by Al Gedicks
Wisconsin Resources Protection Council
Aquila’s Communications Manager Dan Blondeau has claimed that the tailings management facility at the Back Forty is not a traditional upstream raised tailings dam design and that it is “significantly different” from the failed Brumadinho tailings dam in Brazil. Blondeau says that “Our facility was designed to mitigate the known risks of common upstream raised tailings facilities.”
by Al Gedicks
Wisconsin Resources Protection Council
agedicks@eagle.uwlax.edu
The proposed Back Forty tailings waste storage uses the upstream dam construction method.
by Al Gedicks
Wisconsin Resources Protection Council
agedicks@eagle.uwlax.edu
Tailings Dams Are the Biggest Environmental Disaster Threat of Modern Mining
My main concern with the amended permit application is with the expansion of the Tailings Management Facility which largely accounts for the mine’s footprint expanding by some 200 acres.
by Al Gedicks
February 8, 2019
The recent collapse of a mine tailings dam in southeastern Brazil has already resulted in 134 fatalities, leaving an estimated 300 people still missing, according to rescue workers.
The spill flooded nearby homes, submerging cars and buses under a river of reddish-brown sludge. This environmental disaster should raise red flags for Michigan regulators and the communities downstream from Aquila Resources’ proposed open-pit metallic sulfide mine and tailings dam next to the Menominee River on the Wisconsin-Michigan border.
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.
August 9, 2018
Mr. Alan Hair, President and Chief Executive Officer
Hudbay Minerals
25 York Street, Suite 800
Toronto, Ontario M5J 2V5
Canada
Dear Mr. Hair,
We are writing in regard to Hudbay’s 10.9% investment in Aquila Resources’ Back Forty metallic sulfide project in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. While Aquila has celebrated its recent receipt of the final permit for its controversial open pit sulfide mine next to the Menominee River, the mine is no closer to construction now than when the project was first discovered in 2002.
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.
STEPHENSON, MI — Environmental groups are crying foul over Monday’s decision by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to approve the Aquila Back Forty Wetland Permit. In a joint statement, the Mining Action Group (MAG) of the Upper Peninsula Environmental Coalition (UPEC), the Front 40 Environmental Fight, and numerous regional environmental groups say they are outraged by the unwarranted approval and are calling on DEQ Director to explain her decision.
“This smells rotten. Director Grether’s approval of the Aquila Back Forty Wetland permit was a political act, directly contradicting the recommendation of DEQ’s own Water Resources Division (WRD). This permit is inconsistent with the Clean Water Act,” said Kathleen Heideman of the Mining Action Group.
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.”
