Wisconsin Resources Protection Council

July 22, 2016 / TomBoswellBlog

THIS IS THE LAST IN A SERIES OF EIGHT POSTS WHICH TOGETHER COMPRISE AN IN-DEPTH ARTICLE CONCERNING A PROPOSED IRON ORE MINE IN THE PENOKEE HILLS OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN AND THE WIDESPREAD RESISTANCE TO THE PROJECT.

One irony about the new mining regulations the Wisconsin State Legislature passed and Governor Walker signed is that, rather than expediting and simplifying the permitting process for a mining company, as intended, they actually slow down the process and may have ultimately eliminated a meaningful regulatory role for the State.

The Cap Times

AL GEDICKS | executive secretary, Wisconsin Resources Protection Council Jul 23, 2016

July 22 marks the 20th anniversary of the successful train protest on the Bad River Chippewa reservation in northern Wisconsin, a forerunner of the current wave of protests against the dangers of crude oil rail and pipeline traffic and struggles over local control and tribal sovereignty.

For Wisconsinites opposing the proposed expansion of Enbridge Energy’s Line 61, a tar sands crude oil pipeline running from Superior to Delavan, the successful resistance is a powerful reminder that tribal and citizen action matters.

March 11, 2015

Dear WRPC Member,

Gogebic Taconite’s (GTac’s) proposed mountaintop removal iron mine in the Penokee Hills is dead. On February 28, GTac president Bill Williams announced it was closing its office in Hurley because the project was not feasible, citing the extensive wetlands at the mine site and the uncertainty about whether the mine would be permitted.

Billionaire Chris Cline promises his mine won’t pollute Wisconsin. But his company’s track record mining coal raises doubts.

Life is good for Chris Cline. Forbes ranks him as the 339th wealthiest person in America, with a net worth of $1.9 billion. He owns a 150-acre estate in Beckley, West Virginia and a 34,000 square foot ocean front mansion in Palm Beach, Florida. He also owns the 164-foot luxury yacht he’s dubbed Mine Games, which has five staterooms and a two-person submarine. He dated his neighbor Elin Nordegren, the ex-wife of Tiger Woods, for a year until she called it off mid-2014.

On Aug. 4, more than a billion gallons of mining waste spilled into rivers and creeks from a tailings pond at Imperial Metals’ Mount Polley gold and copper mine at the headwaters of the Fraser River watershed in the interior of British Columbia. Indigenous First Nations peoples mostly populate this area. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Co., the volume of the spill would fill 2,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. It is the largest mining disaster in Canadian history.

June 4, 2014

Dear WRPC Member,

Ever since the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7^th Circuit in Chicago found a creative way to let Flambeau Mining Company (FMC) “off the hook” for violations of the Clean Water Act that had been assessed against the company by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin (for ongoing pollution of public waters at the Flambeau Mine site near Ladysmith, Wisconsin), FMC attorneys have been coming after the three plaintiffs in the case, including WRPC, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and Laura Gauger.

September 3, 2013

Dear WRPC Member,

More than 100 people spoke out at the August 15, 2013 public hearing in Hurley, Wisconsin on Gogebic Taconite’s (GTac’s) proposed bulk sampling activity in the Penokee Hills. The overwhelming majority of the testimony was against the project, citing concerns about treaty rights, pollution of critical watersheds and GTac’s coverup of the health hazards from asbestiform minerals in the rock to be blasted.

July 3, 2013

Dear WRPC Member,

On June 11^th, Gogebic Taconite (GTac) started exploratory drilling at the first of eight sites in the Penokee Hills despite objections from the Bad River Tribe and local citizens that the impact of drilling was not fully considered before the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued a drilling license.

by Dave Blouin and Al Gedicks

In their May 7 opinion piece “Unlock minerals in Wisconsin,” representatives of the Wisconsin and National Mining Associations grossly misrepresent the facts to sway the public in favor of mining law reforms for gold and base metals. Their rhetoric is designed to hide the fact that their No. 1 goal is to repeal Wisconsin’s landmark “prove it first” Mining Moratorium Law.