Articles » Wisconsin Resources Protection Council

Wisconsin Tribe Fends Off Dangerous Open Pit Mine Plan

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Jun 02 2021

By Rebecca Bowe

28 May 21

The Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin sent a mine developer back to the drawing board after a legal battle over sacred sites and water contamination.

t’s no accident that the river that divides the places known today as Wisconsin and Michigan bears the same name as the Menominee Tribe. The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin lived along the Menominee River for thousands of years, and evidence of their ancestral past — including sacred sites, such as dance rings and burial mounds — still line its banks.

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Opponents of Back 40 mining project welcome Aquila’s withdrawal from two contested permits but remain vigilant as company announces new plans

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May 19 2021

By Michele Bourdieu

Keweenaw Now

This map of Aquila Resources’ proposed Back 40 mining project shows wetlands in the area of the mine site, which is only 150 feet from the Menominee River. Aquila recently withdrew from its appeal on the January 2021 denial of its wetland permit. Click on map for larger version. (Map courtesy Kathleen Heideman of the Mining Action Group)

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Back Forty mine dealt another blow as Michigan judge stalls decision on key permit

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May 10 2021

by Laura Schulte

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A proposed mine along the Menominee River in Michigan is facing another roadblock after a judge asked that a decision to approve a necessary permit be revisited.

A Michigan Circuit Court judge last month asked that a 2019 decision to approve a mining permit for Aquila Resources should be revisited, according to nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice. In the order, the judge directed that additional evidence was needed in the original permit application, including documented concerns from Michigan environmental regulators regarding flawed groundwater modeling.

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Michigan Judge Sends Mining Permit For Back Forty Project Back For Review

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May 04 2021

Ruling Is A Victory For The Menominee Indian Tribe, Setback For Aquila

By Danielle Kaeding

Wisconsin Public Radio

April 30, 2021

Another permit has been called into question for Aquila Resources’ plans to build the Back Forty mine near the Menominee River on the Michigan-Wisconsin border. A Michigan judge recently ruled the company’s mining permit [1] should be sent back for further review of the mine’s potential impacts on groundwater.

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Fight Over Proposed Mine by Menominee River has Brought Together Unlikely Allies

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Apr 30 2021

Recent court decision is a setback for the planned Black Forty mine, but it is not the end of the project.

Al Gedicks

April 28, 2021

Earth Island Journal

The Menominee River, named after the Menominee Indians of Wisconsin, is the largest river system in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It forms the border between northeast Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and is currently the focus of a struggle over a proposed metallic sulfide mine known as the Back Forty Project.

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Proposed Mine Faces Mounting Troubles

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Jul 29 2020

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.

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Wisconsin tribe tries to block open-pit mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

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Feb 13 2020

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.

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Federal Circuit Court rejects Menominee Tribe’s appeal on Back 40 mine wetlands permitting; most Back 40 permits remain in state contested case litigation

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Feb 09 2020

by Michele Bourdieu

Keweenaw Now

February 3, 2020

LANSING, Mich.; KASHENA, Wis. — In its efforts to protect the Menominee River from the dangers of Acid Mine Drainage and to save sacred cultural sites near the river from being destroyed, the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin (MITW) is still pushing back against a federal and state permitting process that ignores their concerns about Aquila Resources’ proposed open-pit sulfide mine threatening both Wisconsin and Michigan, the two states bordering the river.

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Menominee Tribe Loses Appeal On Back Forty Mine Lawsuit

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Feb 01 2020

Panel Says Matter Is Left To Michigan And State Courts

By Danielle Kaeding

January 28, 2020

Wisconsin Public Radio

A federal appeals court panel told a Wisconsin tribe this week it can’t review a decision by two federal agencies that reinforced Michigan’s permitting authority over a proposed mine on the Michigan-Wisconsin border.

The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers in 2018 after the agencies failed to address the tribe’s concerns that federal review of a wetlands permit for the mine was warranted.

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Back Forty Mine project continues to raise concerns

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Dec 20 2019

by Isiah Holmes

December 18, 2019

Wisconsin Examiner

A proposed open pit sulfide mine along the Wisconsin-Michigan border, owned by Canada-based Aquila Resources, has stirred controversy ever since the Menominee Tribe first highlighted the danger it would pose to their sacred lands over a year ago. Called the Back Forty mine, it would operate right in the heart of the Great Lakes basin.

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Wisconsin Resources Protection Council

Founded in 1982

Wisconsin Tribe Fends Off Dangerous Open Pit Mine Plan

Opponents of Back 40 mining project welcome Aquila’s withdrawal from two contested permits but remain vigilant as company announces new plans

By Michele Bourdieu

Back Forty mine dealt another blow as Michigan judge stalls decision on key permit

Michigan Judge Sends Mining Permit For Back Forty Project Back For Review

Fight Over Proposed Mine by Menominee River has Brought Together Unlikely Allies

Recent court decision is a setback for the planned Black Forty mine, but it is not the end of the project.

Proposed Mine Faces Mounting Troubles

Wisconsin tribe tries to block open-pit mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Federal Circuit Court rejects Menominee Tribe’s appeal on Back 40 mine wetlands permitting; most Back 40 permits remain in state contested case litigation

Menominee Tribe Loses Appeal On Back Forty Mine Lawsuit

Back Forty Mine project continues to raise concerns

Ban Cyanide Mining in Wisconsin

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