Environmental concerns at Minnesota mine sites pique UP interest
by Ann Meyer
January 30, 2022
MENOMINEE—Opponents of the Back Forty mine project near Stephenson viewed two news events concerning mines in Minnesota last week as promising in their fight against a corporation interested in digging a mine west of the City of Stephenson.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s decision to reject pending mineral lease rights and prospecting permits for Twin Metals in a national forest near the Boundary Waters in Minnesota was considered a victory for anti-mining activists, while a Minnesota Court of Appeals order delayed a decision on a Poly Met mine near fresh water. The court referred the case back to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for further study.
Locally, opponents of the Back Forty mine project saw implications in the Minnesota decisions for Gold Resource Corp., a Denver-based publicly traded company that acquired the Back Forty project when it purchased Aquila Resources Dec. 10. Gold Resource Corp. operates the Don David Mine in Mexico, where for over 10 years it has produced gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc.
“That ruling in Minnesota shows that people are willing to fight this all the way to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court if needed,” said Tom Boerner, who owns land in Lake and Holmes townships and was a contested case participant in three cases pertaining to the Back Forty Project when Aquila Resources owned it.
“The Menominee issue isn’t just a Menominee issue. There are people across the U.S. watching this,” Boerner said.
With Gold Resource Corp.’s acquisition of Aquila Resources in December, opponents are preparing for another battle.
What’s different this time is national interest in producing the metals needed for electric cars, said Dale Burie, of the Coalition to Save the Menominee River. “The industry is looking for nickel and lithium to power the cars. That’s another side of the coin, so the future will tell us what’s going to happen,” he said. “The worst thing you can do is speculate in this situation.”
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources administrative board’s decision this month to approve a mineral lease for the Back Forty project drew immediate criticism from opponents who had hoped the project had been put to rest.
Opponents say the Back Forty Project, which has been talked about for 20 years, is too close to the Menominee River and could pose a threat to the water supply. Boerner said his property is adjacent to the mine site Aquila Resources proposed, which he described as 100 feet from the Menominee River. “That’s the same water you’re drinking in Marinette and Menominee,” he said.
But the DNR’s decision to provide a lease to Gold Resource Corp. was lauded by lawmakers who view the mine as an economic development engine for the Upper Peninsula. Among those supporting the lease approval were Sen. Ed McBroom, Sen. Wayne Schmidt, Sen. Jon Bumstead, Rep. Sue Allor, Sen. Jim Stamas, Rep. Beau LaFave, Rep. Sara Cambensy, Rep. Greg Markkanen and Rep. John DaMoose.
“These lawmakers have not researched the specifics of the permit project in the Back Forty case. There are dozens of reasons why this has been such a problematic permitting process. These legislators know nothing about this,” said Al Gedicks, executive secretary of Wisconsin Resources Protection Council in LaCrosse, Wis., a statewide organization.
The Back Forty Project is close to the border with Wisconsin, so Wisconsin residents also have taken an interest in what happens with the project.
“The vast majority of the rock that would come out of the proposed Back Forty is waste rock laden with sulfide minerals,” Gedicks said. Sulfuric acid is akin to battery acid and many consider it an environmental toxin.
Gedicks pointed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals opinion in the Poly Met case as an indication others shared the concern about mines leaching sulfuric acid into groundwater or fresh water. The appeals court said, “We conclude that the Pollution Control Agency erred by not properly considering whether the federal Clean Water Act applies to any future discharges from Poly Met’s facility to groundwater.” It referred the matter back to the Pollution Control Agency for further study.
In a separate issue in Minnesota, the U.S. Department of the Interior canceled two hardrock mineral leases held by Twin Metals Minnesota adjacent to the Boundary Waters wilderness area in northeastern Minnesota after determining the leases were improperly renewed in 2019. The Interior Department’s Office of Solicitor determined the department failed to recognize the U.S. Forest Service’s consent authority and didn’t include a non-renewal option.
“When you’re getting victories of similar projects in Minnesota, the courts are now holding the regulatory agencies to the standards of the law,” Boerner said. Besides asking the Pollution Control Agency to do more research on the wastewater generated by the Poly Met mine, the judge referenced the importance of adhering to the Open Meetings Act, Boerner said.
“There was a lot of information that wasn’t provided that should have been, including public comments,” he said “They don’t give you the information on what their project looks like. Is it square, round, tall, short? Tell us how you’re going to do it. We have the right to poke holes in their plan. They haven’t done it.”
Boerner said he became involved in the mine issue in October 2002. He has tens of thousands of pages of documents related to Aquila Resources’ plans for a mine near the Menominee River. “They spent $105 million trying to put the mine in place and there’s nothing there.”
When Aquila Resources’ stock sunk, Gold Resource Corp. agreed to acquire it in a stock swap that gave Aquila’s shareholders stock in Gold Resource Corp., he said. Most of Aquila’s investors lost money over the years, he said, except the people who worked for the company.
