Protection Council.

Indigenous water protectors confront massive mining companies, building community on the way.

by Carol Amour

June 10, 2021

In These Times

June 10, 2021

Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,

Ever since Aquila’s Wetlands Permit was overturned in a contested case last January, the company has been in a downward spiral that has drained its finances and called into question the future of the Back Forty mining project. Aquila’s recent announcement that they are planning to sell their interests in the Reef deposit in Marathon County and the Bend deposit in Taylor County (https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/wisconsin/2021/06/01/aquila-sell-wisconsin-mineral-interests-focus-back-forty-mine/5289825001/) is only a symptom of a much larger set of problems.

by Al Gedicks

The LaCrosse Tribune

May 30, 2021

Al Gedicks