Wisconsin Resources Protection Council

Back Forty Mine along Wisconsin border faces insufficient funding, increasing opposition.

by Al Gedicks

July 26, 2020

urbanmilwaukee.com

Aftermath of the Brumadinho dam collapse in Brazil. Photo by TV NBR (CC BY 3.0)

The controversial proposed Back Forty open pit metallic sulfide mine on the Michigan-Wisconsin border has suffered major financial and permitting setbacks due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and increasing public concerns over the safety of tailings dams to store mine waste. The proposed mine, would be located next to the Menominee River, which flows into Lake Michigan, and has raised concerns about potential pollution.

by Carol Thompson

Lansing State Journal

February 10, 2020

LANSING — A Wisconsin tribe is challenging Michigan’s decision to issue a permit for an open-pit  mine proposed in the Upper Peninsula, the latest in a series of attempts to stop the controversial project from moving forward.

by Michele Bourdieu

Keweenaw Now

February 3, 2020

by Isiah Holmes

December 18, 2019

Wisconsin Examiner

Mine on Wisconsin border would use approach that has resulted in 46 catastrophic failures in last 20 years.

by Al Gedicks

December 13, 2019

UrbanMilwaukee.com

For the communities downstream from the proposed Back Forty open pit mine on the Michigan-Wisconsin border, the threat of a massive release of toxic mine waste into the Menominee River is a nightmare scenario. Why would Wisconsin and Michigan residents put up with what Brazil will not?  After a catastrophic mine tailings dam collapse in Brumadinho, Brazil killed 270 people in January of 2019 Brazil not only banned that design for future mines, but mandated that every existing mine tailings dam of that design be decommissioned. The dam collapse was the world’s deadliest in more than 50 years.

PENNY MULLINS, EH news editor/digital director

December 6, 2019

Eagle Herald

MENOMINEE — Tom Boerner, who owns land in Lake Township directly adjacent to the Back Forty Mine, said Wednesday he doesn’t see the recent decision by a state review panel as changing too much in his and others fight against the gold and silver mine becoming a reality in Menominee County.

By Ryan Heise, Peninsula Pulse – November 1st, 2019

The Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River group joins Door County residents at Harbor View Park in Egg Harbor. The park provides views of Menominee and Marinette directly across Green Bay.

At some point during the summer bustle, I had the occasion to speak with an agitated gentleman who owns a home on the waters of Green Bay in Egg Harbor. He was concerned about air cannons blasting continually on Hat Island across from his home. I envisioned him on the other side of the phone, red-eyed and disheveled from lack of sleep.

PENNY MULLINS, EH news editor/digital director

October 24, 2019

Eagle Herald

GREEN BAY — A federal court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Coalition to Save the Menominee River against the developers of the Back Forty Mine in Menominee County, as well as several federal agencies.

Regulators allowing open pit mine near Lake Michigan that could release catastrophic amount of toxic waste.

September 18, 2019

UrbanMilwaukee.com

The willingness of top Michigan regulators to ignore their own scientific staff and approve a wetland permit for a controversial open pit mine next to the Menominee River on the Michigan-Wisconsin border has been reported by Urban Milwaukee, but is only the beginning of a dangerous decision-making process. The proposed Back Forty metallic sulfide mine is owned by Aquila Resources, a Canadian exploration company that has no experience with mining.