December 29, 2021
Environmental Alliances with Indian Nations of Wisconsin and the presentation of the GWG Environmental Hero Award
6:30 p.m., Monday, January 17 on Zoom
December 29, 2021
Environmental Alliances with Indian Nations of Wisconsin and the presentation of the GWG Environmental Hero Award
6:30 p.m., Monday, January 17 on Zoom
October 6, 2021
Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,
After 18 years and an investment of over $100 million there is no mine next to the Menominee River and significant, ongoing resistance to any mining in the future. The permits Aquila Resources needs to begin mining have either been overturned, withdrawn, or rendered obsolete because the mine plans have changed to include underground as well as open pit mining.
Gold Resource Corporation (GORO) has NOT conducted “due diligence” regarding Aquila’s false and misleading claims about the permitting of the Back Forty Project.
During a September 8 conference call about GORO’s acquisition of Aquila Resources, Inc., Mr. Allen Palmiere, the President and CEO of GORO stated: “The key takeaway on this particular project [referring to the Back Forty Project] is that it has, in fact, been fully permitted before. The issue that arose was a very technical—it’s really a very administrative matter, but it was the way with which the wetlands permit was worded and it was viewed as being a conditional permit rather than an unconditional permit. And that was really the way—the reason that that particular permit was pulled.”
To: Committee on Michigan’s Mining Future
From: Al Gedicks, Wisconsin Resources Protection Council
Re: Climate Change and Mine Waste Disposal
Climate Change Poses a Risk to Mining Infrastructure
The committee recognizes that “climate change increases the risk of hazardous events” that can damage mining infrastructure. Apart from the mine itself, the largest mining infrastructure on the surface are the contact water basin and the tailings impoundment. Tailings storage facilities are some of the largest human made structures on earth ( Mine Tailings Storage Is No Accident. United Nations Environmental Programme, 2017).
from the Menominee Nation News:
Peshtigo Times
Issue Date: July 22, 2021
Stephenson Island was packed on July 16th in honor of the Menominee River. The proposed Back 40 Mine project has been seen as a threat to the Menominee River for almost 20 years since the project was first proposed in 2003. Born from the desire to protect the Menominee River’s clean drinking water and sacred indigenous sites, the Coalition to Save the Menominee River has been working steadily to promote awareness about the dangerous effects of the mine. The July 16th gathering included speeches from experienced individuals, live music, a raffle, and much more to celebrate this special river.
by Maya Shimizu Harris
July 20, 2021
MARINETTE—The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, the Indigenous Caucus of the Western Mining Action Network and the Coalition to SAVE the Menominee River came together on Stephenson Island Friday to protest the proposed Back Forty Mine and celebrate the waters of the Menominee River.
After keynote speeches by representatives of each group, five generations of Menominee women garbed in long, vibrant skirts lined up from eldest to youngest in front of small, copper-colored vessels to partake in a ceremony blessing the waters of the Menominee River. Shortly thereafter, the crowd took up their signs and walked across the bridge to downtown Menominee in protest of the mine.