U.P. NICKEL MINE GETS STATE'S OK!!!!!!!
Posted: Wed Jan 10, 2007 5:58 pm
Copied from the Detroit Freepress:
~Environmentalists question whether regulators are sacrificing wilderness for a few jobs.
By Gary Heinlein
Detroit News Lansing Bureau
It's the classic confrontation between jobs and the environment in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Stat environmental regulatiors gave tentative approval Tuesday to a nickel mine northwest of Marquette, leading to charges the state plans to sacrifice pristine wilderness for a relatively small number of paychecks. Kennecott Minerals officials predict the Mine will create 120 jobs. (Mike Tabone edit Umm 120 jobs, thats alot)
The Department of Environmental Quality will hold public hearings in March and make a final decision in the Spring.
"The governor campaigned on moving the economy of Michigan forward and protecting the state's natural resources," said Marvin Roverson, a 16-year U.P. resident who works for the Sierrra Club.
He was on Granholm's committee to rewrite state mining lawas and says this proposal is deficient.
"This type of mining is a return to the boom-and-bust resource extraction, which caused so much damage to the U.P. in the 1800's," Roberson said.
But Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd stressed that the preliminary decision was made by regulatiors, not the governor, under a 2006 law intended to preserve natural beauty while miners extract valuable minerals.
"We have one of the toughest laws in the country for this type of mining...which the governor was proud to sign with the consent of environmentalists and mining companies," Boyd said.
The law regulates mining of minerals mixed with sulfides. Special techniques are needed to guard against contamination of soil and ground water from acidic compounds formed when sulfide mix with air and water.
Kennecott's proposal has touched off a debate reverberating through the U.P. because the rich nickel deposit it wants to mine is close to the Salmon Trout and Yellow Dog rivers.
Tony Tetaskie, executive director of the Upper Pennisula Construction council in Escanaba, said his union favors the projectbecause it will provide much-needed building trades work. "I really feel it's going to be a positive for the economy of the Upper Peninsula," Retaskie said.
Then this article from the Mining Journal on the home front
Preliminary Kennecott decision
Mine permit OK’d
By JOHN PEPIN, Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE — The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality gave preliminary approval of permits for a controversial Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company underground nickel mine on the Yellow Dog Plains in northern Marquette County.
More public comment and hearings will be held before a final decision on whether to grant the mining company’s mining, air and water quality permits is made by the DEQ later this year.
“We have made a preliminary decision that this project meets conditions under the law,” said Robert McCann, a DEQ spokesman in Lansing.
The DEQ decision announced today follows an extensive review of Kennecott’s application, supporting documents and public input on the project.
“Kennecott is very pleased with the DEQ’s preliminary decision,” said Jon Cherry, Kennecott’s manager of environment and government affairs. “We look forward to the remainder of the process.”
The proposed mining project is the first to be subject to Michigan’s new Nonferrous Metallic Mineral Mining rules that were enacted in December 2004.
A series of three nine-hour public hearings are planned for March 6-8 at Northern Michigan University to gather more comment on the preliminary DEQ decision. Public comments will be accepted from now until 28 days after the hearings.
“We have made every effort to involve the public in this process and allow them time to review the available information regarding this proposed project,” DEQ Director Steven E. Chester stated in a press release. “As our decision today is itself a proposal, and not a final decision, we are again asking the public to provide their comments and help us ensure that this project is as protective of the environment as it can be.”
Kennecott’s Eagle Project Mine proposes to extract nickel, copper and other metals from a small but rich metal sulfide deposit located about 25 miles northwest of Marquette.
The DEQ said the company would use underground mining methods that are designed to avoid impacts to the nearby Salmon Trout River or adjacent lands.
The entrance to the mine, as well as the associated surface facilities, would be at a remote upland location, and the ore would be transported by truck and rail to a processing site in Ontario.
Kennecott proposes to backfill the mined-out areas with waste rock, gravel and cement and reclaim the entire area to its original condition at the conclusion of mining.
Groups opposed to the mine said the DEQ made its preliminary decision despite a “seriously flawed permit application and the wishes of thousands of residents.”
“The permit application is filled with ambiguous responses,” said Michelle Halley, attorney for the National Wildlife Federation. “Kennecott is expecting the people of Michigan to trust that they can operate a sulfide mine that will not contaminate the surrounding areas, but the track record of both Kennecott and sulfide mining is filled with contamination and inaccurate predictions.”
Cynthia Pryor, executive director of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, also disagreed with the preliminary decision.
“It is astonishing that — with so many areas of Kennecott’s permit application deficient, vague or downright absent — the Michigan DEQ has granted preliminary approval,” Pryor said. “Utilizing untested technology and with a spotty track record at best, Kennecott has sold the Michigan DEQ a bill of goods and the Michigan DEQ is apparently buying.”
Some of the opposition concerns include the economic stability of the area, the impact on tourism and recreation, human health risks, threat to water quality and environmental impacts.
If the project meets final approval of the DEQ, construction of the mine would likely start later this year and take about two years to complete, Cherry said.
http://www.miningjournal.net
http://www.freep.com
~Environmentalists question whether regulators are sacrificing wilderness for a few jobs.
By Gary Heinlein
Detroit News Lansing Bureau
It's the classic confrontation between jobs and the environment in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Stat environmental regulatiors gave tentative approval Tuesday to a nickel mine northwest of Marquette, leading to charges the state plans to sacrifice pristine wilderness for a relatively small number of paychecks. Kennecott Minerals officials predict the Mine will create 120 jobs. (Mike Tabone edit Umm 120 jobs, thats alot)
The Department of Environmental Quality will hold public hearings in March and make a final decision in the Spring.
"The governor campaigned on moving the economy of Michigan forward and protecting the state's natural resources," said Marvin Roverson, a 16-year U.P. resident who works for the Sierrra Club.
He was on Granholm's committee to rewrite state mining lawas and says this proposal is deficient.
"This type of mining is a return to the boom-and-bust resource extraction, which caused so much damage to the U.P. in the 1800's," Roberson said.
But Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd stressed that the preliminary decision was made by regulatiors, not the governor, under a 2006 law intended to preserve natural beauty while miners extract valuable minerals.
"We have one of the toughest laws in the country for this type of mining...which the governor was proud to sign with the consent of environmentalists and mining companies," Boyd said.
The law regulates mining of minerals mixed with sulfides. Special techniques are needed to guard against contamination of soil and ground water from acidic compounds formed when sulfide mix with air and water.
Kennecott's proposal has touched off a debate reverberating through the U.P. because the rich nickel deposit it wants to mine is close to the Salmon Trout and Yellow Dog rivers.
Tony Tetaskie, executive director of the Upper Pennisula Construction council in Escanaba, said his union favors the projectbecause it will provide much-needed building trades work. "I really feel it's going to be a positive for the economy of the Upper Peninsula," Retaskie said.
Then this article from the Mining Journal on the home front
Preliminary Kennecott decision
Mine permit OK’d
By JOHN PEPIN, Journal Staff Writer
MARQUETTE — The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality gave preliminary approval of permits for a controversial Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company underground nickel mine on the Yellow Dog Plains in northern Marquette County.
More public comment and hearings will be held before a final decision on whether to grant the mining company’s mining, air and water quality permits is made by the DEQ later this year.
“We have made a preliminary decision that this project meets conditions under the law,” said Robert McCann, a DEQ spokesman in Lansing.
The DEQ decision announced today follows an extensive review of Kennecott’s application, supporting documents and public input on the project.
“Kennecott is very pleased with the DEQ’s preliminary decision,” said Jon Cherry, Kennecott’s manager of environment and government affairs. “We look forward to the remainder of the process.”
The proposed mining project is the first to be subject to Michigan’s new Nonferrous Metallic Mineral Mining rules that were enacted in December 2004.
A series of three nine-hour public hearings are planned for March 6-8 at Northern Michigan University to gather more comment on the preliminary DEQ decision. Public comments will be accepted from now until 28 days after the hearings.
“We have made every effort to involve the public in this process and allow them time to review the available information regarding this proposed project,” DEQ Director Steven E. Chester stated in a press release. “As our decision today is itself a proposal, and not a final decision, we are again asking the public to provide their comments and help us ensure that this project is as protective of the environment as it can be.”
Kennecott’s Eagle Project Mine proposes to extract nickel, copper and other metals from a small but rich metal sulfide deposit located about 25 miles northwest of Marquette.
The DEQ said the company would use underground mining methods that are designed to avoid impacts to the nearby Salmon Trout River or adjacent lands.
The entrance to the mine, as well as the associated surface facilities, would be at a remote upland location, and the ore would be transported by truck and rail to a processing site in Ontario.
Kennecott proposes to backfill the mined-out areas with waste rock, gravel and cement and reclaim the entire area to its original condition at the conclusion of mining.
Groups opposed to the mine said the DEQ made its preliminary decision despite a “seriously flawed permit application and the wishes of thousands of residents.”
“The permit application is filled with ambiguous responses,” said Michelle Halley, attorney for the National Wildlife Federation. “Kennecott is expecting the people of Michigan to trust that they can operate a sulfide mine that will not contaminate the surrounding areas, but the track record of both Kennecott and sulfide mining is filled with contamination and inaccurate predictions.”
Cynthia Pryor, executive director of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, also disagreed with the preliminary decision.
“It is astonishing that — with so many areas of Kennecott’s permit application deficient, vague or downright absent — the Michigan DEQ has granted preliminary approval,” Pryor said. “Utilizing untested technology and with a spotty track record at best, Kennecott has sold the Michigan DEQ a bill of goods and the Michigan DEQ is apparently buying.”
Some of the opposition concerns include the economic stability of the area, the impact on tourism and recreation, human health risks, threat to water quality and environmental impacts.
If the project meets final approval of the DEQ, construction of the mine would likely start later this year and take about two years to complete, Cherry said.
http://www.miningjournal.net
http://www.freep.com
