January 11, 2012
Dear WRPC Member,
Despite efforts to discourage people from northern Wisconsin from attending a public hearing on the Iron Mining bill (AB 426) by holding the hearing in Milwaukee, many northern residents got in their cars or caught a bus at 5am to make the long trip to testify at the hearing. Opponents of this wholesale gutting of Wisconsin’s mining regulatory framework outnumbered supporters 2 to 1!
December 8, 2011
Dear WRPC Member,
Supporters of Gogebic Taconite’s (GTac) open pit iron mine in the Wisconsin State Assembly are once again trying to rush through a major assault on Wisconsin’s mining regulations. Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon) said that lawmakers will hold a news conference on December 8 to reveal details of the legislation. Although copies of the bill have not been available to the public or legislators who represent the proposed mining area, the bill is already scheduled for public hearings on December 15 with the stated goal of getting the bill passed by the end of the year. What’s the big rush to completely overhaul Wisconsin’s mining regulations to accommodate the wishes of one mining company that has never developed an iron ore mine?
August 31, 2011
Dear WRPC Member,
As you know, WRPC, the Center for Biological Diversity and Laura Gauger are embroiled in a lawsuit against Kennecott Minerals over ongoing violations of the Clean Water Act at the Flambeau Mine site near Ladysmith, Wisconsin. What happens at Flambeau stands to impact ALL of us who are fighting ill-advised mining proposals in the Great Lakes region.
You know all too well what we mean. There are now over a dozen mining projects in various stages of permitting in the Lake Superior region of northern Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. All of these projects have the potential to affect the health and environmental quality of life for communities that depend upon clean water and clean air for their economy and their culture. Some mining projects, like Kennecott’s proposed Eagle Mine in Michigan are poised to begin underground construction as early as mid-September. But this is not a done deal. There are still efforts to delay construction, including an administrative appeal of the permit decision. We must do whatever we can to support our friends who are “on the ground” and have dedicated their lives to protecting the water.
July 5, 2011
Dear WRPC Member,
Gogebic Taconite (GTac) almost got away with it. The coal-mining company that wants to dig a gigantic open pit taconite mine near Lake Superior assured the audience at a public forum in Ashland last January that they were not seeking to change Wisconsin mining regulations or public participation in the permit process.
Five months later they drafted a 186 page Iron Mining bill that does exactly that. All so that one particular mine could be permitted in record time. If the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) does not complete their review of the mine application within 300 days the application is automatically approved.
December 10, 2010
Dear WRPC Member,
In June 2009 WRPC notified Kennecott and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) of its intent to sue over water pollution caused by the Flambeau Mine, near Ladysmith, Wisconsin, unless the pollution and related issues were fully addressed (see www.wrpc.net for full details and news coverage). One of WRPC’s gravest concerns is that the industry’s false claim of environmental success at the Flambeau Mine site is sending the wrong message to citizens and Tribes throughout the Great Lakes Region who are faced with new mining proposals (see Coleman and Chiriboga’s overview enclosed). Indeed, the Flambeau mine has become a fraudulent “calling card” for the mining industry.
August 26, 2010
Dear WRPC Member,
Winona La Duke, a Native American environmental activist from the White Earth Chippewa reservation in Minnesota, gave the keynote speech at the Third Annual Protect the Earth Great Lakes Community Gathering at the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College in Baraga, Michigan on July 30. She spoke about the importance of defending spiritual practices at Eagle Rock, site of Rio Tinto’s proposed nickel sulfide mine. “Don’t give up fighting bad guys, “ she told the audience. “”They’re working 24 hours a day doing bad ideas…They’ve got a lot of money, but we’ve got resistance. And the longer you fight the more expensive their projects become..and you can wear them down. That’s my experience.”
July 12, 2010
Dear WRPC Member,
On July 2, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency informed Kennecott that they were not required to obtain an underground injection permit for their mine’s wastewater discharge system. Kennecott had already decided that they didn’t need such a permit and asserted that they had all the permits they needed to begin mine construction of the Eagle mine. The Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources and Environment accepted Kennecott’s assertion and gave the go-ahead for bulldozing the site.
April 30, 2010
Dear WRPC Member,
On April 15, Jessica Koski, a member of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC), spoke to Rio Tinto shareholders at the company’s annual meeting in London. She asked Rio Tinto’s chairman whether his company was going to respect Eagle Rock, a sacred site for members of the KBIC, where Kennecott plans to construct the portal (entryway) for its proposed Eagle nickel sulfide mine in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
January 8, 2010
Dear WRPC Member,
2010 looks like it will be a decisive year for several mine battles in Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and northeastern Minnesota
Polymet’s copper-nickel sulfide project in Minnesota
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources released its draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for Polymet’s proposed NorthMet copper-nickel sulfide open pit mine on October 28, 2009. If permitted, the proposed mine would be the first metallic sulfide mine in Minnesota. It could pave the way for a half-dozen more sulfide mines from the Ely area to Aitkin County.
October 23, 2009
Dear WRPC Member,
The long-awaited decision in the contested case hearing on Kennecott’s Eagle Project on the Yellow Dog Plains in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula came in August. Administrative Law Judge Richard Patterson sided with Kennecott and Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) on all issues except the use of Eagle Rock as the portal (entryway) for the mine. In response to the objections of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC), the Huron Mountain Club, the National Wildlife Federation and the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, the judge recommended that the portal be moved elsewhere and that the Rock, which is a sacred site for KBIC, not be fenced in and therefore accessible by Native and
non-Native alike. Patterson stated that Kennecott and the MDEQ “did not properly address the impact on the sacred rock outcrop known as Eagle Rock as a place of worship.”
