News & Articles Archive

Click here for a complete list of news articles. To post a comment on any article below, just click the title!

Woodland Road Hearing: Permit Analysis

February 4, 2010 – 1:53 pm

To help prepare yourself to attend the MDEQ’s public hearing for Kennecott’s proposed 22-mile haul ‘highway’ on Wednesday, February 10 at the Westwood High School, 7:00 pm, Please Read the Permit Analysis written by Cynthia Pryor.

By savethewildup | Posted in Alerts, Bulletin Board, Coalition Partners, Legal, Legal/Legislative, News, Science | Comments (0)

Rio Tinto Locks Out 500 Union Workers

February 4, 2010 – 1:40 pm

Rio Tinto locks out over 500 Union Workers at the Borax Mine in California. Read More…
UPDATE Company Can’t Keep Story Straight After Lockout: tells union workers that they must sacrifice to keep company afloat, while company reports to investors that it is flush with cash. Read More…

Protesters Try to Slow Rio Tinto Buses Loaded with Non-Union Substitute Workers

By savethewildup | Posted in Alerts, Blogs, Economic, Legal, News | Comments (0)

All Things Kennecott Considered

January 28, 2010 – 1:06 pm

In a ‘final hour’ dramatic sweep of events within the agency, the MIDEQ issued final permits to Kennecott Minerals which allows the company to proceed with their Eagle Mine. Immediately, Kennecott misled the public by announcing dates of mine construction and completion, boasting job creation and economic blessings. A few facts they failed to mention:

1. Through the appeal process, petitioners from the previous contested case will challenge the DEQ decision in Circuit Court.

2. Mining icon Jack Parker testified on the petitioner’s behalf, claiming serious rock structure instability and a flawed mine plan. The DEQ has ignored Parker’s research and has chosen to trust the company’s engineering plan.

3. Alger Delta Electric’s $8.5 million upgrade project along CR 550 is not covered in the permit and is therefore illegal. Amendments have not been filed with the DEQ. Also, this wasteful project has been a thorn in Granot Loma’s side as they have been threatened by Kennecott (A-Delta) with a lawsuit for refusing to grant them additional easements through 4 miles of private property.

4. The proposed ’south road’ is also illegal due to Kennecott’s failure to follow permitting procedures with this proposed 23 mile long ‘haul road’ (90′ wide in some areas, making it a highway), or the fact that they plan to fill over 30 acres of wetlands, displace wildlife and endangered plants, and potentially contaminate numerous creeks, streams and rivers, while cutting an industrial gap through the last remaining undeveloped woodlands in Marquette County.

5. To build the mine, heavy trucking would be forced through Marquette City to CR 550 and 510/AAA for 2-3 years. The only traffic solution to that potential problem being, according to the city, is to push a truck route via McClellan Ave., through a quiet residential neighborhood, to Wright Street.

6. The EPA is expected to issue its draft decision on the Underground Injection Control Program that would allow Kennecott to dispose of 504,000 gallons/day of treated industrial waste water into a septic field. There will be a public hearing, 60 days of public comment and the option for appeal.

7. The already contaminated Humboldt Mill would remain contaminated to the tune of 3.5 million tons of additional tailings waste, just from Eagle. Once the sludge pit is full, tailings could be stored on land, where previous dumps have created potential health issues for anyone living downstream of the mill.

By savethewildup | Posted in News | Comments (1)

Alger-Delta Threatens Granot Loma Farms Over Utility Easements

January 26, 2010 – 4:50 pm

For Immediate Release

January 26, 2010

Alger Delta Threatens Granot Loma Over Utility Easements

In an effort to complete Kennecott’s unpermitted power line to Big Bay and the Yellow Dog Plains, Alger-Delta Electric Co-op has filed a lawsuit against Granot Loma Farms for 15 easements along their 4-mile portion of the project. Co-op manager Tom Harrell refers to the lawsuit as a ‘legal complaint’ and is pressuring Loma Farms owner Tom Baldwin to give up his property beyond the legal right of way.

According to Baldwin, “The co-op’s original permit application allows construction within legal utility right of way. However most of the line is outside of the right of way. They (Alger-Delta) threatened to discontinue power to Loma Farms, which was designated an historical landmark in 1991″. He has been negotiating with Alger-Delta on behalf of Kennecott and the utility is handling the lawsuit.

As compensation Alger-Delta offered Baldwin an undisclosed amount of money for the additional property needed. “It’s about a property owner signing a fine print ‘contract’ with a utility which allows them to do whatever, wherever they want,” said Baldwin. “Alger-Delta expects me to pay property taxes on my land that Kennecott is using for free to earn themselves 10 billion dollars”.

Alger-Delta has an alternate plan to re-engineer the utility lines for Granot Loma that could cost Kennecott an additional $75,000. In retaliation, power lines and equipment could be taken off of Loma properties and Baldwin would be forced to pay back to the co-op the costs for reconnecting to the grid in the future. “Basically they are trying to bully me into being a good co-op member” said Baldwin.

Kennecott has financed the entire $8.4 million dollar project, allowing Alger Delta to contract the work and broker the electricity. “Alger-Delta is like Enron - they’re just a broker. A good question to ask is why are we in Powell Township paying some of the highest electric rates in the state?”

One reason, Baldwin said, is that Alger- Delta purchases 100% of their power from companies that sell wholesale electricity and they recently signed a 30-year contract with Wisconsin’s WPPI. The co-op claims that Kennecott’s ‘upgrade’ combined with a reliable power source like WPPI will keep Powell’s electric rates low. Baldwin disagrees, “We all know that’s not going to happen”.

In October Baldwin recommended that Kennecott finance the building of a small community wind farm for Powell Township. “Citizens of the community will not benefit from a mine project on the Yellow Dog Plains, much less the potential ecological disaster that is connected to the Eagle Project. This would give Kennecott a way to somehow payback the community for all the aggravation and distress which goes with what they’re doing here. It would be an environmentally friendly way to provide energy to the township,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin believes that given the current green energy climate the incentives being offered by both the federal government and the USDA for alternative energy projects are excellent. Kennecott could recoup 30% of its multi-million dollar investment if they would connect to an alternative energy source. Matt Johnson, spokesman for Kennecott said, ‘We’ve talked a little bit about this. It’s something we’d be interested in looking into”.

Baldwin has looked into it and recently acquired a zoning permit with Powell Township to install a wind turbine on his own property. “The more wind energy we put into the system, the less carbon we produce, and that’s good for everybody”.

Legal issues with Alger Delta and Granot Loma will be reviewed at a mid-February court hearing. In the meantime the wind continues to blow in Powell Township as Kennecott pushes heavy power lines to Big Bay.

By savethewildup | Posted in Economic, News | Comments (0)

National Wildlife Federation to Challenge Michigan’s Approval of Dangerous Mine

January 20, 2010 – 9:56 pm

MARQUETTE, MICH. (January 15)—The National Wildlife Federation today vowed to challenge a Thursday decision by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to allow a controversial mine to proceed–even though the decision by the agency contradicts opinions by internal experts who have warned that the mine is unsafe and could result in a mine collapse.

“The mining plan is unsafe, and the DEQ’s decision to let it proceed is flawed, illegal and goes against the interests of the people of Michigan,” said Michelle Halley, an attorney representing the National Wildlife Federation. “We will challenge this decision to protect Michigan from this dangerous form of mining that has proven to be unsafe to people, communities and wildlife in other states.”

The decision to issue two permits for the Upper Peninsula mine—known as the Eagle Project—also flies in the face of a recent decision by an administrative law judge, who concluded that the grounds on which the mine would be constructed is a sacred site to native people that should be protected.

The National Wildlife Federation criticized the timing of the decision, which was made before an administrative law judge had finished reviewing new information that the DEQ itself had requested to evaluate the risk the mine could pose to people and water quality. The decision comes days before the authority to decide on the mining permits would have been shifted to the newly appointed director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

“Instead of leveling with the people of Michigan, the Granholm Administration has chosen to push a controversial decision forward without a full accounting,” said Halley. “The result is a decision that short-changes the people, wildlife and economy of Michigan. We will appeal this decision and seek justice elsewhere.”

The National Wildlife Federation’s Halley said that groups opposed to the mine—including the Huron Mountain Club, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve—intend to appeal the decision.

The permits allow a controversial mining project to move forward that would fence off a documented indigenous sacred site and allow the discharge of pollutants to ground water and surface water. The mine would change the nature of the region from valuable wildlife habitat to an industrial park.

The Eagle Mine is the first mine in Michigan that aims to extract metals from sulfide ore bodies. This type of mining—known as hard rock mining in the West—often produces, as a byproduct, sulfuric acid that can prove deadly to rivers, streams, fish and wildlife for decades after closure of the mine.

The Eagle Mine would be adjacent to the Salmon Trout River—one of the last mainland U.S. rivers used as spawning grounds by the Coaster Brook Trout.

“Any final decision on this mine and the fate of the Great Lakes is a long way off,” said Cynthia Pryor of the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, a local group opposing the mine. “We will fight this project, because it is unsafe and because the process has been perverted, for as long as we can.”

By savethewildup | Posted in Legal, News | Comments (0)

DEQ Grants Final Kennecott Permit - Ignores Native Rights

January 14, 2010 – 9:17 pm

The DEQ has granted Kennecott the final permit for the Eagle Mine project on the Yellow Dog Plains, ignoring Judge Richard Patterson ruling that Eagle Rock be honored as a Native American sacred site.

Read The DEQ’s press release

Eartha Jane Melzer writes: http://michiganmessenger.com/33340/controversial-kennecott-mine-permits-okd-at-11th-hour

For further information, read article by Gabriel Caplett

Comments from Cynthia Pryor, YDWP Sulfide Mining Campaign Director, 360-2414

What just happened here? The DEQ, as party to a State of Michigan Administrative Contested Case process, just unilaterally bypassed both the legal process and Administrative Law Judge Patterson in making a sweeping declaration and finding of law. This sweeping “judgment” was made not by Judge Patterson, not by past DEQ Director Stephen Chester, not by the interim DEQ Director Jim Sygo, but by a Senior Policy Advisor within the DEQ. This was done as a final DEQ action on the matter - on the day before the DEQ was to be dissolved and the new DNRE Director was to take office.

How blatant can this be? This is the dramatic action of a DEQ that hopes as a last ditch effort to resolve the Kennecott issue and allow this mine on the Yellow Dog Plains - before their authority is superseded by a new agency. Delegation of DEQ Director ‘final decision’ on the matter, was given to Senior Policy Advisor Frank J. Ruswick, Jr. two weeks ago. There was no known correspondence from Judge Patterson to the DEQ, Kennecott or the petitioners during this time frame. But out of the blue, a day before DEQ dissolution, this DEQ policy advisor made a judgment, ruling and order granting Kennecott both a Part 632 mining permit and a ground water discharge permit AND vacating a remand order made by then Director Stephen Chester concerning Eagle Rock as a “place of worship”. A policy advisor of the DEQ became a Judge and a DEQ Director and has so ruled - and we must accept that?

This is an egregious act that now will absolutely require appeal to a higher court and should require an appeal to the new DNRE Director Rebecca Humphries and the Governor of this state. We should not sit by and accept such action as the accepted mode of “lawfulness” in this state.

Please call the office of the Governor and lodge your complaint: 517 373-3400 or 517 335-7858.

I would expect letters of protest by every environmental group in the state and we will certainly be writing the Governor. Her contact information is:

Governor Jennifer M. Granholm
P.O. Box 30013
Lansing, Michigan 48909

PHONE: (517) 373-3400
PHONE: (517) 335-7858 - Constituent Services
FAX:(517) 335-6863

By savethewildup | Posted in Economic, Legal, News | Comments (0)

Jack Parker Comments on Humboldt Mill Permit Application

January 3, 2010 – 9:15 pm

Here are some comments on the Humboldt Mill permit.

First, we must thank Hal Fitch for his promise to respond to all written comments. We appreciate the gesture.
I read the newspapers and watched WLUC-TV6 coverage of the event, but didn’t learn much.
I saw a lot of empty seats and heard that the majority of those present were in favor of the project. I have heard nothing more in the past week. But two especially strong points were presented and not reported.

1. Speaker Teresa Bertossi, independent, quoted Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Director Steven Chester who has freely admitted that budget restraints and pressure to handle more projects have left the department underfunded and undermanned. We can understand that, and we commiserate.
In the present context, with the Kennecott applications, Mining Team Leader Joe Maki did not have the help he needed. His team did not have the expertise to evaluate legal and technical issues. He said as much in court. We understand their predicament.

2. Speaker Cynthia Pryor, Yellow Dog Plains Preservation, forcefully read from a long and detailed list of items wherein Kennecott had not met the requirements of Part 632 of the Michigan Mining Law by failing, in each instance, to demonstrate that their plans could be carried out successfully, either by demonstration or with documented evidence that similar plans had been used successfully elsewhere, in similar circumstances. (The alternative would be - “Just trust me.”)

In the first instance the punchline would be: Extenuating circumstances notwithstanding given that the evaluating agency was not qualified then no permits should have been issued, and all permits and agreements must be revoked.

In the second instance it was shown that Kennecott had not met the requirements of the law, so the application should have been turned down as administratively incomplete at a much earlier date, and it should be rejected forthwith. MDEQ must uphold the law.

We ask, therefore, for those lapses to be corrected: That the application be rejected and the permits and agreements revoked immediately. Thank you.

I’m still pro-mining, but only if it’s done right.
Jack Parker
Baltic

By savethewildup | Posted in Coalition Partners, News | Comments (0)

Gov. Granholm Announces Interim Director for Department of Environmental Quality

December 22, 2009 – 12:49 pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 22, 2009
Contact: Liz Boyd
517-335-6397

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm today announced that Jim Sygo will serve as interim director of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) beginning January 5, 2010, following Director Steven Chester’s announcement today that he will leave his post on January 4. Sygo currently serves as deputy director for the DEQ.

“As we continue to prepare for the new department of Natural Resources and Environment, we need continued leadership, and Jim is in an excellent position to spearhead the department,” Granholm said.

In announcing Sygo as interim director of the department, Governor Granholm offered praise for Chester’s commitment to Michigan’s proud traditions of environmental stewardship during his tenure as director.

“Steve Chester believes in the premise that improving our environment goes hand-in-hand with improving our economy,” Granholm said. “He has fought for the ideals that so many Michigan citizens believe in: clean air, healthy forests, and unparalleled water resources, all of which help to define who we are as a people and who we are as a state.”

“On a personal level, I am indebted to Steve for his service,” Granholm added. “As one of my original Cabinet members, he has stood with us to serve the people of this great state during a time of economic upheaval and uncertainty. He has been both counselor and friend, and I will miss him as he begins to write the next chapter in his personal career.”

Director Chester will be leaving to return to the practice of law, specializing in environmental counseling and litigation. Director Chester has served as head of the DEQ since 2003 and has overseen numerous reforms of the department’s operations that have streamlined services and made it one of the most efficient and effective environmental agencies in the nation. Chester also championed significant changes to Michigan’s environmental laws that will ensure Michigan’s natural resources will remain protected for generations to come.

Granholm’s appointment of Jim Sygo to serve as interim director will be in effect through January 17, 2010, when Executive Order 2009-45 will combine the operations of the DEQ and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) within the newly created Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE). The governor stated she will appoint a permanent director of that new department at a later date.

By savethewildup | Posted in Legal, Legal/Legislative, News | Comments (0)

DNR Seeks Public Input on Habitat Management for Wildlife

December 22, 2009 – 12:46 pm

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 22, 2009
CONTACT: Kerry Fitzpatrick 517-373-1263 or Mary Dettloff 517-335-3014

The Department of Natural Resources will hold a public meeting in January to help wildlife officials identify species in need of special attention as the DNR develops habitat management plans across the state.
The meeting is scheduled for Jan. 14 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Mt. Pleasant Comfort Inn & Suites, located at 2424 South Mission St. in Mt. Pleasant.
The DNR Wildlife Division recently has completed a management plan for bears and currently is writing a plan for white-tailed deer. In addition, wildlife officials have developed a list of featured species and are asking the public to help focus on the habitat needs of those and other species.
“Knowing which wildlife species Michigan citizens value most will help in the effective management of wildlife habitat,” said DNR wildlife habitat specialist Kerry Fitzpatrick. “These meetings are an important step in creating a wildlife habitat program.”
Featured species are those that are highly valued and have a habitat issue the DNR can address. They may include mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians or insects. The needs of these species will impact habitat management decisions.
“We’re asking the public: Did we miss any important species?” Fitzpatrick said. “How should we prioritize these species? These are questions we need to answer before we embark on major habitat management efforts.”
All interested parties are encouraged to attend and participate. Persons with disabilities needing accommodations for effective participation in the meeting should contact Kerry Fitzpatrick at 517-3737-1263 or fitzpatrickk@michigan.gov, at least seven days prior to the meeting to request mobility, visual, hearing or other assistance.

Written comments may be sent to Kerry Fitzpatrick, DNR Wildlife Division, P.O. Box 30444, Lansing, MI 48909-7944 or fitzpatrickk@michigan.gov. Written comments will be accepted until Jan. 15, 2010.

The DNR is committed to the conservation, protection, management, accessible use and enjoyment of the state’s natural resources for current and future generations.

By savethewildup | Posted in Bulletin Board, News, Resources | Comments (0)