Sulfide
mining debated in St. Paul
Hope
Flanagan, of Minneapolis, first spoke in Ojibwe when she addressed
the large throng in the St. Paul RiverCentre, at the public meeting
on the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the
proposed NorthMet mining project.
“I
want to speak for our children,” Flanagan said, shifting to the
English language. She explained that Indian prophecies speak of the
Seventh Generation, the children of the future who will be affected
by the decisions we make today. She added that women have a special
role in protecting the natural world. “All you women out there,
this is our job … We’ve got to have clean water, clean food.
Let’s start thinking about our children.”
More
than 2,000 people turned out for the Jan. 28 public comment session
on PolyMet Mining’s proposed copper-nickel and precious metals mine
near Babbit, in northeastern Minnesota. The crowd in the huge meeting
room in downtown St. Paul seemed split between predominantly male
union tradesmen, who reportedly were bussed in from the Iron Range
and other Minnesota locales and environmentalists who argued that
short-term economic gain from introducing sulfide mining Up North is
not worth the risk of acid mine drainage polluting surface and ground
water.
“The
rest of the world is searching for fresh water, and we’re about to
throw ours away,” added Flanagan, who represented the anti-mining
side.
The
pro-mining contingent – including the construction and steel
workers in hard hats and neon yellow safety vests – painted a bleak
picture of an economically devastated region that needs the economic
uplift that copper-nickel mining will provide.
Hoyt
Lakes Mayor Mark Skelton said that sulfide mining is a “risk we
have to take,” in order to revive his town’s fortunes. He argued
that the various state regulatory agencies are looking out for the
environment.
Mary
Sitko, Minneapolis, one of the 59 speakers at meeting – chosen
randomly from a pool of 640 people who wanted to speak – said that
she works for Pace Analytical, a company that does testing and
consulting for mining clients. Pace is doing well with the PolyMet
exploration, she said. “As they continue to grow, we plan to grow,
adding jobs to the area,” Sitko commented.
Outside
of the main meeting room, 15 informational stations were set up and
staffed by the state, federal and cooperating agencies involved in
the SDEIS. Literature and charts were available on various topics,
from wild rice to the land swap for the mine sited in the Superior
National Forest to mercury pollution. The SDEIS was jointly prepared
by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers and the U.S. Forest Service (the “co-lead agencies”).
I
stopped by the “tribal” table and met Nancy Schuldt, the water
protection coordinator for the Fond du Lac Band. We have been talking
on the phone occasionally, over the past few years, so it was good to
finally meet her in person.
Schuldt
admitted to being a bit fatigued, after attending the first two
public comment meetings in Duluth and Aurora and now the large
gathering in St. Paul. As I reported in my December column, the
tribal cooperating agencies – Fond du Lac, Bois Forte and Grand
Portage – contributed to an appendix to the SDEIS, which included
evidence that the baseline data about water flow from the proposed
mine were flawed. I showed Schuldt a press release from the DNR,
which addresses the “new river flow data” for the PolyMet
project. She hadn’t seen this response and didn’t seem impressed
by it. The DNR “experts are reviewing new stream flow data for the
Partridge River,” according to the press statement. “The river
flow data inform the scientific models used to determine potential
environmental impacts of the proposed copper-nickel mine … We
cannot make a judgment yet on how these additional data might inform
a revision of the SDEIS.”
So,
there could be some flaws in the 2,169-page environmental review,
which might entail “additional work related to base [water] flows”
and the possible “implications for the environmental review
timetable.”
In other
words, the PolyMet copper-nickel project still has a way to go before
an operational start-up.
Chris
Niskanen, the DNR communications director, told me that, beyond the
SDEIS and a final EIS, PolyMet Mining has to get “more than 20
permits … in order to begin this project.” He said that the main
document is a “permit to mine,” which will allow them to begin
digging out metals.
The
Indian bands that retain hunting, fishing and gathering rights in the
1854 Treaty ceded territory are “very concerned” about mining and
will continue to watch this process closely, said Schuldt.
