Wisconsin Resources Protection Council

September 18, 2019

Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,

Aquila’s Back Forty project is in deep trouble. Two federal lawsuits and two contested case administrative proceedings have challenged the proposed mine. Having failed to obtain a social license to operate a mine, Aquila has offered to fund the costs of reaching a “Community Agreement” if the community “agrees not to oppose the Mine or to take any action which would serve to unreasonably delay the construction of the Mine.” Not surprisingly, local communities have told Aquila “No thanks.”

June 5, 2019

Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,

Aquila Resources has failed in its attempt to prevent the Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River from challenging the company’s wetland permit in a contested case hearing. Aquila argued that the Coalition did not have legal “standing.” That means Coalition members did not have enough interest in the Menominee River to file suit. The judge ruled that the people that will be affected by this project have the right to challenge the permit issued by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) in June 2018.

April 3, 2019

Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,

Aquila’s full-page ad in the March 2, 2019 edition of the Eagle Herald sought to reassure the public about the safety of the Back Forty’s proposed tailings storage facility in light of the recent Brazilian tailings dam disaster that killed over 200 people with an estimated 91 others still missing and presumed buried under mud. This is Brazil’s deadliest-ever mining accident. A steady stream of letters to the editor of the Eagle Herald have expressed serious public concerns about the safety of Aquila’s tailings dam design.

January 23, 2019

Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,

Aquila’s “Final Permit” isn’t Final at all

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) issued the “final permit” needed for Aquila’s Back Forty open pit mine in June 2018. Aquila spokesperson Dan Blondeau said the decision was “a major milestone” for the project that would allow the project to move forward.

However, instead of moving forward, the DEQ has determined that because the project footprint has expanded by 200 acres, including the enlargement of the tailings and waste rock structures, Aquila is required to submit a Mining Permit Amendment Application (MPAA) and an associated Environmental Impact Assessment Amendment (EIAA). The timing of this announcement and the difficulty of accessing the 904 pages of the application have created serious obstacles for citizens, tribal members and environmental groups wishing to participate in the review and public comment on Aquila’s latest mine plan.

October 24, 2018

Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,

Aquila Resources needs to convince its investors that the Back Forty project is moving forward in order to raise the pre-production capital cost, estimated at $294 million. Aquila has celebrated Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ)’s issuance of a controversial wetland permit while downplaying the 28 pages of special conditions attached to the permit because of serious hydrological concerns that were overlooked in Aquila’s incomplete application. 

July 5, 2018

Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,

On June 4, 2018, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) issued the final required permit for Aquila’s controversial Back Forty open-pit sulfide mine next to the Menominee River on the Michigan-Wisconsin border. Environmental groups and the Menominee Indian Tribe were outraged at the unwarranted approval and are calling on DEQ Director C. Heidi Grether to explain her decision.

May 10, 2018

Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,

On May 3, 2018, in a major reversal of their previous recommendation to reject Aquila’s wetland permit (letter of March 8, 2018) for the Back Forty project, the EPA informed Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) that “we believe that there is a ready pathway for the resolution of EPA’s remaining objections through MDEQ’S inclusion of specific conditions in a final permit issued by June 6, 2018.”

January 5, 2018

Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,

Industrial Acid Mining Bill Passed

On December 11, 2017, Gov. Scott Walker did the bidding of Aquila Resources, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and the mining industry and signed into law Sen. “Toxic Tom” Tiffany’s Industrial Acid Mining Bill. The bill repeals Wisconsin’s 20 year old landmark Prove it First sulfide mining moratorium law that has protected Wisconsin’s precious waters from what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has called “the most toxic industry in America.”

September 1, 2017

Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,

Industrial Acid Mining Bill Proposed

Senators Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst) and State Rep. Bob Hutton (R-Brookfield) have introduced the Mining for America Act, Senate Bill 395, also known as “Tiffany’s Industrial Acid Mining Bill.” The legislation would repeal Wisconsin’s Prove it First Sulfide Mining Moratorium Law and ease mining regulations to facilitate Aquila Resources’ metallic sulfide prospects in Marathon (the Reef project) and Taylor (the Bend project) counties. Not surprisingly, Aquila consulted with Sen. Tiffany over the language of the bill (http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2017/08/17/bill-end-moratorium-mining-introduced/578570001/) and http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2017/08/22/bill-would-end-wisconsin-moratorium-sulfide-mining-create-easier-path-ease-restrictions-future-minin/587792001/

July 13, 2017

Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,

On June 21, 2017 the Brown County Board of Supervisors voted 21-0 to oppose Aquila’s Back Forty metallic sulfide mine project. Brown County, the third largest county in Wisconsin, agreed with mine opponents that the risks of mine pollution in the Menominee River, which empties into Green Bay and eventually into Lake Michigan, outweigh any possible benefits from the proposed mine. Brown County joins Marinette and Menominee County, WI in urging the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to deny a mining permit for the project. Door County will consider a resolution against the project at their next meeting.