Newsletters 1992

December 19, 1992
October 17, 1992
August 17, 1992

December 19, 1992

Dear WRPC Member,

 Sorry to interrupt your enjoyment of the holiday season but the mining lobby is up to no good again.  The Natural Resource Board's recent appointment of Peter Peshek as the new DNR Secretary signals the capture of this public agency by the most powerful business interests in this state - the multinational mining corporations and the mining committee of the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Association.  Mr. Peshek's advocacy of mining interests goes back far earlier than his recent lobbying on behalf of Noranda Minerals of Toronto, Canada.  During his tenure as Public Intervenor in the Wisconsin Department of Justice (1976-83) he provided Exxon Minerals, Kennecott Copper and Inland Steel the opportunity to write Wisconsin's mining regulations.  

 The most serious violation of Public Intervenor Peshek's responsibility to protect public rights in the environment was his role in facilitating the rewriting of the DNR's nondegradation policy toward groundwater.  The mining companies objected to the DNR's nondegradation policy because it would mean additional costs in preventing the migration of toxic mine wastes from their operations. A far less costly alternative was proposed by the mining companies, and promoted by Peshek, that would allow them to dump toxic wastes into groundwater.  After the Natural Resources Board adopted this new "allowable degradation" policy, many citizen and grassroots environmental groups in potential mining areas called for Peshek's resignation and an investigation of Peshek's violation of public trust by the State Ethics Board.  Peshek then resigned and accepted a position with the law firm that represented Exxon.  To appoint such an individual to the most important natural resource decision-making position in the state is an outrage to the citizens of the state.  

 Enclosed you will find a petition to recall Peshek as DNR Secretary.  Please make copies and circulate this position as widely as possible.  We would like to present several thousand signatures to the Natural Resources Board at their next meeting in Madison on January 27 and 28, 1993. Please return the completed petitions to me at: 210 Avon Street #9, La Crosse, WI 54603.  The board must be made to understand that there will be no business as usual at the DNR as long as Peter Peshek is DNR Secretary.  Building upon our successful campaign to pressure the board to act on the "Outstanding Resource Water - ORW" classification last fall, we are planning to get as many groups as possible to send a representative to the January 27-28 meeting to demonstrate our opposition to Peshek's appointment.  For more information about the board meeting, call Jim Wise at (715) 453-8769.  To register to speak for 5 minutes at the board meeting,and for information about the time and place of the meeting, call Judy Scullion at (608) 267-7420.

 The one piece of good news I can report is that Exxon's attempt to get someone to share the financial and political risks of developing the Crandon deposit fell through this week when Phelps Dodge said it had better places to invest its money.  The companies will never admit it, but the continued opposition of the Sokaogon Chippewa and the Wolf River Watershed Coalition was no small part of that decision.  Thanks to all those who organized and attended the conference on Mining and Treaty Rights last fall at Tomahawk.  Stay tuned.

Sincerely,

Al Gedicks, Exec. Sec.

October 17, 1992

Dear WRPC Member,

 While Noranda Minerals has announced it is suspending exploration in northern Wisconsin because of the difficulties they have experienced in the permitting process, they are nonetheless holding on to their Lynne project in Oneida County.  Noranda's difficulties include the fact that four wet areas surounding the proposed mine site are actually lakes.  Under state law, mining under lake beds is forbidden.  The Wisconsin DNR has established a departmental team to consider the potential wetland impacts of rezoning shoreland wetlands at the proposed mine site.  Oneida County officials and Noranda attorneys have participated in these meetings but the DNR has not notified other interested parties, such as the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC), or citizen groups like Environmentally Concerned Citizens of Lakeland Areas (ECCOLA).  Mike Donnelly, Noranda's U.S. Exploration manager, told a reporter that his company remains committed to mining in the Town of Lynne and DNR officials said they saw "no insurmountable problems to doing so." (Milwaukee Journal, 9/28/92).

 Noranda has used the occasion of its partial withdrawal from Wisconsin to launch a wide-ranging attack on Wisconsin mining laws as "overly stringent and time-consuming." In the meantime, highly-paid lobbyists from Noranda and the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Association have kept the pressure on the Natural Resources Board and have thwarted our efforts to get the Willow Flowage designated as "Outstanding Resource Water" (ORW).  On October 28, 1992 the board will be meeting in Madison and the issue of anti-degradation for the state's water bodies will be the first item on the agenda.  ECCOLA and the Northwoods Alliance have put out the call for representatives of environmental, citizens, and tribal groups to attend this meeting and register their support for granting ORW status for the Willow Flowage.  Groups planning to present their case to the board will be meeting at 11:30am in the Brittany Cafe in the First Wisconsin Building on the Capitol Square.  The board meeting starts at 1:00pm in the DNR building (Geff 2) in room 027. For more information about the strategy meeting at 11:30am, call Jim Wise at (715) 453-8769.  For more information about the Natural Resources Board meeting, call Judy Scullion at (608) 267-7420.

 A major effort to bring together Native and non-Native people who are concerned about the multiple assaults on the northern Wisconsin environment by mining companies will take place at the Treehaven Center, just east of Tomahawk, on Saturday, October 31, and Sunday, November 1, 1992 (see enclosed brochure).  This conference will provide an opportunity to learn what is happening in the ongoing mine battles, to share ideas about strategy and tactics and to develop better communication among the many groups involved in these battles.  

 Please send in your annual membership dues ($15 regular, $5 low-income, senior) if you haven't yet done so.  We're counting on your continued support to resist this corporate and bureaucratic onslaught.

Sincerely,

Al Gedicks, Exec. Sec.

August 17, 1992

Dear WRPC Member,

 On August 20, 1992 the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board, the agency which oversees the Department of Natural Resources, will be meeting at the Public Library in Superior, Wisconsin.  Many of us concerned about the fraudulent and illegal mine permits issued for the Ladysmith mine plan to express our objections to the board at that meeting.  It is extremely important to let the DNR and the Natural Resources Board know that this issue is not going to go away just because mine construction is underway.  If anything, we plan to increase our public educational efforts and our pressure on state agencies.  The enclosed brochure, put out by Families Against Corruption Together Stand-up (or FACTS), is just one example of this renewed effort.

 More than 60 concerned citizens and tribal members came to Ladysmith on July 25 to join a canoe flotilla down the Flambeau River past the mine site to protest ongoing construction in an area "unsuitable for mining."  At the same time the Rusk County Citizens Action Group (RCCAG), which has been in the forefront of local opposition to the mine, announced the formation of a "citizens' monitoring committee" to ensure that Kennecott/RTZ's mine construction activities do not violate the conditions of its permits.  

 On August 7, Walt Bresette, a member of the Red Cliff band of Lake Superior Chippewa, went on trial in Ladysmith for trespassing on mining company property last May 14, 1992 (see "Ladysmith Mine Battle Heats Up," Green Net, July-August 1992).  Bresette, acting as his own attorney, used the trial as a forum to argue that the failure of the State of Wisconsin to do an adequate EIS on the endangered species in the Flambeau River was a violation of his treaty rights  The judge complimented Walt on his eloquent defense but fined him $153 for trespassing nevertheless..

 This grassroots resistance has already had an effect in the DNR's handling of Noranda's proposed open pit mine in Oneida County.  Whether Noranda can change its project plans to get around the restrictions on mining in shoreland wetlands remains to be seen.  We know that Noranda has already enlisted the support of the state's most powerful busines lobby, the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Association, to launch an all-out assault on the "Outstanding Resource Water" classification process . So far Noranda has been successful in preventing the Willow Flowage , near the proposed minesite, from being awarded ORW status.

 We will have an opportunity to exchange information and ideas about these recent developments at the Seventh annual Protect the Earth Community Gathering over Labor Day weekend (Sept. 4-7) on the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation near Hayward.  For more information about the event, call (715) 766-2725.  And don't forget to send in your membership renewal to WRPC as soon as you can.  Our war chest is nearly empty.  Regular memberships are $15; low-income and seniors $5.  We're counting on your support.

Sincerely,

Al Gedicks, Exec. Sec.