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The Michigan state police have been notified of an attack on a Big Bay man at his home over the weekend. Robert Pryor of Big Bay was assaulted by three unknown males in the late hours of the evening at his cabin, which is located in a remote area of Champion Township near Big Bay. The three identified themselves by asking if he “was one of those anti-mining guys”. When he responded and asked them to leave, they attacked him with their fists and knocked him unconscious and to the ground where they left him face down in the rain. He suffered multiple cuts, scrapes, contusions, and injury to one eye. The couple’s cabin is within six miles of the proposed Kennecott mine site on the Yellow Dog Plains.
His wife, Cynthia, has been very active in the opposition to this mine proposal on the Yellow Dog Plains. She was, at the time of the attack, attending the contested case hearings in Lansing and not at home. Her response to this attack? “My husband has, by choice, not been a public part of this issue. To have someone come to our home, attack my husband and leave him unconscious outside in the then freezing weather — is beyond appalling, shocking and distressing - in my mind it is attempted murder. Bob is 60 years old, was attacked by three younger men and left to the elements. The DNR and DEQ have approved this mining venture as an “orderly development of state minerals”. The fear and shock reverberating through our small community is something that should make everyone take note. What are the stakes in this project that would lead to such violence against a citizen of this state - unprovoked and at their home? The level of watchfulness of those of us living in the remote areas of the county has definitely ramped up.”
Anyone with any knowledge of this attack should contact the authorities.
For Immediate Release, May 5, 2008:
Contact:
Marvin Roberson (906) 360-0288
The Sierra Club today chastised the US Fish and Wildlife Service for changing their
mind on holding hearings on the proposed listing of the Coaster brook trout as an
endangered species. The Sierra Club is one of two organizations petitioning the federal
agency to list the Coaster brook trout under the federal Endangered Species Act .
The Sierra Club and the Huron Mountain Club filed this petition with the USFWS in 2006
to declare the Coaster Brook Trout, a large, very rare trout which reproduces in only one
stream on the south shore of Lake Superior, as Endangered. March 20 of this year, the
USFWS published a notice in the Federal Register noting a positive preliminary finding
on the petition, asking for comments by May 19, and asking for requests for a public
hearing by May 5.
Dozens responded asking for a hearing. However, May 2, 2008, the USFWS released a
letter “To Interested Parties” claiming that the offer of a hearing was “in error”, and
stating that there would be no such hearing.
According to Marvin Roberson, Forest Ecologist with the Sierra Club, “We call on the
US Fish and Wildlife Service to make good on their offer of a hearing on this matter.
While it may have been made “in error”, whatever that means, it was in fact made, and
many groups and individuals responded in the manner and time specified in the Federal
Register Notice”.
Roberson further noted that there is no prohibition which would keep the USFWS from
holding the hearing they offered, and further noted that this letter claiming the offer had
been made “in error” came over 40 days after the original Notice, and only after
numerous written requests for a hearing.
The contested case hearing challenging permits for a Kennecott Eagle Minerals Company mine in northern Marquette County was scheduled to continue today with testimony from a structural geologist.
The National Wildlife Federation, Huron Mountain Club, Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community are challenging the issuance of mining and groundwater permits by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to Kennecott for its nickel and copper mine.
On Wednesday, Jack Parker and Marsha Bjornerud testified. Parker specializes in practical rock mechanics and Bjornerud is a structural geologist. Bjornerud is expected to conclude her testimony today.
“Both witnesses focused on how Kennecott failed to adequately characterize rock strength and whether the crown pillar will fail,” said Michelle Halley, an attorney for the National Wildlife Federation.
After Bjornerud, petitioners expect Wilson Blake, a DEQ subsidence reviewer, Stan Vitton, another specialist in geology and rock mechanics, will testify.
After the petitioner witnesses are finished testifying, witnesses for Kennecott and the DEQ will be called to the stand.
The hearing is important because Kennecott cannot begin work on the Eagle Project until the contested case is settled.
John Pepin, Marquette Mining Journal
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Congress considers restoring safeguards on nation’s streams and wetlands
WASHINGTON – Strong bipartisan support could restore federal environmental protection for small streams and wetlands that supply some water to more than 1.6 million people in Illinois alone.
The Clean Water Restoration Act is being examined by House and Senate committees but, though the bill has support from both sides of the aisle, similar bills have died in previous sessions of congress.
The bill would return the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act to where it was before the Supreme Court restricted it in decisions over the past several years. One case involved water in a gravel pit in northern Cook County that had become a wildlife habitat.
Support for the restoration act on Capitol Hill includes 175 co-sponsors of the bill, introduced in the House by James Oberstar, a Republican from Minnesota. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, spoke in support of the bill during a recent hearing.
”With an ever-expanding population and the potentially devastating impacts of global warming on our water supply, now is not the time to be weakening the Clean Water Act,” Boxer said.
Click here for the rest of the story
Story URL: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=87155
Story Retrieval Date: 4/29/2008 2:51:16 PM CST
Posted by John Flesher | The Associated Press
Opponents of a planned nickel and copper mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula are trying to overturn a decision by the state Department of Environmental Quality to allow the project.
A hearing began Monday in Lansing on a challenge to the DEQ's approval of permit applications submitted by Kennecott Minerals Co. It is expected to last several weeks.
Read More >
April 29, 2008 – 12:02 pm
Seven First Nation leaders sit in jail for peacefully protesting mining activities on their traditional lands in the boreal forests of Ontario, Canada. For peacefully asserting their rights and preventing mining company officials from accessing their lands, these Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) leaders, – known as the KI Six — were sentenced to six months in prison. The KI Six were sentenced just weeks after Ardoch Algonquin First Nation spokesperson Robert Lovelace began serving a six-month sentence for similar charges.
The 1,200 strong KI community of hunters, fishers, and trappers is opposed to mining activities on their traditional lands in Northern Ontario., Canadian company Platinex Inc. believes their lands contain one of the world's largest platinum deposits.
Please write to the Ontario government today and demand the immediate release of these political prisoners. The government needs to see an overwhelming outpouring of public support.Your voice can help convince Ontario that this heavy-handed approach is unacceptable—and that the free, prior and informed consent of local communities is an essential pre-requisite to mining.
Click her to find out more about the Canadian government's lack of consultation with the First Nations
Read a bio about Bob Lovelace
April 29, 2008 – 11:48 am
Due to heavy traffic from Kennecott's vehicles some local landowners have been unable to access their camps. Additionally, the heavy traffic has led to sedimentation in the nearby streams. Road restrictions have been applied to all Marquette County Roads.
Written by Gabriel Caplett
London, UK - Four citizens from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula attended Rio Tinto’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Center (QEII), in London, England. Speakers included Susan LaFernier, vice-president of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC), Gabriel Caplett from Yellow Dog Summer and Northwoods Wilderness Recovery, and Cynthia Pryor, from the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve. Fran Whitman, from Friends of the Land of Keweenaw (FOLK), attended but was unable to speak in front of the assembly.
To the crowd of roughly 300 shareholders and journalists, LaFernier addressed the threat to Native American ceded treaty rights with the US government, from 1842 and 1954 treaties. Rio Tinto chairman, Paul Skinner, interrupted LaFernier’s introduction, instructing the tribal leader to ask only one question, although a shareholder had just previously been able to ask three questions.
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Tug boat leaking oil into Superior
Crews are on the scene.
Posted: Monday, April 21, 2008 at 10:20 a.m.MARQUETTE — The Lower Harbor in Marquette is the site of an oil spill. The leak is coming from a tug boat that is moored in the harbor.
Around 9:30 a.m. Monday, the U.S. Coast Guard was notified of the leak coming from the Dorothy Ann, which was pulling a barge.
The tug apparently touched bottom, which jarred a seal causing it to break.
The vessel then contacted the Coast Guard not knowing of the leak at the time.
Crews are on the scene inspecting the spill. The DEQ and Coast Guard will be teaming up to contain and clean up the leak. A Coast Guard chopper did fly-overs of the area to see how widespread the oil was.
Officials say the wind is not strong which is limiting the spread of the oil at this time.
There is no further leakage from the tug.
The Dorothy Ann is waiting for inspection before it can move.
Click here for more information.
By: Terry Macalister
Thursday April 17 2008
A wave of protests will hit the annual meetings of BP and Rio Tinto in London today as human rights and environmental campaigners voice their concerns at the activities of the extractive industries.
Shareholders at Anglo American on Tuesday were met with similar complaints, while Shell investors will also face protestors at its meeting next month.
Richard Solly, secretary of the London Mining Network, a coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) coordinating the protests said: "The UK government must ensure that our businesses do not profit at the expense of the suffering and environmental destruction of communities around the world."
Campaigners dressed as pirates will greet investors going to the BP annual meeting. Their costumes symbolise the company's attempt to "rob" Iraq of its oil through pressing the Baghdad administration to sign a new oil law that could see BP negotiating to develop Rumaila, Iraq's largest producing field.
Activist shareholders plan to question new chief executive, Tony Hayward, on BP's plans in the face of what they claim is opposition from two in three Iraqis, according to a poll released earlier by NGOs in Britain and America.
Ruth Tanner, senior campaigns officer at charity War on Want, said: "Iraq needs control over its resources to improve living standards for millions of people hit by war and occupation. To most Iraqis the name BP will mean brazen pirates unless the company stops trying to plunder their country's oil."
The British government has been using its position as a military occupation power to push the interests of oil companies in Iraq, according to London research group Platform. It obtained documents through the Freedom of Information Act which, it claims, reveal extensive efforts since 2004 to push for companies such as BP and Shell to receive long-term contracts, giving them exclusive rights to exploit Iraq's huge oil fields.
Tribal and community representatives from around the world will address Rio Tinto's annual meeting and argue that the mining group's claim that its operations are sustainable and fair is far from the truth. Benny Wenda, chairman of the Koteka Tribal Assembly and representative of the West Papuan independence movement, has been brought to London by the London Mining Network. "Rio Tinto promised they would bring wealth, health and education for my people, but they are paying the Indonesian military that kills my people. They have filled our rivers with pollution and they have destroyed our sacred mountain: their promises are worth nothing to West Papuans."
Oil companies have also been under fire from NGOs over biofuels. Forecourt suppliers have been under new legislative pressure from Tuesday to provide 2.5% of all diesel and petrol from crop-based sources to reduce carbon pollution.
Rachel Smolker, a campaigner with the Global Forest Coalition said: "The UK has chosen to ignore a vast mountain of evidence that biofuels are contributing to hunger, climate change, deforestation and human rights abuses."
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