Fates of wild rice, mines intertwined in northern Minnesota

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fates of wild rice mines intertwined in northern mn 1.jpgWild rice, the iconic grain that

grows across much of the northern half of the state, is at the center

of a contentious debate over mining and the environment.

A 40-year-old state law limits how

much of a mining byproduct called "sulfate" can be

discharged into wild rice producing waters. Prompted by mining

industry concerns that the standard is too stringent, the state has

been giving it another look and will release results of its two-year

study on Jan. 6.

For members of the state’s Indian

tribes, wild rice is sacred.

Jim Northrup, who has harvested wild

rice on Perch Lake on the Fond du Lac reservation for over half a

century, said the grain called "manomin" in Ojibwe is a

gift from the Creator that led his people to first settle here.

"The old stories said we’d move

west until we came to a spot where food grew on the water,"

Northrup said. "And that perfectly describes manomin. It’s

become our identity now. It’s who we are."

Wild rice is now part of all of

Minnesota’s identity. It’s even the official state grain. The plant’s

significance helped lead to a 1973 state law to protect it from

sulfate pollution, a form of sulfur that occurs naturally in the

environment, that’s also a byproduct of industrial activities like

wastewater treatment and mining.

The law limits sulfate discharges

into wild rice producing waters to 10 milligrams per liter during

periods when the rice may be susceptible to damage. It’s based on

research done by John Moyle, a biologist for the Minnesota Department

of Conservation in the 1930s and 40s that found that no large wild

rice stands grew in waters high in sulfate.

But the standard went largely

unenforced until 2010, when the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

began to ask mining companies to document wild rice plants in lakes

and streams where they discharge wastewater. The following year the

agency issued a permit that limited sulfate discharges at U.S.

Steel’s Keewatin Taconite operation, known as Keetac.

Nancy Schuldt, water resource policy

director for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, said

high levels of sulfate have been measured in those waters, and wild

rice stands are disappearing.

"The poster child would be

Sandy and Little Sandy lake, at the toe of the Minntac Tailings

basin," she said. "A generation ago, band members from

Grand Portage for instance, were having rice camps there, and there

would be familial gatherings and it was a meeting place. And now

there’s no rice to harvest."

But mining companies and some

northern Minnesota lawmakers questioned the science behind the

standard.

In 2010 the Minnesota Chamber of

Commerce sued to overturn it, although the case was eventually

dismissed by the courts. Bills were introduced to weaken it. In the

end, lawmakers set aside $1.5 million for a two-year study to

determine whether the standard is scientifically valid. The results

will be released later Monday.

fates of wild rice mines intertwined in northern mn 2.jpg

"The study actually relies on

multiple lines of investigation," said Shannon Lotthammer,

director of the MPCA’s environmental analysis and outcomes division.

She said scientists have gathered more field data from northern

Minnesota and have conducted experiments on wild rice plants in glass

jars in the lab and in plants grown outside in plastic tubs, to try

to learn exactly what effect sulfate has on the plants.

An important question is whether

sulfate by itself is the main culprit, Lotthammer said. Scientists

theorize that hydrogen sulfide damages wild rice. In an

oxygen-starved environment like the muck in wild rice lakes, bacteria

essentially breathe in sulfate, and exhale hydrogen sulfide, which

can be toxic to plants.

"It’s sulfate then being

converted into sulfide in the sediment, and the sulfide affecting the

wild rice through the roots," explained Lotthammer.

The study’s results should provide

more clarity. But Lotthammer said it will take the MPCA until the end

of February to answer a key question: "Do we believe that

there’s a reason to support, a scientific basis to support a change

to the standard, and if so, does it look like the standard should be

higher or lower, based on this new information?"

The MPCA’s decision is sure to be

highly scrutinized, particularly by the mining industry. "We

just believe that a standard should be based on science, and that

companies shouldn’t be required to invest maybe hundreds of millions

of dollars, until we have science backing up whatever the appropriate

sulfate level is for a standard to protect wild rice," said

Frank Ongaro, executive director of Minnesota Mining. The industry

group represents copper-nickel mines like PolyMet, currently under

environmental review.

PolyMet officials say they will meet

the current standard.

Supporters of the law argue it is

based on sound science. Under the federal Clean Water Act, the burden

of proof is on MPCA to show scientific proof before changing the

standard, said Paula Maccabee, an attorney for WaterLegacy, a group

that opposes the PolyMet proposal.

"I think that’s what we’re

counting on, is that, our laws don’t make it easy for political

pressure to weaken water quality standards," she said.

The MPCA will analyze study results

for the next two months. In April the agency will begin a rulemaking

process to address any recommended changes to the wild rice standard,

and to designate which waters are subject to the sulfate limits.

Minnesota Public Radio News can be

heard on MPR’s statewide radio network of online at

minnesota.publicradio.org .